By Gail Marsh
Perhaps you’ve been there… It’s fast approaching dinnertime. Everyone is getting a bit hangry (hungry and angry) and needing to stretch. Face it. You tried to cram too much travel time into one day.
What to do first? Get food? Try and find an RV park in the area and hope by some miracle they have a site for your rig? Pull over at the next rest area and try to catch a few winks? Before your fellow travelers get too overwrought, find the nearest truck stop. Yes, you read that right!
Not just for truckers
What makes a truck stop so great? Take a look at the RV-friendly amenities offered at many of these highway respites, like Love’s Travel Stops, Pilot Flying J, and more.
• Food. Even the picky eater in your group will find something they like to eat. In most cases, well-known restaurant chains are located right inside the truck stop – like Arby’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Taco Bell, DQ, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Huddle House. Just hungry for a sweet pick-me-up? Some Pilot Flying J locations feature Cinnabon and Carvel.
• RV parking. You don’t need to worry about finding space for your big rig. Truck stop parking lots are big. Really big! And many feature special areas for RVs to park. Even overnight! You can book a site with full hookups at some Love’s Travel Stops. Check here.
• Laundry. Heading home from a week’s worth of travel? You can do your laundry before you get home!
• Dumpsites. Some, but not all, offer this service. Call ahead or search online to see if your location does.
• Private showers. If you’ve been dry camping, this can mean the difference between another night of sticking to the sleeping bag lining or sleeping clean and comfortably.
• To go. Truck stops have great coffee, but many stores also offer fresh fruits, handy grab-n-go snacks, and soft drinks, too.
• Propane. Most truck stops offer both bulk propane refills and small propane exchange tanks for your grill.
• Tire repair and more. Yes, you may be able to get that spare tire fixed at the truck stop. Some places also have general mechanics for your convenience.
• Dog parks. All newly built Love’s Travel Stops incorporate this amenity, as do many of its competitors. Older stops are adding this feature, as well.
• Wi-Fi. Every national truck stop chain we’ve stopped at has offered free Wi-Fi. Most have a consistently strong signal, too.
Downsides?
Of course, there are downsides to stopping in a highway truck stop. Here are just a few:
• The high volume of traffic means you’ll need to be alert as you follow signage for RV-friendly fuel lanes. If the RV fuel lanes are full you can use the trucker fuel lanes. Just be sure to pull well away from the pumps once you’ve gassed up. (Those truckers want to get back on the road ASAP!)
• Overnight stays in a truck stop can be noisy! You may have diesel transporter trucks entering the station for fuel throughout the night. Most truck stops are located right next to the interstate highway, so you’ll have constant traffic noise, as well.
• Fuel prices can be higher at truck stops than stations a bit farther off the highway. Check apps like GasBuddy to compare prices. Know that smaller fuel stations may not be able to accommodate your rig’s size – specifically overhead clearance.
• Stopping at national-brand mega truck stops also means you’ll miss some of the local flavor of the region. (Although we have seen boiled peanuts in some of the big truck stops in the South.) That said, even Cinnabon can’t beat a good, local, mom-and-pop-owned restaurant.
When you travel, do you stop at truck stops? Have you ever stayed overnight at a truck stop? We’d love to hear what you think! Please share in the comments below.
RELATED
- Does this Love’s campground represent the future of RVing?
- Ever wonder what the inside of a semi-truck sleeper cab looks like? Here you go!
- Why RVers should be using truckers’ road atlases
##RVT1213
As a former Over the Road truck driver, I beg you, as an RVer, to NOT stay in a truckstop. Truck drivers have a hard enough time finding a place to stay as it is..
They don’t have the options available to an RVer such as a RV park, campgrounds, even Cracker Barrel’s, but they do have a computer telling them when they MUST shut down or be in violation of Federal laws. You see trucks parked on the off ramps because there is nothing available in the rest areas or truck stops. Please help the truckers stay safe and let them find a place to sleep so they can keep America fed/clothed/fueled.
Yes this was my concern. Stay out of the truck parking areas. Many larger truck stops will have small areas set aside for RV or bus parking. My impression is use the facilities, maybe catch a nap, but full overnight RV parking is if not enforced, frowned upon. Unless there are specifically overnight RV spots (like a growing number of Love’s).
The stops that have dedicated RV spots are few and far between.
Not necessarily the case. Any truck stop we’ve stayed overnight in have separate parking for RVs. We’ve never taken up a big rig space.
We have the Open Roads fuel card. We use the truck lanes for fuel but pull forward if when done.
