Community Forums

rvgrandma · 12-22-2008, 06:51 PM

My question: why do they say they are RV friendly then do not give room for them to swing around? Do they even know what RV friendly is? Sometimes I think whoever designed the station didn't. They now put the pumps so you pull in facing the store with parking in front of the store.

This makes it extremely difficult to pull forward to fill your tank (ours is in the back) and swing around to leave. Flying J is one of our favorite places but they are not always RV friendly. We recently stopped at one in southern Utah that said 'RVs and Cars' but the only pump that you could get an RV into was the end one. Fortunately the pumps were at an angle. Unfortunately, when you left it was a drop off to the road which meant we had to angle leaving to not drag the and circle the neighborhood to leave.

We did stop at one somewhere back east in 2006 that said they had an RV island. They did - but it was not RV friendly. When we arrived there was a fifth wheel stuck in it. I liken it to going through a drive-thru: a sharp corner. We pulled into the regular spots, but decided against it. There was not enough room for us to pull forward to fill our tank due to parking in front of the store. We backed up the car (in tow on car dolly) far enough to swing around the pumps and leave. When we finally got out, he was still trying to figure out how to exit the 'rv island' without taking out the pump or damaging his RV.

Earlier this month we stopped at the Ogden Flying J which was truly RV friendly. They had plenty of room to pull through the RV island, swing back around to dump our tanks, and pull by to get propane - which was only $1.99!

Cheap after paying $3.69 in NV.

rvgrandma · 12-22-2008, 06:51 PM

My question: why do they say they are RV friendly then do not give room for them to swing around? Do they even know what RV friendly is? Sometimes I think whoever designed the station didn't. They now put the pumps so you pull in facing the store with parking in front of the store.

This makes it extremely difficult to pull forward to fill your tank (ours is in the back) and swing around to leave. Flying J is one of our favorite places but they are not always RV friendly. We recently stopped at one in southern Utah that said 'RVs and Cars' but the only pump that you could get an RV into was the end one. Fortunately the pumps were at an angle. Unfortunately, when you left it was a drop off to the road which meant we had to angle leaving to not drag the and circle the neighborhood to leave.

We did stop at one somewhere back east in 2006 that said they had an RV island. They did - but it was not RV friendly. When we arrived there was a fifth wheel stuck in it. I liken it to going through a drive-thru: a sharp corner. We pulled into the regular spots, but decided against it. There was not enough room for us to pull forward to fill our tank due to parking in front of the store. We backed up the car (in tow on car dolly) far enough to swing around the pumps and leave. When we finally got out, he was still trying to figure out how to exit the 'rv island' without taking out the pump or damaging his RV.

Earlier this month we stopped at the Ogden Flying J which was truly RV friendly. They had plenty of room to pull through the RV island, swing back around to dump our tanks, and pull by to get propane - which was only $1.99!

Cheap after paying $3.69 in NV.

GaryKD · 12-23-2008, 04:13 AM

The J has a variety of layouts. It depends on when the location was built. If you think you have a problem, My coach and toad combo is 64' long. Diesel is the fuel for me. Unless the RV islands are deserted (almost never) I can not use the RV island even at the J's most modern locations. It is just too dangerous. This means I must use the truck islands and pay 6 to 9 cents more (than at the RV island) for each gallon of diesel fuel! The J has never responded to my emails asking why they charge me more $s for the same fuel, when they force me to use the truck islands. Their location design and predatory pricing has taken me from a loyal customer to a convenience customer.

Ray,IN · 12-23-2008, 04:42 AM

As to Flying J, the company owned stores appear to have "adequate" room for RV's-but, then they have auto parking spots in front of the islands, limiting some very large rigs, as previous poster noted. We have a 40' 5er and it gets really tight sometimes.
The Flying J franchise stores, they are not owned by Flying, all seem to be a hodge-podge of RV signage and little else. I have bypassed some(exit 13 on I65 is bad) for fear of damage to our 5er.

