We have twin Honda eu3000is gennies. They are quiet as mouses. They are CARB certified. Roadsquad guy drives up to our coach just now in a pickup truck and says we can't run our generators on the property. State law. I said all of the trucks are running their Tripacs. He said they are allowed to. But not me. Please tell me this is bunk?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
i think i'd be on the phone...to the Attorney General and then T/A's CEO.... >:(
Scott -
Where are you right now?
Reno? Sparks?
Was this "roadsquad" guy a uniformed police officer, or just a rent-a-cop?
Sent you a PM
RJ
Dang Scott! You are like me .If it wasn't for bad luck you wouldn't have any luck !!!
Ok. It was a roadsquad employee on a power trip. Went in to talk to the manager after a phone call to TA yielded nothing (basically it's up to each TA to make their own policies). The manager apologized and said that they have a no RV policy because they've had Rvs with bad drivers hit some semi trucks in their overnight lots. I showed him a photo of our coach (never once referred to it as an rv) and he was like "yeah please stay and have a great night". Brought the 30 weeks preggo wife and 2 year old daughter with me for ammo lol. Had nothing to do with generators. Just don't want hippie rvers in their truck lots is basically what he said. I'm in Reno.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
And to top it off I had just bought $300 worth of diesel from them. Arg. Anyway, we are staying the night here. And if roadsquadie wants to come back and retaliate for going above his head and pay grade, I have four night vision surveillance cameras ready for court date.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Where were you parked TA has had a rule about RV generators for years when parked close to retail part of their truck stops Pilot/FJ has the same rules I don't know if Love's allow it or not
Cliff I'm parked in the back 40 along the fence literally as far away from the station as I can be
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I was at The TA in LV to fill up propane in a mounted tank and the woman who came out after awhile, said she was uncomfortable filling in an old tank, I told her she should read up on her rules, lvmci...
We like Love's and Marathon stations across the country. Marathon had the best prices as well as propane and full dump stations. The guy came over and picked up our two LP tanks and took it over and filled them and then brought them back and put them in the coach for me while I was dumping the tanks.
We also stayed overnight with no problems in Truck side rest stops and many across the US had food and dump stations also.
I've never seen a marathon truck stop. But flying j and loves are our favorites. Flying j have dumps and water to fill our tank and are always rv friendly. Loves are just nice. Always have great experiences. T/A just lost my business. No more stopping or fueling there anymore.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
A friend of mine owned Petrol Truck Stops for years they sure changed when T/A bought him out,truck stops are convenient but I shy away from one, the only truck stop I do now is Quick Trip or F/J on occasions.
Not needing a place to park I do the Kroger or Safeway grocery store card lol I paid $2.02 last night at a Circle K that honors the Frys card
"But flying j and loves are our favorites. Flying j have dumps and water to fill our tank and are always rv friendly."
I had to smile, Scott. I am typing this after a "quiet" night at the Flying J in Lodi, California. We like parking out front in the RV spaces with lots of lights and plenty of people coming and going. I am preparing to empty the tanks and hit the road.
Davy
Scott we found a lot of the Marathon truck stops in MI Grayling by the big military base up there, IN and Ohio. We had never seen any before either. When we got home we saw an ad on TV for Marathon which we had never seen here either.
You can draw a line from Louisiana straight north and Marathons are all over in the east in Texas they are Speedway or Husky they are based out of Houston it's a big outfit now since they purchased Ashland oil
Quote$2.02
Clifford, for what, an old hot dog? I have to hunt hard to find regular under 3 bucks now and diesel around 3 and a half. I love paying it though since it makes me proud and fulFILLed to be a busnut. The more it hurts the better it feels.
Quote from: windtrader on November 21, 2017, 11:03:53 AM
Clifford, for what, an old hot dog? I have to hunt hard to find regular under 3 bucks now and diesel around 3 and a half. I love paying it though since it makes me proud and fulFILLed to be a busnut. The more it hurts the better it feels.
Lol no it was $2.41 a gal and with my fuel points and the 8 cents a gal off for RV use in AZ it cost me $2.02 per gal
Yep there were a lot of speedways too. Didn't see many Chevrons or shells after we got out of Texas. A Few but not like here. Marathons everywhere. I know Texas and some other state have a lot of oil refineries and Fracking dump stations and big tanks for holding it with lots of those trains like we see here loading up with it and big waste chemical ponds all over the place. Every time we got close to them you could smell that heavy oil smell. It would make both of us sick to our stomachs.
