Loves Truck Stops - no love for RV's?

[joshjack]

In the last I've often stopped and various truck stops for diesel and DEF. I use the truck side since its set up for people towing, while the "civilian" side is usually very tight and busy.

Today I stopped at a Love's on I65 south of Nashville. The truck stalls didn't take credit cards at all, only corporate fuel cards. Going inside they had to auth for a specific amount, you couldn't just leave your card and fill up.

Anyone else seen this? In the past I've always paid credit at the pump.

[overlander63]

Yes. Several of the local truck refilling places do not accept pay at the pump.

[Wingeezer]

Had the same experience at Loves.

It is a pain having to go in and line up twice. I use Loves only in an emergency and try to use Flying J's whenever I can. I also like the fact that FJ's (most) have RV pump islands and also overnight RV parking slots.

[joshjack]

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

Had the same experience at Loves.

It is a pain having to go in and line up twice. I use Loves only in an emergency and try to use Flying J's whenever I can. I also like the fact that FJ's (most) have RV pump islands and also overnight RV parking slots.

I've had good luck with Pilot too. Maybe I'll just start avoiding Love's.

[pt.reyesfan]

I avoid Loves for this exact reason.
A real pain.
Ed

[Airtandem]

Isn't PILOT AND FJ associated with Good Sam, they give the GS discount ?
mj

[bbdo]

Flying J/Pilot are my preference but I signed up for a "Pump Start" card at Loves. You can swipe it at the pump and fill up, then go in and pay. Not nearly as good as paying at the pump of course, but way better than the 2 trips inside. The card is free and eventually i may buy enough diesel to get a free cup of coffee. FWIW.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Airtandem

Isn't PILOT AND FJ associated with Good Sam, they give the GS discount?

When I signed up for the discount card, right after I bought my diesel Airstream Interstate, I found out too late that the discount only applied to purchases of 25 gallons or more. Problem is, an Interstate only has a 26-gallon tank, and I'll never run it down to my last gallon. So no Pilot/Flying J discounts for me, and I've never once used the card.

But I will also never again shop at Love's, for fuel or anything else. On I-20 westbound headed for Dallas in December 2012 (on my way to my parents' house in Altus, OK for my dad's funeral), I was tailgated for over 20 miles by a semi delivering fuel for Love's, despite the fact that traffic was light and there were ample opportunities to go around. Since he wouldn't change lanes and go around, I tried changing lanes to get out from in front of him, but he changed lanes with me to stay behind me. Having 40 tons of semi less than 3 feet from the rear bumper of my 1½ tom Honda at 70mph for 20+ miles scared the crap out of me. As soon as I got off the highway (going way too fast for the exit) and rested long enough for the after-incident shakes to go away, I dug out my laptop and fired off an extremely nasty email to the Love's headquarters, telling them about the incident and vowing to never buy anything at all at Love's ever again. Anybody who would employ a driver who would perform such a criminally dangerous stunt is somebody I want no part of. I didn't even know it was a Love's truck until I exited the highway and saw it drive on. Until that moment, all I could see was a chrome grille in my rearview mirror. By the way, no one ever replied to my email. But to this day I've boycotted Love's Country Stores, and will continue to do so even if I have to walk past one to buy fuel somewhere else.

[Airtandem]

Not sure about the gas,but I get 10 per cent on LP for grill.
mj

[Phoenix]

We get two discounts on gasoline at Pilot & Flying J:

• 5 cents per gallon with Good Sam membership card (per-gallon price drops 5 cents on pump display when Good Sam card is swiped)
  
  
• 4% rebate when Costco/Citi VISA card is used (received as part of Costco annual rebate)

For example, if gasoline is $2.00 gallon, the total discount is 13 cents per gallon, or 6.5%.

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

But I will also never again shop at Love's, for fuel or anything else. On I-20 westbound headed for Dallas in December 2012 (on my way to my parents' house in Altus, OK for my dad's funeral), I was tailgated for over 20 miles by a semi delivering fuel for Love's, despite the fact that traffic was light and there were ample opportunities to go around. Since he wouldn't change lanes and go around, I tried changing lanes to get out from in front of him, but he changed lanes with me to stay behind me. Having 40 tons of semi less than 3 feet from the rear bumper of my 1½ tom Honda at 70mph for 20+ miles scared the crap out of me.

I have noticed that recently there are more jerks driving trucks and acting like the road is theirs and show no consideration for anyone else on the road.
Still a lot of great truckers but one jerk can mess up a lot of other folks good drive.
On my MH, I seldom have a problem with truckers because I do 60 and stay in the right lane unless there is a truck playing hill tag.
My solution to a jerk like yours is to slow down by 10 MPH and give the idiot time to pass. After you have some breathing room, bring it back up to your normal cruising speed.
If the idiot still wont get off your ass, thenI would take a picture of his door ID and front plate and call the cops and turn him in as a unsafe driver or road rage driver. He or she wont be driving any more.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by joshjack

In the last I've often stopped and various truck stops for diesel and DEF. I use the truck side since its set up for people towing, while the "civilian" side is usually very tight and busy.

Today I stopped at a Love's on I65 south of Nashville. The truck stalls didn't take credit cards at all, only corporate fuel cards. Going inside they had to auth for a specific amount, you couldn't just leave your card and fill up.

Anyone else seen this? In the past I've always paid credit at the pump.

I've done it per their method many times. It's not just Loves. May have to do with age of equipment, etc.

