Loves is refusing showers.

[Ash_Around]

I know this is hygiene but thought this is also pretty big news. I posted in the reddit community as well but wanted to let y’all know here too. 

It just came to my attention that some LOVES are refusing showers without proof of 18 wheeler driver status. I decided to call and check with corporate and was informed in a fairly rude way that unless you are a professional long distance driver that you are not allowed to use their showers and even if you are a driver you are supposed to be staying onsite to use them. I personally know I won’t be supporting them with my business anymore if I can help it and plan on leaving a comment with BBB. It’s a bummer that even paying customers are turned away. 

I’m currently waiting to verify with Pilot Flying J if they have the same regulations.

Edit: after an hour on hold the conversation I had with Pilot/ Flaying J was night and day! The woman was surprised by my question and said “Of course paying customers can take a shower!” She even double checked with her supervisor. So now when I have that Love’s on one side of the highway and Pilot on the other I know where I’ll be going for gas and showers!

 

[RVTravel]

Thanks for the info

 

[ProfessorChaos]

Sorry to hear Loves do this but I wonder if truckers were complaining and that is the reason they only let them take showers now.

 

[Seminole Wind]

most of the loves i ran across seamed to have smaller facilities so i could see them getting overwhelmed.

i dont blam them, they dont call them truck stops for nothing. of course we can also choose to support other companies that are not so exclusive. the power of the free market and voting with your wallet...

 

[Wabbit]

Thanks for the info Ash. That policy might drive you away, but I imagine that the same policy would prob attract any number of truckers. If I was a trucker, this policy might sway me to look for Loves instead of Flying J. As it is, I'm a bum in a van, so I'll be a Flying J guy if it ever arises. It's prob a combination of what PC and SW said above. Don't take it personally, although the lady on the phone being a bitch about it is uncalled for, lol.

 

[RoamerRV428]

yea rude customer service reps suk for sure!

but I won't stop using Loves because of that reason. Professional truck stops are just that. There was a time a person wouldn't stop at a 'truck stop' but now they are being swamped by everyone. I get it. Truckers need and should have their own space. Gazillions of truckers on the road, I can give them their space and place if needed for their jobs. I have no problems with just that. I can accommodate myself elsewhere if needed.

 

[MrNoodly]

...they dont call them truck stops for nothing...

But they've been marketing themselves as "travel stops." 

 

[MrNoodly]

Loves has crappy towels anyway.

 

[WanderingRose]

I might be inclined to ask to see a copy of the corporate policy regarding use of the showers.

It may be a restriction determined by local managers, possibly just in high usage locations, maybe not even that.

It seems rather inhospitable, given that these are pay showers, not something free that people are trying to take advantage of.

 

[RoamerRV428]

MrNoodly said it all!!!

 

[RoamerRV428]

I think every truck stop is now a travel stop for all, they want all your bucks in their pockets on every occasion they can get it but they were designed as truck stops for big rigs and options for big riggers to use. The travel stop was a rest room, gas and munchies. The rest was 'supposedly' for the long over the road truckers who need this service mostly. Yea I get it tho.....they want all the bucks in their hands, maybe at the expense of the truckers who really need certain services.

 

[Headache]

I think every truck stop is now a travel stop for all,...

It depends on the area and traffic.   In Quartzsite neither of them are.  Loves has very few travel plazas.   The TA, Flying Hook and other large scale operations have more opening all the time but they have the traffic and real estate to support it. 

In the bigger ones with travel plazas they have been remodeling them/ building them with separate drivers areas that only CDL holders may use. 

If you use truck stops do your due diligence and don't shower at peak times which are roughly from 5am to 9am and from 7pm to about 9pm.  Or look on the shower monitors to see how busy they are. 

With more people hitting the road for a lifestyle or otherwise the smaller operations are overwhelmed.

 

[RoamerRV428]

good info Headache

 

[highdesertranger]

LOL, why do I keep reading the title as,

Love is refusing to shower.

that's not right.

highdesertranger

 

[Seminole Wind]

well HDR, sometimes, love does stink...

 

[maki2]

I can understand the policy, truckers have schedules they have to keep to. If they are working for a trucking company they are being monitored via GPS tracking by the office staff. The trucking industry has entered the modern age of tracking time, distance and location.

 

[Seminole Wind]

the trucking industry has been tracking all that for ages. drivers are only allowed to drive so many hours before stopping. when a drivers is waiting for a shower, that does not count towards the hours they can drive. it often can count as rest time towards being available for more hours to drive. the trucking company doesnt care what a driver does in their non-driving time. as long as they drive the max hours at a reasonable speed in the right direction. that is all the company cares about. it is more about a driver just not wanting to wait. just like you might not like a long line checking out at a store. it cuts into yours and theirs personal time

and it seams loves is putting they bet on making more money keeping truckers happy that rv and travelers happy

 

[JD GUMBEE]

they bet on making more money keeping truckers happy that rv and travelers happy

A very good gamble, judging from the percentage of each spending their dollars.

 

[XERTYX]

I can see both sides. While it does seem like a horrible idea as a corporate policy to own paid shower facilities and only allow certain people to use them it could be viewed as a turn off to their target audience. Let's face facts. How many van dwellers come in and buy 100 gallons of fuel, overpriced gallons of water, overpriced packaged meals, overpriced clothing, and ridiculously overpriced inverters, CB antennas, and nude lady mudflaps? If the truckers feel like they're hanging around a bus station with a bunch of transients they'll spend their money elsewhere.

Still it sucks but I'd advise just "voting with your wallet" as mentioned previously. Most of us wont buy their chrome plated bluetooth headsets etc anyway. We shop amazon and big box stores whereas the truckers have to shop conveniently during down time. A professional driver that absolutely HAS to have a hands free to remain legal for his job will pay 6X retail because he has no alternative. Truck stops know this and cater to a niche market.

I like flying J anyway.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

A professional driver that absolutely HAS to have a hands free to remain legal for his job will pay 6X retail because he has no alternative.

Some of us were smart enough to have two of them to start with.
Two is one, one is none.