That's why fuel is 2 buxs.
Davy we passed through Lodi on Sunday :)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Scott you went right through Roseville and didn't even wave at us? Wow ;D
right by me too. guess he don't like us NorCal folk
I have a rewards card for each of the big name truck stops, I make them buy my showers, coffee and pastry now each time I stop. I park as close as possible to the food some where along a curb, no worries.
Lol. Sorry I missed you guys lol. I'm just tootling along my merry way having no clue my peeps are along the route lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I stopped driving truck in 2000. Even then, I wouldn't go to T/A, and found Petro more expensive. I still prefer Loves, Pilot, Flying J for their free RV dumps. Good Luck, TomC
QuoteI still prefer Loves, Pilot, Flying J for their free RV dumps
Is that a common feature of all these stations or is it only select locations? Is there potable water available as well?
Most Flying J's have dump stations that are reasonably accessible. They are mostly $10 but $7.50 or $5 depending on which loyalty card you have. The Pilot/Flying J app tells me which of their locations have them.
Some Love's also have dump stations too.
We are going back south today on our way to Riverdale south of Fresno.
Davy
Being a cheapass, the "free" word caught my eye. thanks
The Flying J dump stations were free for years but that changed about the time of the Pilot merger/buyout.
Davy
Flying j dumps are all $10 where I've been unless you have a loyalty card as mentioned. I'm done with Petro and TA after my experience. Flying j/pilot and loves have absolutely the most polite employees of any truck stop chains I've experienced.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
You've experienced "polite" truck stop employees? Wow I never did..... OH wait I was a truck driver not a tourist!
;D BK ;D
Flying J is nothing like it was when Jay Call owned it before he died in a plane crash,they started in the 60's catering to the RV people free water,dump,discounts on fuel it was nice. .Now you have 2 different outfits owning F/J and I don't stop period at a F/J owned by Pilot
The other night I was in line waiting to get my slip for my reserved parking spot and a driver told the desk clerk that they were out of coffee. She profusely apologized to those of us in line and said she was just quickly going to get a pot of coffee on for him and come right back to the register which literally took all of maybe 80 seconds. She came back to the register and everyone in line was given their coffee on the house for being patient. She was awesome. Last night at a flying j, I needed to take on water but the spigots were off for the winter. I asked inside and they cheerfully had a maintenance guy get the keys to the access panel and turn the water on just for me.
Two months ago when I put 75 Gallons of gas into my coach while sitting in the rv fuel lane, they cheerfully allowed me to leave my coach in place all day while I figured out a solution to pump it out. Absolutely no issues. One of the employees even came out to help me.
I could
Go on. Loves and flying j/pilots have been exceptional to us.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Yes but Scott in your bus they view you as a "tourist" and not as a "driver" and the big difference there is A) as a tourist you have plenty of choices as to where you spend your $. B) a company driver most companies have agreements with Petro/Love's/FJ/Pilot/TA whoever and get huge discounts or "kickbacks for buying all their fuel there so the companies demand the drivers use X stop for all their company business. And C) with a big truck you can't just pull into the local gas station and fuel and park so the truck stops view it as the drivers need them worse than they need the driver so truck drivers as a rule are not treated as well as a tourist is. (just speaking from years of personal experience and yes many years ago ALL customers were treated with respect and I expect that many disrespectful drivers brought on a lot of the actions over the years)
;D BK ;D
What I don't like now is for years one could depend on Flying/J when the Call family was in control you could depend on the lowest price of fuel in that area not so now they are 20 cents a gal higher at Pilot/Flying/J than the locals,and Loves pay the same game that is why I use QuickTrip or Maverick here
Quote from: DKO on November 22, 2017, 11:46:21 AM
The Flying J dump stations were free for years but that changed about the time of the Pilot merger/buyout.
Loves started charging for dump stations four or five years ago. When it was free the dump station at the Loves in Fernley, NV would have a huge line on Sunday evening as all the RVers going home would dump. The lines went away as soon as the charges started.
I paid to dump at Loves before heading into the desert this year. I also dumped after leaving the desert. The lock was missing so I didn't pay. I figured the almost 200 gallons of fuel I put in over four days was payment enough.
I was/still am a fan of Flying J, and now Pilot.
I have used them, both as a busnut and masquerading as a truck driver.
