When will gas stations start truly accommodating trailers?

I hear you, it sure can be a challenge getting fuel when hitched to our 33' TT but we have always managed. I've long given up on relying on gas stations to air up any of the tires on all the vehicles we own since most are anemic at best. We have both AC (stored in TT basement) and DC portable compressors (stored under truck seat) that we bring for our trips, and at home we use our pancake compressor to fill our vehicle tires quickly.

RavensFan24 wrote:
... Also, side note......when will people realize that gas pumps are not parking spots. You pull up, fill up, and move out of the way. Don't park there, go inside, take a dump, browse for snacks, chat with people and then come back 20 minutes later to move your car and leave....

Can't change the location of the air pumps, that's why I have my own air compressor, I got tired of struggling to get air at gas stations and then face all the obstacles you've described. Do yourself a favor, purchase an air compressor that get's up to 125 pounds from Lowe's or Home Depot (won't cost that much), and save the headache like I did! Best purchase I made for my camper! (and my truck, and my car, and my bicycles, and my utility trailer, and my John Deere riding lawn mower, and my sons car.... ... you get the idea).

Anyway, about your "rant!" OH HOW I AGREE WITH YOU! MOVE IT MORON!

Thats what I like about Flying J truck stops. They have rv pumps. I like not getting pushed by Trucks, LP at the pump most time, dump stations. I will pay a few more cents a Gal more and use them over a reg truck stop or gas station if I can.

I am a civil engineer who has experience with site design. I'm not specifically going to defend the gas station owners, but in many cases their lots are not big enough to accommodate large vehicles and trucks, unless they are specifically designed for commercial traffic (such as truck stops).

What happens is that over time, highways are widened, which requires strips of land to be acquired along the frontage. This eventually reduces the land that the gas station has to work with, forcing modifications where pumps and/or buildings have to be relocated. The gas stations also have to meet township codes which require certain offsets to property lines, so this becomes a challenge as the lot shrinks.

Newer gas stations built on large lots don't really have an excuse, but most of the older stations do have challenges when it comes to accommodating larger vehicles. In many cases the lot is just not big enough to properly fit the pumps, awnings, buildings, etc that RV'ers can negotiate easily.

Also, on state highways, most DOTs regulate the access to the lot, especially if the property is at a corner of an intersection. So the owner can only have a certain number of driveways, and they have to be a certain distance from the intersection, at a certain angle and width. This is done to control the flow of traffic and reduce the number of conflicting turning movements. It dictates where a vehicle can enter and exit the gas station, and many times not to the advantage of someone driving a trailer-type rig.

You sound just like my husband and I have to agree with you too. I have often thought that there should be a Forum here for good Gas Stations - sorted by State. I wonder if it could be done? Then whenever you find a good gas station you can add it to the list.

We have a Pilot/Flying J card and we use their gas stations whenever we can - and their App on the iphone will tell you where the nearest stations are, if they have dedicated RV lanes and if they accept the card - and a lot more. After using the stations you can also rate them and comment as to how good they are or aren't.

Loves gas stations also have a similar App and that is useful too.

I have also downloaded Trucker Pro App which tells me not only the gas stations around but also rest areas and more. We have used some Shell stations found on this App which have proved to be excellent.

Just a few thoughts....