FYI Motorhome not allowed at a truck stop

[skychs]

July 1st, after fueling (TSD) and eating at the restaurant in the truck stop I was approached by two males who told me and I quote “if you don’t have a DOT number on your vehicle you can not park here”.

This occurred at a TSD approved TA truck stop in Laurel Montana. I was in a 2015 Newmar Ventana LE motorhome.

Are motorhomes (RV’s) not allowed anymore?

 

[Neal]

I've never heard that so I'll be following this discussion. You weren't in a reserved spot by any chance where you? I did that once and got the knock on the door, there was no parking anywhere else.

 

[redbaron]

you where victim of a trucker with an attitude. Best to just leave in that situation. Never happened to me, but have heard of it happening to others.

Every trucker I have met has been kind and conversational.

 

[Neal]

Every trucker I have met has been kind and conversational.

Ditto - I've been amazed how friendly they've been with me in their lanes at the truck stop. They admire RV's which is amazing, from the little experience I've had talking with them.

 

[skychs]

I've never heard that so I'll be following this discussion. You weren't in a reserved spot by any chance where you? I did that once and got the knock on the door, there was no parking anywhere else.

I was not in a reserved spot. The parking area was wide open. It was around 1pm in the afternoon. I was waiting to check in at a local RV park.

 

[Neal]

In my short 4 years I've never had a confrontation. Let's hope yours is the only one we ever hear about again. Sorry you had to be treated that way. Bummer! I wonder if that does happen again if someone inside the facility should be informed??

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Were the two guys truckers? The OTR folks get a little protective of their parking spaces once-in-a-while.

My guess is they weren’t employees of the truck stop. I would pick up the phone and call that T/A. Ask for the store manager and ask whether motorhomes are no longer welcome to park there. Explain what happened to you. My guess is that the answer will be that motorhomes are always welcome.

We do try to avoid parking in truck stalls whenever possible as they are a limited resource for truckers. Unlike motorhome drivers, they MUST take mandated rest breaks after so many hours on the road and if they can’t find a place to park their rig, it becomes a problem. We have never experienced a problem with short stays at truck stops.

You probably just hit a sensitive spot with a couple of truckers.

TJ

 

[skychs]

It’s hard to say who they were. They did not identify themselves. There was another RV beside me who had to leave. Again, the place was wide open with more empty spaces than full.

Maybe I should let TSD know about it as well?

 

[Neal]

It’s hard to say who they were. They did not identify themselves. There was another RV beside me who had to leave. Again, the place was wide open with more empty spaces than full.

Maybe I should let TSD know about it as well?

About 3 times I've been approached for money, typically at gas stations not truck stops. This situation could be along the same lines, rather than asking for money they are harassing/bullying customers. Take a picture with your camera, if safe, and I'd report them. This is a good lesson we can all learn from. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AbdRahim]

I try to park somewhere other than in the truck parking spaces - eitherRV/bus spot or “illegal” spot. They do have to stop by law, so they need their spots. Of course lately, I have run into little cars and bobtail in the RV spots. Sometimes it is a battle for spaces.

 

[Buly]

It makes me mad when I see a car or a pick up truck parked on a 70’ long truck space, while the car parking spots are empty.
As I said before, some are just born idiots.

 

[skychs]

I reported the event to TSD Logistics. It was one of their designated fuel stops. If I hear anything from them I will let you know. In the future I will be more inquisitive as to who was requesting us to leave. With the Hydraulic lift on the back of the couch I’m easily 39-40’ in length so I typically have to use a truck lane. Hopefully it was a isolated event. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Wow - sorry to hear this happened to you. We always try to avoid the busy areas to leave room for the commercial truck drivers. But due to our overall length we won’t fit just anywhere along the edge, I have tried and now just take a real spot (we routinely hang over the length of the semi parking spots at some rest areas).

We routinely do the same thing you just mentioned; stop for fuel, park in a spot away from most trucks, walk the dogs in some grass and finally go inside the store to get carry out food to eat in the coach.

Last fuel stop the only parking spots available were “reserved” spots, but there were dozens open, so I just hoped it would not be a problem since I was only there for 30 min. Luckily we didn’t have an issue.

