Loves RV overnight spots and Easy Gas Pumps

[JudyJB]

On this trip we're seeing more "Double Love's". Two nearly identical side by side each with it's own entrance, store, fuel, propane etc.

Just today we stopped at one of these and the outside pump that's easy to get to was occupied by a pickup with no driver. Waited quite awhile for this dumbell to get back and drive away but finally gave up, exited Love's #1 and pulled into Love's #2 next door. Gassed up got propane.

They did have a few RV sites and my guess is that Love's #2 was newer and they added the RV sites when built. However, there were only a few sites and all weren't very level.

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The problem I have with the "double Love's" is that often only one of them has propane, and I twice have ended up at the one that does not, so had to go across the street to get propane. And the last time, there was a barrier in the middle of the road that made it harder. I told them they needed to put up a sign indicating which station had propane so people would not have to do so much moving our big rigs around!

 

[jymbee]

The problem I have with the "double Love's" is that often only one of them has propane, and I twice have ended up at the one that does not, so had to go across the street to get propane. And the last time, there was a barrier in the middle of the road that made it harder. I told them they needed to put up a sign indicating which station had propane so people would not have to do so much moving our big rigs around!

I have seen that but in this case both Love's were side by side with identical services at at both (propane). Easy to get from one to the other

From this pic it would seem that the one at the bottom is newer. Not sure of their long term strategy with respect to development. If both will remain or... ?

 

[Trivet]

The problem I have with the "double Love's" is that often only one of them has propane, and I twice have ended up at the one that does not, so had to go across the street to get propane.

Did you try checking the Loves website? If you click on "Location and Fuel Prices" on the home page, you can see, uh, locations and fuel prices.

But included in the fuel prices is propane.

At the one pictured above, in Prescott, Arkansas, it's interesting. On the Love's website, it says propane at the one with Bojangles is $3.99 a gallon, and propane at the one with Hardee's is $3.49 a gallon. That doesn't make sense.

But I looked at some street view photos, and in February 2024, propane at the one with Bojangles was $2.99 a gallon, and at the one with Hardee's was $3.99 a gallon. Which makes even less sense--a bigger price differential AND the more/less expensive locations flip flopped.

 

[Trivet]

Plus I can easily maneuver in the chain truck stops. The independent discount stations often have such a small footprint a Honda Civic is hard to get in and out.

I go only to stations that have dedicated truck pumps out back, so maneuvering is not a problem. And I really don't think Speedway or the like buy fuel that's dredged from the bottom of the refinery tank.

I looked on the Open Roads app at Love's stations south of Atlanta where they have a discount. The pump price at the Hogansville Loves is $3.94 (diesel), but the discounted price with Open Roads is $3.15. And there's a Speedway 10 miles from there with a discount price of $3.05. The pump price at that Speedway is $3.09.

That's often my experience--the pump price at Speedway or QuikTrip or Maverik is competitive with, or lower than, the Open Roads discounted price at places like Love's or TA. Not always, but often enough that I never go to Love's or the like without checking around.

And, really, a 4-cent discount at Speedway? Even my crappy credit card with a 1.5% cash rebate works out to a better deal than that.

Plus by not buying at Love's/TA/Pilot/Petro, I'm not supporting their business model where truckers pay a LOT less than us RV-owning saps.

We took a cross country tip last summer with several friends. I was in charge of finding fuel stations, so I was constantly looking for places with lower costs. They called me the "Gas Master".

Yeah, I'm the "gas master" for our motorhome. (Although it's diesel.) I use Open Roads mainly to establish the price to beat.