I agree – leave truck stops for truckers. I used to overnight at stops, (before the days of the new Loves) but realized RVers have other options, truckers don’t.
Truck stops are for TRUCK parking. Our truckers are working and there are not enough parking spots for them without clogging them up with a bunch of RVers. If you are a van and can park in a car spot, fine. Otherwise look for one of the new Love’s RV Stops, or specific designated RV spots. Some have full hookups, are next door or nearby to the truck stop for food, snacks, etc. and do not impact the livelihood of the person delivering your groceries, household supplies, medical supplies, etc. Be considerate, fuel your vehicle if you need to use their pumps, pull out of the way and let the truckers rest when required. They don’t have the option of just driving a little further to find a place.
We get our diesel fuel at truck stops that honor our Open Road fuel program. We’ve only stayed overnight at a truck stop when there was room to park other than in the truck spots…those drivers have to have a place to stop and we don’t want to take their space. We’ve eaten at many truck stops when they have room for us to park as above.
Trucks stops, rest stops, off-ramps and truck parking areas are for truckers not us.
Truckers have safety restrictions that dictate where they must pull over. We don’t. We have a bed with kitchen, bathroom and living space that can go anywhere, semi-trucks don’t. They’re hauling freight so just because our RV can fit in a truck’s spot doesn’t mean it should.
Now, if the day ever comes that RV Parks and campgrounds get overwhelmed with overnighting trucks, my opinion might change.
We’ve used Love’s many times for overnight and even used their minimal RV parks. Works great for us because of food, fuel, dog area, and security. Whenever we stay at one that is not set up for RV’s we ask first and they happily tell us where and where not to park.
They are great for fuel and snacks but I haven’t stayed in one since I was a teenager driving across the country. Very noisy and smelly.
Please, please, please do not park in spaces for trucks. There are huge shortages of truck parking. In rest areas, rv’s can go to the parking for cars and just park in areas before or past the buildings.
Truck drivers need a place to pull over when they are out of hours. They can get nasty if they need a place to park and an rv is in it.
They can be nasty even when they have plenty of spots to park their rigs. I was intentionally and aggressively parked in by two 18-wheelers a couple of years ago outside Salt Lake City. We drove a motor home and were towing a car, making it challenging to get out of there. One was unidentifiable because the license plate had been obscured, and no other company information. My two uncles were truck drivers (now long retired) and say that many truckers have become quite belligerent since trucking was deregulated in the 1970s. Too much competition for hauls. He won, though. I don’t park at truck stops anymore.
You might even get something you don’t like at any truck stop anymore. Lot of sketchy characters around them anymore…and don’t bother asking most any trucker for help anymore…they don’t make em like they used to.
We stopped at one just to get lunch. I parked in a spot that was at the far end of the lot, all alone, with no trucks anywhere near us. When we came out an hour later, there was a truck on either side of us, each less than two feet away. A lot of other empty spots throughout the area, but they had to sandwich us in. They must have been running together.
Couple years back we were passing through west Texas and spent the night at a truck stop, because we couldn’t find any place else within 100 miles. I parked in the far back corner of the lot in the last marked space. By midnight there were trucks stacked 3 deep outside of us where there were no lines. At 6 a.m. the new young driver beside us decided to leave and took our mirror, awning, and steps with him as he turned to quickly and drug his trailer across our nose. He had to be a new driver as he actually stopped and gave us his insurance info. If he had kept driving he would have been out of reach by the time I put on my jeans and got outside the rv. No more truck stops for me!
We use to stay overnight at Flying J’s that had RV fuel lanes and RV parking. Now some still have the fuel lanes but all the Flying J’s we know of have torn up all the RV parking areas and put in EV Charging stations.
On our last cross-country trip, we broke down and had to be towed to Laramie. We spent 2 nights at the Petro Truck stop before being able to resume our trip. Truck stops became our friend and they were a great option that freed us up to travel as far or little as we chose each day without worrying about reservations or city ordinances forbidding parking lot O/N. Yes, they can be noisy and it’s important to make sure they welcome RVs.
Thank you for the discussion, Gail! Yes, in the lower-48 we exclusively refuel the RV at truck stops. In Canada we use conventional stations if the diesel pumps are not under a canopy, or Petro Canada cardlocks. In Alaska we use anything offering diesel for sale so long as the dispenser/pump is not under a canopy. Have never gotten food and rarely gotten snacks because we are able to pay at the pump. We usually fix food in the RV rather than getting take-out. We may try one of Love’s RV parks one day, but for now, we only get fuel and get back on the road. Have a great week and safe travels!