Since there is no definition of "RV friendly" among non-RVers, this will not improve without our input. Stating our opinion to management may not change much other than make us feel better, but it's better than remaining silent.

read & learn · 12-23-2008, 05:53 AM

I agree that some J's are a little tight. What we do before getting to the point of no return is stop and make sure that we can get out of the pump area and than can we get out of the rest of the station.
We have found that if they have an area to park the RV with no problem than the rest of the station will be petty easy to drive around in.
The key is plan ahead.

Ronnie Bledsoe 2006 Dutchstar 43' · 12-23-2008, 06:28 AM

The J's usually have two auto pump lanes with diesel dispensers. I have found them to be friendly for my M/H and toad. Does not make the drivers of diesel pickups happy when I take 15 minutes to fuel. My problem with the RV pumps are the islands and cement barriers always seem to be a foot too close to make the turn.

Ronnie

dieselclacker · 12-23-2008, 06:50 AM

I had to pass up fueling at the J in Blackfoot Idaho, the last time thru. Just too much conjestion caused by island being too close to the store, and autos parking in front of the store. I opted to go to the Chevron across the intersection, no congestion and only one cent more per gallonn. My fuel is gasoline. I have found lots of Flying J's in my travels, that are far from my definition of being RV friendly.
I have, like GaryKD stated above, became a convience costomer to the J's, instead of a steady loyal one.

Dieselclaker

Explorer2 · 12-26-2008, 05:25 AM

My husband will not go into the RV island at flying J because the pumps are not set up for Credit card payment at the pump. He really dislikes that. So since we are 29' & use unleaded gas, he will pull into the car area and fill up(if it's not too busy). I notice this last trip we were not the only B+ or small C that did this.

Lindsay Richards · 12-26-2008, 05:33 AM

It is always best to stop, look and think a bit before pulling into any fueling area. There is no shame to just leaving the tight one and going on to another easier one and i have a long scratch on my coach to prove it. Never again will I take a chance. It's just not worth it. My wife and I have a little system when we are pulling in and if either of us feels uncomfortable, we just go on. The trick here too is to never get down below a quarter of a tank so you don't have to stop.

GaryKD · 12-26-2008, 05:39 AM

Hi Explorer2,

I have never been to a J (RV or Auto island), in the last 4 years, that would not take my credit card so I could pay at the pump, get my receipt and be on my way without going into the store. Do you remember what J would not allow you to pay at the pump?

The truck islands are a different story.

Hitchhiker · 12-26-2008, 05:53 AM

I usually just head for the truck lanes at a Flying J since the RV lanes are generally too tight or backed up with a line of RV's waiting. I burn diesel and have picked up one of their RV Real Value Plus MasterCards® so I get the cash price plus their discount on gasoline or diesel and their 5 cent discount on propane.

If the RV island will accommodate my rig I will pull in but those are usually rare.

Tom N · 12-26-2008, 07:03 AM

I'll bypass FlyingJs, except for propane, until they get their financial house in order. Many locations are currently low or even out of gas/fuel. I don't want to pump from a low tank because of possible contaminants.

-Tom

Explorer2 · 12-26-2008, 04:56 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by GaryKD:
Hi Explorer2,

I have never been to a J (RV or Auto island), in the last 4 years, that would not take my credit card so I could pay at the pump, get my receipt and be on my way without going into the store. Do you remember what J would not allow you to pay at the pump?

The truck islands are a different story. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The last two we went to on I-40 in Ok, NM. None of them had a pay at the pump. The pumps are short and have no slots for a credit card charge. If you know of something we miss,please share.

Explorer2 · 12-26-2008, 05:05 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom N:
I'll bypass FlyingJs, except for propane, until they get their financial house in order. Many locations are currently low or even out of gas/fuel. I don't want to pump from a low tank because of possible contaminants.

-Tom </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree, as posted on another post about flying J's is was upsetting to pull in and find them out of unleaded gas....

uh...GaryKD did you want to know which flying J's were out of unleaded gas too?