Getting to a Gasoline Pump with a trailer in tow

[TNFSolitude]

Yesterday at the Speedway off I75 in Kentucky wife leaves the card at the register and they turn on the pump. I fill er up and go inside. Clerk says the Visa didn't go through so I give her the Discover. Later on I'm reading email and I see the Visa did go through but flagged as suspicious. I've now paid twice for one tank of fuel. I call Speedway, wife calls Visa. The Visa charge is cancelled and Discover allowed. This has nothing to do with parking except this is a small truck stop that I have good luck with. Usually easy in/out. We use The Next Exit book and look for small truck stops, they're usually not so jammed or packed. This won't help Rob as he needs gasoline, but I like the idea of satellite view to check on pump layout.

[JeffD68]

In Texas we have a chain of Bucee's , and I saw one now on I-10 in Alabama. A few are converted truck stops , but most are new construction to their plan. Minimum 50 pumps on several acre lots. Usually have the best prices and no semis allowed.
As a bonus the best facilities you'll ever find on the road and every snack known to man.
I always check for locations on our route to plan stops at them if available.

Taking a road trip to Texas in October. Saw your post and immediately checked out Buc-ee's on line. Holy cow! Everything is bigger in Texas! They have parking lots like a Costco. There are a few along our route and Buc-ee's is now a POI whether or not we need fuel at the time.

[LV Naturist]

Well what we found this past trip (2200 miles), and our longest in our RV, is that it is impossible on Google Maps to see which ones will and won't have space for larger trucks/vehicles. We learned the hard way as well. Watch out for the tail swing RV is in repairs until unknown date.

I feel your pain! Fortunately for me all I needed was a bit of touch-up paint. Sorry you needed more than that.

John

[Keebler]

When I had my travel trailer it was just too much of a pain to unhitch and go get fuel. I am curious now with my new 5'r if the ease of unhooking will allow me to consider this? Does anyone else unhook/hook for fuel stops?

It's not something I'd plan to do, but would definitely consider it. I'd say it takes me less then half the time to hitch/unhitch the 5'r versus the TT with the weight distribution hitch.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

I rarely ever use truck stops, places like Loves in particular because they’re expensive. There’s almost always a smaller fuel station nearby with much better prices.
For example, the Loves in Quartzite.
We drove by it all the time but if you just drive 2 miles East then a couple blocks North, there’s a busy Chevron and an Arco where diesel is 20 cents a gallon cheaper.
That’s $6 a tank cheaper if you have a 40 gallon tank!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cate&Rob]

When I had my travel trailer it was just too much of a pain to unhitch and go get fuel. I am curious now with my new 5'r if the ease of unhooking will allow me to consider this? Does anyone else unhook/hook for fuel stops?

In the "early years" with our Reflection 5th wheel, we would check-in at the campground, unhook . . . and go for fuel. As I gained more confidence at wiggling this thing through small spaces, I usually stop for fuel with the 5th wheel attached. This year from Florida to Canada, 5 days, never unhitched once.

I never let my credit card out of my sight. I would never leave it with a gas station employee!! My backup plan if the pump won't accept my card is to take note of exactly how much fuel I need before I get out of the truck (I reset my trip fuel usage at every fill) and pre-pay for a little less than that amount of fuel.

I have a 350 mile range (35 gallons at 10 MPG) so "usually" one fill at the end of each driving day.

Rob

[Steven@147]

Taking a road trip to Texas in October. Saw your post and immediately checked out Buc-ee's on line. Holy cow! Everything is bigger in Texas! They have parking lots like a Costco. There are a few along our route and Buc-ee's is now a POI whether or not we need fuel at the time.

Like Cflower55 said, you will be had pressed to find a cleaner more pleasant place. Their food is really good. Fuel prices usually better. My Son and his family came down from Indiana, they couldn't believe the size of the station/store.

[KatrinaAnon]

I use Y to find the cheap diesel stations in the area. Then I locate them on Google Maps satellite to see how tough the approaches are to the gas station.

The reason I can do this is my DW is an awful passenger, so I pull up the app about 1/2 hour before we stop, shop the prices and location from the Interstate, then plug in the station's location and pull up Google Satellite and Street View. If it looks too tough, I go somewhere else.

Pilot and Flying J are my last picks due to their high price.

[cfowler55]

Even though I've towed trailers most of my adult life , I've only been rv'ing a couple of years so lots of folks have way more experience than me with these big rigs. The best advice I can give is fill up when you want to , not when you have to. Start looking around at half a tank. A lot of us are older and shouldn't sit for hours on end anyway.
I didn't want an in bed auxiliary tank so I replaced the 32 gallon factory tank with a 55 Titan for those long stretches without good stations just in case.

[MidwestCamper]

I have only got gas once off the Pa. turnpike at the Bedford exit, I believe it was a Sheetz. Pulled into the "car" pump , filled up and had to back out. Everybody was so nice , they got out of my way.
Thinking about your "rant" I have very seldom traveled farther than a tank of fuel so have not have had to deal with that. A good rant for sure.

Brian

Brian,

I have been to that station and had to back up as well. Its a small world.

Jim