I have been asked to move after I pulled in for gas. Usually I reply, no problem and move to the next station. I wonder how their boss would feel losing a $300.00 sale?
I have also been at smaller stations where people would cut in front of my rig while I was waiting to get manuvered up to a pump. Wife actually had to run interference for me. Which was better than for me get into a fist fight.
When I was a teenager working at a gas bar, RV's were regarded as cash cows. They pull up and - as D.R. Bain pointed out - gulp a couple hundred dollars in gasoline. And the family would pile out while it was gassing up and buy a buttload of chips, pop, candy bars, you name it. Then ten minutes or so they'd be on their way again. No big deal. I don't know why any gas station owner would be anything but gracious toward RV driving patrons.
dixiekat wrote: Hi, We recently traveled to New England, stopping at Flying J's as often as we could. We found that the one in Hope Hull, Alabama, just South of Montgomery was very RV user friendly - Plenty of room to maneuver, and dedicated islands for RVs. Other amenities, such as propane and dump station, were easily accessible. This should be the model for all other Flying J's.
The Flying J's in Carlisle, PA and Knoxville, TN were reasonably RV friendly, but the two Flying J's in Wytheville, VA and Fort Chiswell, VA are decidedly RV unfriendly. There is little maneuver room, because there are restaurants too near the pumps, and there is no indication which islands should be used by RVers. Both times we have tried these stations have been difficult situations. Cars are always at the outside pumps, and the other pumps are way too tight.
At Wytheville, we could not even get into the gas pumps and left and went to a different gas station. At Fort Chiswell, we did get into one of the pumps with only a few inches to spare on each side. One of the employees of the station told us that the space we were in was not for use by RVs, and that quite a few people had had roof damage using those pumps.
Why then does Flying J advertise that they are RV friendly, and why does Good Sam members vote them as their favorite gas stations?
Which Flying J in Wytheville VA are you mentioning ??.
If traveling north I 77 or west I 81, the second Flying J, a little farther north I found to be quite easy to enter & exit. I will admit, it is a bit weird getting from the interstate over to the station because of the service road it is beside, but after your first time entering is no problem after that.
Flying Js I have used over the years, I for several reason will continue to use years to come. Some may be an inconvience at times waiting on the pumps, but the fact you can drop your sewage & then fill with fresh water out weighs the inconvience or the tightness of the station.
I dont know it to be a fact, but kinda suspect some of the older Flying Js may be bought out gas stations & then the RV pumps added in.
The newer ones or remodeled, I think Flying J is realizing our M/Hs are big & most time have a car or trailer behind & need more room to maneuver around.
Remember this though, Flying J uses only US oils & NOT overseas oil stocks to fill their tanks, so which would you feel proper using knowing we have lost so many of our men & women overseas fighting for our freedom.
We can fight & its legal, find out who uses overseas oils & stop using those stations.
Neil
* This post was
edited 08/04/08 12:53pm by C-Leigh Racing *
Responding to C-Leigh Racing, we tried to get into the southern FJ (Wytheville), and could not even get to the pumps so we left. We had to drive around the restaurant. Then we went to a different gas station.
At the northern one (FT Chiswell), the wider RV pumps were full, so we tried the pumps which were closest to the store. Not a good idea! We had a clearance of about 4 inches on either side. But we did get the gasoline we needed. No signage to indicate that we should not try that slot.
I have stopped at FJ's when convinient and always found them a good place to buy fuel. My favorite is just North of home, I usually stop there to dump my tanks fill up on gas and LPG if I need it before heading on home. They do have RV parking spots for those who need to stop and rest and they are well located as are those at most newer FJ's I have stopped at. This FJ has 2 dedicated RV lanes with all the fore mentioned amenities and the gas prices are better than most in the area except those stations at the same stop which adjust their prices to compete. This station is at Hwy 41 and I-64. No experience with Loves but I thought they were making a push for RV business.
We just returned from a 4,800 mile trip to the Pacific Northwest, and usually filled up at FJ. The facilities vary widely from one station to the next, usually depending upon the age of the station. However, I have not been able to figure out why even the new stations have no covers over the RV islands, even though the car and truck islands are covered.
Watch out for "some" flying J's as they are, as I found out the hard way, "franchise stations", and will NOT honor the FMCA discount card, or any other discount cards. The problem is, how in the heck do you tell when tooling down the road and see a flying J sign, that it is a "franchise" store only.
I pumped in 60 gallons of gas at the Williams IA flying J, and was screwed out of a $6.40 discount.
I have had other problems with flying J stations giving the advertised and deserved discounts.
Most clerks are oblivious to the discounts offered.
david_w28 wrote: I have a 36 footer and I pull into regular gas stations and have never had a problem. Most of them are huge. We carry everything we need with us so we have no need to go into the store to make purchases other then the fuel.
No they are not all huge, many are small and depending on how the pumps are arranged and how close the front of the pumps are to the parking area in front of the store along with how busy the station is with cars determines if you can use the pump or not. Many older flying J's don't have rv islands like most of the newer ones.
I've wasted a lot of time and gas getting off the road to get fuel only to find out the gas station is not suitable for a RV towing a car. When traveling in new territory it is a hit and miss proposition, when traveling to Florida for the winter we know exactly where to stop.
Motor City Swagman 2000 Bounder 36S
Ford V-10, Banks Power Pack w/ TC,
BrakeBuddy,Davis Tru Trac,Safe T Plus,Aventa II & Xplorer Sport Trac
Most of the regular gas stations at exits in the Southeast are quite large. In New England and the Northeast, many are quite tight for MH. We encountered a BP in Conyngham, PA, which was set up in such a way that we had to back out of the pumps. It was also some distance from the interstate. We decided to only use stations we could see from the exit. We've used mostly FJ's and except for the VA ones, they were good.
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