RVs?

Tell you what, I wish I could park at a campground. Imagine getting out of your truck, bar-b-queing a nice thick steak sitting by the fire and snoozing by that fire.

I have a 34' double punch out, it has a better Tv in it than I have at home but I still hang out by the fire and snooze. Many times I'll wake up in the early hours and finally get into bed..of course the reason for the snooze was a little help from some adult beverages

 

"As for parking in big rig spots.. Oddly, that subject came up between me and my instructor on that very same trip. He recounted an incident where a number of RVs sucked up 'Semi-only" spots in a rest area and proceeded to party all night. Several truckers asked them to keep the noise down, but were ignored.

Apparently, according to the story, a couple of the truckers parked in the driving lane - one right in front of the RVs, the other right behind them. There was still room to get past them... but the RVers were peeved that they couldn't leave at 06:00 as they'd planned.

Rude, and probably not effective in teaching them anything... but I can imagine just how soul-satisfying it was.

So - not from any personal experience.. just from thinking about it tonight.. I'd have to agree with the bunch that suggests that RVers park elsewhere."


Lurchgs, ROFLMAO on that one. I'd have to believe your instructor/trainer is passing on a tale. I know Rv'rs and I know truckers. The odds of RV'rs challenging a tired trucker or group of them is next to nil. In such a scenario, I see some RV'rs being hauled away by ambulance, and rightly so.:smt068

Thanks for the laugh

 

I was at the Flying J in Valdosta the other night. I parked a few spaces away from a swift truck that was so tore up, I couldn't even believe they were still driving it. There was not ONE body panel that didn't have some sort of damage. I swear to god this thing looked like it had been entered in a big truck demolition derby.

That being said, it seems to be a sad state of affairs for most company trucks nowadays—you hardly see one in the truck stops that don't have some significant newbie damage of some sort... bent fairings... scraped up right front wheels/lugs... fuel tanks/steps dented on the bottom...

And back on topic... I wouldn't even think of parking an RV back where the trucks park. Like others said... you can get away with parking an RV most anywhere—please don't take up the VERY limited truck parking.

 

I'm curious, do you know of the APU that can be used?
Last I read in a magazine you could only use "battery powered" APU's
Dan

 

The Thermo King Tri-Pac APU is California legal until 2015 -- as explained to me by an O/O who just had one installed on his Big truck.

 

Toad - Towed On A Dolly
Frog - Four Rolling On Ground

 

Thank you Wingnut.

 

i agree some of those RV's can park in car spaces -n- I hate when a someone drops thier trailer -n- then parks nxt to it or other space I'm half temp. to buy a king pin lock -n- place it on thier trailer. just to tie up thier time to get it off

 

This thread has been very enlightening to say the least. It never occurred to me that a trucker would be upset with me for parking my rig in a big truck space. I'm 40' long plus the length of my SUV that I tow. I always have to use the pull through spots at the rest areas and truck stops because you're not supposed to back up with a vehicle in tow (the towbar can't take the stress). If I pull in to a truck stop and all they have are back-in spaces, I move on to the next place. I'm not doing to disconnect my toad (never heard it called a frog) just to back into a space.

I understand that truckers need to have a place to rest for their 10 hours and from now on I'll keep that in mind if I pull in for a place to rest and there are only a limited number of spaces left.

But one thing I'd like to offer as a thought that I haven't heard anybody mention is the fact that campgrounds charge you anywhere from $25 to $60 per night depending on how fancy it is. I'm wondering how many truckers would be willing to fork over that much loot just to get 8 hours of sleep? I travel all over the country for my job and sometimes I have over a thousand miles to go between work territories. I want to drive for as long as I can, get a some sleep, then press on to get where I want to go. I don't feel like messing around trying to find a campground that's 5 miles off the interstate then toodling around in it taking a chance that there will be a space open (which may not be the case). And if its full, then you've just wasted an hour going 10-20 miles out of your way and now you're even MORE tired.

Rest areas and truck stops are within sight of the interstate and most of the time you can tell at a glance (or with a quick drive through) if they're full or not. Wal-Marts work well for the most part but sometimes navigating their parking lots can be tricky if there are a lot of islands, etc.

If an RVer pulls in and puts their slides out at a rest stop, that's just rude and inconsiderate. When I pull in, I shut it down, walk the dogs, and then go back on the bed and crash in my clothes for about six hours and then hit the road again. I try to be as low impact as possible.

Since I'm as long as a big rig (and I weigh 30K), I always go by the speed limits posted for trucks if that limit is less than 55 mph. Otherwise, with the price of diesel these days, I drive 55 and I'm sorry if I frustrate other drivers but I need to get as many mpg out of my rig as I can.

And as far as fuel islands are concerned, I never knew that me using them irritated some truckers either. If I can use the same pumps as the 4-wheelers do, I will because the hoses are smaller and easier for me to manage. But more and more I'm seeing pump islands perpendicular to the building and I can't make that turn to get in and out. So that's when I use the truck islands. I have made several circles around some stores trying to figure out a way to get to the diesel pump at the 4-wheeler islands and sometimes I'd have to wait for several cars to leave so I could get to the one on the outside. Patience is a virtue.

So there's my 2 cents.

 

Doesn't bother me a bit & many truck stops have the smaller nozzles at the truck fuel islands at the pump closest to the building & that island is usually labeled for RV's.

Most Flying J's have a parking section in front just for RV'ers.