Now I know, if I receive a similar command to leave, I will be prepared to ask who they are and verify they are authorized to make the request. I don’t want to make waves with truckers, but I need space to be safe too.

 

[MapNerd]

Wow! Thanks for sharing. Never had this happen to me. Crazy that some people can be such jerks. If it happens again, I would do as @TJ&LadyDi said. Call for verification.

 

[FL-JOE]

I'm guessing they were just a couple truckers, and maybe not OTR but maybe local-yokals or local yard monkeys for some close by terminal. Whoever they were you can bet they did not represent that TA station.

This has never happened to us. Now that we are back in a fiver we generally try to plan a fuel stop around our lunch break and will use a back-in space where we fuel. If the truck stop is crazy busy then we go on down the road, but if there are a lot of spots available then I never hesitate to occupy one.

 

[Rbjewell]

It’s hard to say who they were. They did not identify themselves. There was another RV beside me who had to leave. Again, the place was wide open with more empty spaces than full.

Maybe I should let TSD know about it as well?

What does TSD stand for. Just asking?

 

[Fish]

What does TSD stand for. Just asking?

TSD Logistics - Bulk Freight Transport - Trucking Company

TSD Logistics is based in Texarkana, but we are a leading freight and long haul trucking company in the United States. Request a freight quote today.

www.tsdlogistics.com

Home of the EFS fuel card. They get discounts at truck stops.

I've pretty much quit using mine, got tired of being glared at by truckers in the next lane, plus it was just easier to unhook at my stop for the night and fuel up my dually in whatever town for the same price.

Now that I'm moving on to the Monaco diesel pusher I'll probably have to start using it again.

 

[Rbjewell]

Thanks

 

[NGC 613]

Drove over the road for a while after I retired. Never heard any truck drivers complain about truck stops and fuel line use by RV'ers. Not once.
There have never been signs posted saying no RV allowed either. It would be a first if I did see such a sign. You made no mention of seeing any signs stating that either. What you ran in to was a couple ass hats and you should have gone in to the TA and spoke with the manager right away. Failing to do so leads the 2 ass hats to doing it again to other RV'ers. Don't ask who they are go in and speak with the on duty manager.
Ask them to join you when you go.

On another note. I have heard lots and lots of times, truckers complain about the way a lot of RV'ers drive. I have seen it myself. RV'ers especially class A drivers are care less and reckless going way to fast. I do mean a good 55 to 60 % of them too. They get way to comfortable behind the wheel of that big old BUS!! Yes it is a bus. Just because a posted speed limit is 75 doesn't mean that big rig should be going that fast. It was not and is not designed to do so. Bad driving RV'ers well I could go on about that. As for truck stops and truck drivers telling someone to leave. I have huge doubts. Some ya hoo maybe and ass hat for sure.

I still hold my class A . I fined getting work camp positions in the summer season easy to do and fun as we camp for free or near free while working 3 or 4 days a week and getting 3 or 4 days off each week to explore the area were in. There are hundreds of seasonal drivers wanted for all kinds of things in and around national parks and resort areas. The pocket money goes a long ways and we meet all sorts of folks while working these areas. We enjoy it greatly. Worked in Pisgah National for a short while this late spring early summer. Now were in Pigeon Forge working for Dollywood. They treat us very very well and we meet folks from all over the world. Next year looking at the Bad Lands or Rush More area.
OPS carried away again. DAM IT JIM !!

 

[Joe Hogan]

On another note. I have heard lots and lots of times, truckers complain about the way a lot of RV'ers drive. I have seen it myself. RV'ers especially class A drivers are care less and reckless going way to fast. I do mean a good 55 to 60 % of them too. They get way to comfortable behind the wheel of that big old BUS!! Yes it is a bus. Just because a posted speed limit is 75 doesn't mean that big rig should be going that fast. It was not and is not designed to do so.

Agreed that many drive too fast for the rig. Anything over 65mph in my CanyonStar, the steering gets so light that it is hard to stay in lane, especially when towing or in windy conditions. The more wind the slower I drive within reason.
Heading down I40 in NM a coupe of years ago with 40+ knot cross winds, the CanyonStar was stable at 50-55 mph. The road was littered with over turned semis and other trucks. The CanyonStar surprised me that it was so stable.