[DanB]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

..., I was tailgated for over 20 miles ....

What prevented you from pulling over to terminate the dangerous situation?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by WayneG

My solution to a jerk like yours is to slow down by 10 MPH and give the idiot time to pass.

As previously stated, he had all the room in the world to pass because traffic was so light, but he wouldn't. In fact, when I changed lanes to get out of his way, he also changed lanes to get back behind me! And I didn't dare slow down because he was literally just 3 feet from my bumper. I'm not suicidal; holding a steady speed seemed the safest course. If I'd have sped up, he would have sped up to stay on my bumper and we would have reached a point where my reaction time wasn't up to the task of avoiding an accident. If I'd have slowed down at all, he would have hit me instantly.

If the idiot still won't get off your ass, then I would take a picture of his door ID and front plate and call the cops and turn him in as a unsafe driver or road rage driver. He or she wont be driving any more.

Hard to take a picture when (1) he's following so close all I can see is his grille, too close to see his front plate below the bottom edge of the rear window; (2) the phone is in my pocket where it belongs while I'm driving and I don't dare take a hand off the wheel to fish it out; (3) when I finally do get out from behind him I'm going 20mph faster than the design speed of the off-ramp and devoting 98% of my concentration to avoid crashing, with only 2% to spare to catch the truck's logo as he sped by.

I never was able to positively ID the exact truck or driver, just the company logo, and I just counted myself lucky to be alive. Like I said, I had the shakes so bad when it was all over that I couldn't even drive for a while. Luckily I'm one of those folks who gets the shakes when I'm done being scared come down off the adrenaline rush, and not one who gets the shakes while I'm being scared.

And to be honest, I didn't even think of using my car's Bluetooth to simply voice-dial, "Dial 911" and call the Texas State Troopers, though in hindsight that would have worked. I never make calls when I'm driving, so my brain didn't even remember that I could voice-dial.

[slowmover]

You did something to piss off that Gemini driver. But as a Haz Mat carrier, he had ZERO business acting in that way. He can be fired for a lot less. I'll bet he was empty, too.

Given what I'll surmise are your habits at the wheel, I find it incongruous that "offense" offered was serious.

Those trucks are equipped with driver facial cameras, road cameras and sophisticated GPS. Liability is huge for fuel carriers. You wouldn't have needed to ID him. Just a phone call would be good, or to stop at sheriffs office or Texas DPS for them to take a look at you would have been enough to get an arrest warrant started, IMO.

Terrorists and fuel trucks make everyone damned nervous.

About forty years ago I had an ass like that tailgate me on US-82. Two lane and a shoulder in name only. I had to wave a Smith 4" barrel .357 out the drivers window to get his attention that I was as serious as he.

.

[RandyNH]

That sounds like a standard panic situation reaction, not faulting you at all, but with the realization that he NEVER hit you for the 20 miles means that he was paying attention, he has no more desire to hit you than you to be hit.

The resolution is to calm down, and very slowly decrease speed, you can turn your hazard lights on, to get attention, and then with either pull over enough to encourage passing or completely if necessary. I have done this, I have slowed the right lane to 35mph, when left with no other choice and I have exited the highway only to get right back on, to remove myself from the grouping of drivers I felt were endangering me.

All of these resolutions are potential outcomes of a number of various issues your TV or trailer might develope and could happen anyways, I simply choose to limit my potential mishaps to one at a time. This or That...

[slowmover]

Tailgating by a big truck is ANYTHING under 100'.

Protagonist was talking about other than really sloppy habits.

And it's not easy to shake a determined tailgater. Try losing a drunk Mexican on a lightly travelled highway. Had to deal with that several times. Another gun was going to have had to be taken up.

Do not think these things impersonal. An attempt or two to get away without success is signal that something else is afoot.

You'd NEVER allow this while walking, for instance.

.

[Mollysdad]

Remember the movie "Duel"? It was Steven Spielberg's first movie. The truck was trying to run down the leading actor, you never saw the truck driver or why he was acting crazy.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by RandyNH

That sounds like a standard panic situation reaction, not faulting you at all, but with the realization that he NEVER hit you for the 20 miles means that he was paying attention, he has no more desire to hit you than you to be hit.

You're probably right. But knowing how much damage I'd take from getting hit versus how little damage he'd take from hitting me, I wasn't about to risk it. I was on my way to my dad's funeral. I didn't want to be on the way to my own.

I wasn't panicked, exactly. But I was as tense as I've ever been and I was wired on adrenaline from the moment he got on my bumper at one on-ramp until I got out from in front of him at the next one. Let me tell you, coming down off an adrenaline rush like that is not fun!

I might have accidentally pissed the other driver off when he got on the highway behind me. Maybe he thought I cut him off or something. But if memory serves (sometimes it doesn't) at the moment he was merging onto the highway, there was someone in the left lane passing me so I couldn't change lanes to give him room to merge unopposed. So he probably had to brake slightly to merge. At this late date I can't imagine what else I might have done to upset him enough to intimidate me for so long.

[Rfriebele]

My relatives live near a monstrosity called Centerpoint, near Chicago, the largest transport hub in the country. Trucks everywhere and the need for drivers has created a horrible situation. Roads destroyed, trucks lined up for miles, accidents & fatalities skyrocketing and active citizen campaigns to halt the madness. Trucks need their own lanes. Drivers need more qualifications. It's so bad.