I am pleasant, and I get it in return.
Unfortunate about the fuel gamble years ago that brought them together... Flying J used to be the best price on the highway... oh well, water under the bridge...
Showers always clean, same as rest of facility.
Don't judge TA just on the dingaling hired help. As much as I like FJ/Pilot, I do like the variety of other places too.
I would'a liked to have been the one to have been told I wasn't welcome at that TA...
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
I have stayed overnight at the Flying J at exit 9 Hwy 40 in AZ a few times and filled up. If I am heading to CA I always fill up because CA fuel prices are $.56-.60 and even $1.00 more than AZ. There are two different prices for diesel in AZ-- one for RV's but only with 2 axles.
Anyway, I don't like overnighting in truck stops because of the noise of trucks coming and going. I like to find a nice quiet side street in a commercial district instead. However, you can't get away with that in many areas of CA because that is what fulltimers/homeless are doing and the local police do night time raids. A lot of these fulltimers are employed but can't afford the outragous rents for a home or even an apartment.
Quote from: luvrbus on November 23, 2017, 07:32:31 AMFlying J is nothing like it was when Jay Call owned it before he died in a plane crash,they started in the 60's catering to the RV people free water,dump,discounts on fuel it was nice. .Now you have 2 different outfits owning F/J and I don't stop period at a F/J owned by Pilot
Ditto. And fuel prices at FJ (formerly $.12 - $.40 cheaper than other truck stops) went up to "the same as the competion" virtually ovenight after the buyout. Back in the early 00's, having a FJ around meant that fuel prices were lower at all the other places nearby. I'm sure that they couldn't wait to buy FJ out so that the others could jack their prices us -- which is exactly what happened.
Bryce, I don't doubt you at all, but none of these peeps know I'm a coach. They ask for a truck number and I give them the year of my Bus. They give me two receipts just like they do for the truckers. I don't usually fill at the RV pumps because they are a tight fit. Only occasionally. I'm 62 feet with coach and Ford Expedition toad. They just think I'm a driver. Maybe I get treated nice because I'm tall dark and handsome? But wait, the men are polite too, so that can't be it...... oh but wait, it's the 21st century...so can't rule that out either. Straight man problems....
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I have always been treated very well at truck stops, with a bus, or a truck. Better than by some shippers and receivers, and some dispatchers...
JC
Quote from: Geoff on November 24, 2017, 07:54:43 AM
Anyway, I don't like overnighting in truck stops because of the noise of trucks coming and going. I like to find a nice quiet side street in a commercial district instead. However, you can't get away with that in many areas of CA because that is what fulltimers/homeless are doing and the local police do night time raids. A lot of these fulltimers are employed but can't afford the outragous rents for a home or even an apartment.
I've not stayed overnight in truck stops but was excited about more dump/fill options. As far as out of park boondocking, Wally has been kind. It is tricky to find a place to boondock overnight on many public streets in CA. Many cities have ordinances banning overnight "camping". There are plenty of places to park overnight no problem and although I've not done it you can probably pull over and park at the end of the evening, quickly shut things down, drop the drapes, kill the lights, and go to bed.
That said, I have heard plenty of stories the popo has little reservation taking their metal flashlight and banging on the coach to get the attention of anyone inside. If you don't want your sides banged up, I guess you'll get up.
You truckers probably have it figured out but one observation like Geoff states is there seems to be places in commercial zones where you can probably get away with boondocking overnight. It seems in distribution zones where semis come and go at all hours, you can see many trucks parked along the roads. At a few USPS hubs, there always seems to be semis parked nearby and not hassled.
There are lots of IT jobs in Silicon Valley and I've wondered if I took a contract there I could find a place to park the bus for a few nights a week. Housing costs are astronomical if you can find it but it might be some fun and cheap to try some stealth public boondocking. lol
I know our experience may not count for much, but we've fulltimed for soon to be 8 years with two different buses and here's our experience:
We initially parked at Walmart's. We hated it. People in Walmart parking lots would accelerate through the lot with their loud obnoxious trucks and rice burners and wake us up. Besides, they can be a tight fit for a bus and toad. Plus you have to be absolutely sure they allow overnighting. A lot of Walmart's across the US are starting to ban it because of local codes. There's an Allstays app that can help with that but I have found it to be sketchy on its accuracy.
