gas stations

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Not only do you need to look at the "entrance" and "exit" possibilities BEFORE pulling in, you also need to look UP at the possible overhead obstructions (again, BEFORE pulling in).

"The Next Exit" is a great travel book to carry with you. It carries info on what is available at each exit on all US interstates including gas, restaurants, hotels, rest areas, and tourist points of interest. The RV friendly gas stations are indicated in red print. They have longer bays and larger turning areas than other. Camp on!

Just drove a mile or so through a small town east of Seattle with one gas station after another and none suitable to pull into.

Finally found one and pulled all the way up to a pump only to discover that it was out of service (little handwritten note taped to pump). No problem, I'll just back up and move over to the next one - but no can do because that was out too. Only thing we could do was a crazy 180 turn to get to the nearest working one. Grrrr.... :M

Lesson learned is, don't pull all the way forward until you are sure the pump is working so you have a decent escape route.

We traveled from Arizona to the east coast and back last summer with a 35 ft Class A gas motor home. Many of the gas stations were situated with the pumps angled towards the convenience store so without a lot of work, we couldn't use them. Pilot/Flying J has a brochure that lists all of their stations and identifies what services are available, such as an RV lanes. You can download this in PDF also. In general, I was disappointed with the TA station access. They seem to be set up for cars in front and diesel trucks in back but not for gas RVs. Some Walmarts had good pull through lanes. This summer we will be towing a vehicle so we will have to be more careful!

1) Use common sense- every situation is different.
2) I tend to pull up to the first pump I come to and an outside one if possible (leaving the camper hanging behind me (and being sure I don't block the cross traffic))- but more importantly- leaving the pump ahead available for someone else to use...this sometimes forces me to back out.
3) Repeating #1 this does not always work.
4) I have very few 'traumatic' fueling experiences (27 ft TT) and rarely worry.
5) No argument- there are some tight stations in existence, but plenty of roomy ones too.

We preffer the Flying J's as many of them have seperate RV pumps.Other than that,I look for stations that have the pumps parralel to the road.If they are perpendicular to the road,then I prefer then end pumps.
Don't get yourself stuck in a situation where it may be possible to pull in,but impossible to pull out forcing you to back out into the road.

Use Google street view to scope out the potential fuel stops. That's how we do it if a truck stop isn't handy.

I'm a little OCD when it comes to this, but if I'm taking my trailer anywhere that I've never been to before, I look at the Google street view and plan my strategy. Never done this for a gas station before. I just look and see if there's enough room before I pull in.

If you can't find a drive through pick a station on a corner so you can exit on the side street. Pick an outside pump and come in wide, 3-4 ft away from the pump so you have room to swing around on the way out.