Fueling Stops, I hate going to Pilot and Flying J

Only at Schneider.

I would've accepted the tow out of principle. If you have a truck with an automatic transmission, as a bonus they have to pay extra for the towing operator to remove the driveshaft from the truck and then reinstall it after the tow is over!

 

Spending a dollar to save a penny.

The new SNI slogan!

 

Someone (a former DBL?) posted a while back that SNI kept him in a hotel for an extra 3-4 nights, WITH pay, waiting on a flight. The reason was because that was the earliest day that they could book his flight with frequent flyer miles. The cash cost of the flight was probably cheaper than what they paid to keep him in the hotel.

 

They rely on metrics too much.

If they computer don't tell them what to do they put you on hold.

 

If your with a major company your pretty much at their mercy as to where you fuel however if you have a Pilot /Flying J fuel card they also work at Shell Gas stations if that's any help? If your an owner operator and have any sort of credit card i guess you can fuel as you please. Oh the other option if your company is really flexible they may allow you to fuel somewhere else if you pay up front then they reimburse you later, although i doubt if the bigger companies would do that.

 

So, I'm not sure if you've got it but download trucker path app. It's pretty good for finding parking. As far as hours to run to make parking easy, try 2am-4pm.

Also, while it's nice to fuel at the same time as the pretrip, just because your fuel solution is a pilot or a flying j, that doesn't mean you have to park there for the night. You can fuel up at the J and then go to a TA to park..

Schneider might sound awful since there are tracked fuel solutions and consequences for not using them, compare them to a place like Swift for example... Forced fuel solutions where your card will only work at that location and will only work for a preset amount of fuel. At schneider you get to stop wherever (kind of, but still a lot of places) and at worst you won't get the bonus that quarter.

 

@27butterfly relax, trust me, your still in the mindframe of GO GO GOTTA GO, with time you'll learn the routes you can take to bypass those tiny towns, but sometimes you might find it's fun to just enjoy the sights. We've all been their. Patience young grasshopper. 90% of the time I start my day around 0600 and I'm parked by 1800, 450-600 mile days and I don't feel worn out at the end of the day. @gentleroger might chime in and give a few pointers too

 

The only thing I'll add is in regards to the bonus.

You only need to be 90% compliant to get full points on the bonus. I regularly sit at 75% and still have one of the highest bonus payout scores. This is because my fuel economy and eta accuracy are always maxed out.

To help with fuel compliance score - every time you fill up at a compliant stop add DEF. DEF counts as a separate fueling so you're 2/2 instead of 1/1. Never add DEF at a non compliant stop.

Ignore how much they tell you to put in. Either fill up or do a partial based on your weight/load. Over time you'll learn where you'll likely be told to fill up on the next loaf and can start playing games with how much fuel you tell them you have.