Our three favorite overnighting options are:
1. Rest areas. Usually quiet and safe. The downside is they fill up fast and they aren't everywhere. We pulled in early to one here in Illinois tonight and got a spot. Other downside: if they don't have the truck parking in the rear of the rest area, you're stuck listening to highway traffic all night. Our coach is insulated well (heavy pound density spray foam plus flooring felt plus 3/4" wood) so it helps.
2. Truck stops. Love them. People talk about noise, geez Walmart parking lots are stinking noisy. Truck stops quiet down usually by 9pm as they are mostly full. So all you hear is the gentle rumble of trucks idling or their reefers burbling or their tripacs humming. Has never ever bothered us. Worst thing is if a truck is backing into a spot in the middle of the night (rare) they sometimes have backup alarms. I purposely try to back into a spot between two trucks already parked to prevent this. What's great is most of us have rear bedrooms, so we are 60 feet away from the truck engines, reefers, and tripacs. We are at the back of their trailers, the quietest place you could be. Honestly, I love staying at truck stops. I love going inside in the morning to get a fresh cup of jo or a Fresh cinnamon roll. I think I'll buy stock in Loves come to think of it.
3. Side of the road. If it's rural and the rest areas and truck stops are full, we exit on an off ramp, and then pull about 100 feet onto the on ramp shoulder and Park for the night. Quiet, dark, but usually not level. Never ever had issues doing this in 8 years of fulltiming. We've had to do this when the weather is rough. If it's snowing hard and the roads are dicey the trucks pull off so the rest areas and truck stops are jam packed. When we park on an on ramp I always leave my parking lights and clearance lamps lit all night for visibility. It must be like a duck decoy because I always have semi trucks parked in front of and behind me when I get up in the morning. Never fails lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Geoff
As you know we are 40 feet long without the trailer and have three axles, never have had a problem getting the 8 cents discounts, even if I have to ask for it, Motor homes are exempt from the 2 axle 28000 lb rule
ED
Experiences vary depending on the people running the truck stop, and the local and state laws allowing idling, or not, but it sure seems that the quality of the truck stop experience has changed with some of the mergers that have taken place. The biggest change that I noticed was the demise of the original Flying J's when they got into financial difficulty, and were bought out by Pilot. Flying J had a very nice buffet that I looked forward to at the end of a long run. That ended when Pilot took over, they ripped it all out and put in Denny's that resulted in dinner costing more for less. Flying J's catered to RV'ers before, less so now. Love's is a chain that has grown a lot, they even put one in Dayton, Ohio. The unfortunate thing was that within a few months of their opening, a rent-a-cop security guard shot and killed a trucker that he thought was trying get behind the counter. No love shown there. We can't assume that the experience we have in one state will be repeated everywhere else, unfortunately.
Quote from: Scott & Heather on November 25, 2017, 04:39:25 PM
I know our experience may not count for much, but we've fulltimed for soon to be 8 years with two different buses and here's our experience:
We initially parked at Walmart's. We hated it. People in Walmart parking lots would accelerate through the lot with their loud obnoxious trucks and rice burners and wake us up. Besides, they can be a tight fit for a bus and toad. Plus you have to be absolutely sure they allow overnighting. A lot of Walmart's across the US are starting to ban it because of local codes. There's an Allstays app that can help with that but I have found it to be sketchy on its accuracy.
Our three favorite overnighting options are:
1. Rest areas. Usually quiet and safe. The downside is they fill up fast and they aren't everywhere. We pulled in early to one here in Illinois tonight and got a spot. Other downside: if they don't have the truck parking in the rear of the rest area, you're stuck listening to highway traffic all night. Our coach is insulated well (heavy pound density spray foam plus flooring felt plus 3/4" wood) so it helps.
2. Truck stops. Love them. People talk about noise, geez Walmart parking lots are stinking noisy. Truck stops quiet down usually by 9pm as they are mostly full. So all you hear is the gentle rumble of trucks idling or their reefers burbling or their tripacs humming. Has never ever bothered us. Worst thing is if a truck is backing into a spot in the middle of the night (rare) they sometimes have backup alarms. I purposely try to back into a spot between two trucks already parked to prevent this. What's great is most of us have rear bedrooms, so we are 60 feet away from the truck engines, reefers, and tripacs. We are at the back of their trailers, the quietest place you could be. Honestly, I love staying at truck stops. I love going inside in the morning to get a fresh cup of jo or a Fresh cinnamon roll. I think I'll buy stock in Loves come to think of it.
