Information Discussion for Gate Guards

lizr49 wrote:
How many of you that or doing gate guard work are also fulltime RV'ers? I am asking as we overheard a comment today in the lot that maybe they should get an old trailer so they do not have to worry about their trailer getting messed up.

any and all info is appreciated.

You have heard right, this work is hard on a RV. This is our first experience at this and we have what was a very clean/new looking 2002 Holiday Rambler travel trailer. The dust gets in even being closed up except for going in and out, which can be very frequently unless you have a covered canopy to sit under which won't blow away. It has gotten down to 24 degrees at night for us coldest so far, so staying outside all night is not comfortable, especially when we had several days of rain awhile back. Tracking in dust and mud is a problem. We use Crocs and leave them outside most of the time to avoid tracking dirt in. We also have 3 small dogs that we wipe their feet every time they come in and wash and dry their feet when the ground is wet or damp. The Texas dirt and caliche cakes on and sticks to your feet and our dogs feet. Only way to get it off is wash it off then dry feet before letting them in.

The Texas roads even the paved ones are very uneven if you are pulling a travel trailer, don't know about a 5th wheel or motorhome. Following and trying to keep up with a the Gate Guard service person going 70 mph taking you to a new site is an experience. Then when you get off the paved road and travel a few miles to several miles on dirt/rock that been torn up by huge trucks and equipment slows you down to 6 to 10 mph to a max of 20 mph for us unless you really want to destroy tires and shake everything out inside.

We are glad we purchased a used unit that is very nice and didn't cost so much, and don't lose as much from depreciation.

The money is good though, especially if you can be lucky enough to get on a site where you can stay for a long time and not have to pack up every few days, or 2 to 4 weeks, and then get set up again. Our experience has been that both the oil company and the gate guard company wants you to be ready to go in a moments notice, which is stressful at times when trying to hurry. We just left a site yesterday, worked all morning until about 12noon getting packed and ready then traveled 112 miles to a new site. Hope we are here at least 2 weeks to help offset the cost of gas to get here.

Hope this information helps. Just our experience so far. I am sure others that have done this for many seasons have gotten used to the routine and can give you their advice also.

Good luck,

the "coolbikeman"