3. Side of the road. If it's rural and the rest areas and truck stops are full, we exit on an off ramp, and then pull about 100 feet onto the on ramp shoulder and Park for the night. Quiet, dark, but usually not level. Never ever had issues doing this in 8 years of fulltiming. We've had to do this when the weather is rough. If it's snowing hard and the roads are dicey the trucks pull off so the rest areas and truck stops are jam packed. When we park on an on ramp I always leave my parking lights and clearance lamps lit all night for visibility. It must be like a duck decoy because I always have semi trucks parked in front of and behind me when I get up in the morning. Never fails lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I never heard about parking on the on-ramp. At first I thought you meant you pulled on the side of the off ramp but then re-read and it sounds like you get to wherever the onramp is and then pull off to the side. That seems a lot safer. You never had any issues with police or anything?
Probably not a lot here in Pa. Just make sure the ramp is long enough and you are off the road. Oh, and hope that some trucker didn't beat you to it. With the Fed. Rules on hours of service for commercial vehicles, you have to find a spot to get off the road now! A lot of friction with police over this when they tightened regs several years ago. But most police realize the dilema for truckers and are more lenient over this now. Except when Barney Fife is the cop.
X2 for onramp/offramp parking.
The truckers are littered all up and down the highway, as noted.
Getting into a truck stop and finding parking, can be way hard later in the evening.
The shoulders will show you where to park. If there isn't evidence of other large vehicles on the shoulder, best get out and look hard at the soil conditions. There's no tire tracks for a reason...
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
Hey Scott!
We're headed for California from Michigan. Stopped in West Wendover today at the KOA. Which way you going? We're headed for Winnemucca tomorrow. Should be in San Francisco in three days. Did we pass each other?
I just bought a Briggs & Stratton 6500 120/240v inverter generator. I made a short dog bone to go from a male NEMA locking plug to a female 50 amp RV plug. Pretty quiet for that many watts. Stayed at a F/J four nights ago (in Iowa) with no issues. I also park way in the back and between two trailers. My generator is not an onboard type, so I cable lock it to the coach. An interesting discovery I made about this type of generator. If it throttles back under a lighter load, my Victron switches back to batteries. That surprised me because the Victron is supposed to supplement when it senses there are insufficient amps. This may be a feedback loop that finally results in the inverter taking over. I just switched it to full throttle mode and the problem went away.
Yes, my Yamaha 3000iSEB does the same trickery to an old Trace 4024.
Just turn off the eco-throttle device and all is well. Not a lot of difference fuel economy wise, no load, is no load.
Still nice and quiet, and there's no change in engine note to wake you if the load cycles during the night. I'd likely leave it run flat out for that reason alone.
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Gordy, we sure did pass you!!! Here's a pic to prove it! If I had known it was you I would
Have stopped!
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171128/a8364d423082af4e71480fa19f9443ce.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
that's crazy! Seriously, you really did pass each other and you took a picture?
Buswarrior, I just installed a new Yamaha 3000iSEB in my little bus. On eco mode it seems to surge a little under very low or no load conditions--does yours? Thanks, Jack
Yes, if there are tiny loads close to the eco-throttle threshold, it will do a little dance, like a kid having to go to the bathroom...
Nature of the beast, that feature isn't really intended to deal with "household" gadgetry, it's for big stuff loads on and off.
On a construction site, using a circular saw, I can see the eco-throttle saving a few bucks of fuel over time, as it idles down while the carpenter sets the saw down and nails the offending lumber into the house.
For the busnut? As noted, I just leave it run full speed, and turn the whole works off once it isn't needed.
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Don, sure enough. Didn't know it was him when we passed tho. I always take pics of older buses when we pass because often it's someone on here. We passed Russ (RJ Long) last year in his green turtle. We've met up many times with Sean Shanks in his Eagle, and stopped at a rest area to chat with Sammy and look over his MCI.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Yeah, we live in the same state and pass each other on I-80 out west. Crazy.
Quote from: Gordie Allen on December 01, 2017, 09:56:43 AM
Yeah, we live in the same state and pass each other on I-80 out west. Crazy.
Gordie -We live in WA now. Heading S to AZ for the winter at the end of next week.
How long are you going to be in CA? We'll be heading back to WA the first week of April, with stops in Fresno, San Jose and Roseville, other than that, our return trip is unscheduled.
RJ
Funny how that works lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro