Okay first let me apologize because I am about to vent...

In recent issues of Pilot's Challenge magazine, there were a couple of letters to the Editor in which female drivers associated with 2 of the largest companies wrote letters. One complains about how Pilot needs to provide "female friendly" shower facilities with removable shower heads to wash "sensitive places" and provide in shower benches to use for shaving. The other one, if I remember correctly, complained the showers were not free because you have to purchase fuel to get a shower.

Now here I am in Booneville MO at a beautiful Pilot...clean inside and out, friendly people and immaculate showers. I am really irritated...There is a female driver, who is proudly sporting her XXXL Tshirt, with her XXXL company sweatpants complaining that they would not let her use the handi-cap shower, she was going to have to use the next available. Now her reasoning is that a "driver of her stature" can not fit into the regular shower stalls and have enough room to move around comfortable and the regular shower stalls dont provide the removable shower head for her to wash completely. She then further complained that the Pilot did not have a proper selection of female bathing products, and other hygeine items (she gave specifics I wont repeat here). and demanded to know when Pilot was going to start accomodating the growing number of professional female drivers.

The manager was trying to be very nice and explained with the new automated shower system that they have no way of assigning showers to drivers and the store is not responsible for what is carried for personal care products...that is a corporate decision but he can relay her request. He also told her that there is a Walmart within 5 miles that she can go to in order to pick up the other items she needs.

Well this woman went off the deep end said he was patronizing her and obviously did not want to satisfy her needs. The manager very politely told her no he was not patronizing her and was offering options to satisfy her needs. He also told her he could not hold the handicap shower for her and could not carry a full line of female products.

She pretty much stomped out and loudly complained she was going to call corporate in the morning because it was ridiculous that Pilot was alienating female drivers by not providing to our needs.

Now I showered here and there were 2 other female drivers who showered here as well and watched the display...we all agreed they more than met the female drivers needs....provided extra towels without request, facial and body soap, and a light fixture directly over the mirror with fans in the rooms to keep the mirror from fogging up. We all agreed no we don't need removable shower heads (water pressure is not as good) or a bench or seat.

Please forgive me but I have heard this complaint at more than one truck stop and honestly, I AM SICK OF IT!!!!!!!!! There are products available in the camping section of Walmart that fold out into a small bench for the shower and fits in its own bag smaller than a typical shower bag and you can pick up all the products you need while you are there.

I don't understand..I have heard female drivers complain that they should have showers specified for women only, because men are nasty and they should not have to shower after them...they shoudl have nail, hair and tanning salons available, they should have a full selection of female products because we have different needs.

Well sorry ladies,,,we may have different needs but you ain't at the spa..you are not at home..you are at a truck stop which does the best they can to meet the multiple needs of all the different types of people who walk through their doors. I don't hear men complaining they don't have 3 different kinds of shampoo with matching conditioner, or their brand of shaving cream. But you hear it from women...I don't get it and honestly, in my opinion it is giving us all a blemish and Pilot doesn't have the cream to make it go away!!!

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!!! Here I sit...waiting for the next adventure and what the great wide world opens before me!!!!

I agree Dawdles! I read the same articles as well in Challenge. While I totally agree with you that the woman at the Pilot was totally out of line, I feel that we can make suggestions and call corporate and let them know things that would not only help women, but men as well (think men with long hair). In response, they have told me the reason they don't have hand held showers is because of all the wonderfully professional drivers that will destroy anything given the chance. And a hand held shower gives them the chance to really miss up the plumbing. But we are still consumers, and if they want to keep consumers, they may want to listen. Many women regardless of whether or not they drive determine where "they" will stop for showers. My company usually only fuels at Pilot, so thank goodness that is where I prefer to shower as well since they know how to have fans in the shower rooms and exhaust fans as well.

So in the meantime, if they can't provide, I will. I carry my own set of channel locks and hand held shower with hose as well as a fan. As Dawdles suggested, you can always carry what you need. And as Dawdles said: "it is a truck stop not a Spa!"

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Well , right or wrong , I am going to chime in my 2 cents worth here . Dawdles is correct in my POV , when she stated that it is not a spa . I myself am "fluffy" , I fight my weight constantly , however I will not use it as an excuse to get special treatment . As far as the legs go , they make this great stuff called Nair? they even make it in a sensitive formula , which I have to use since I have a sensitivity to the regular formula . Once again when it comes to hygiene products , plan ahead . Take it for granted that the truckstop doesn't have the haircare products that you use . Make a stop at a wal mart before you get back out on the road again . Go when you have hometime . stock up .
Not shower after men ? scuse me ? Ummm , I have seen some "ladies" (and I use the term loosely) who are bigger pigs than any man . What would they do if they were married ? did they not have any male figures in their lives ???? ever???? Pardon me , but WTH ???
I cannot even post anymore as I am just sitting here shaking my head . Later .

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just a bucket truck driver

Yeah, I know. The showering after men thing cracked me up! I prefer uni-sex showers, that way I get whatever shower is next instead of waiting for one of 2 "female" showers!

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Success is getting what you want, but Happiness comes with appreciating what you get!

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In all the years I have been out here...37...I have only found one shower that was uncomfortably small. The Shell fuel stop in Moberly MO has tiny showers. My ex was 6'1", 140 lbs and HE didn't fit into it comfortably! I used them regularly and made do, I am 5'8" and 260#s. What a load of HOGWASH for these women to ***** about what they are!!! They give women drivers a black eye. More of the "I want special treatment because I am a woman" hogwash. Women ought to be glad they even have showers that are not in the men's room...I remember those days well!

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The only stupid question is the one you do not ask...

I didn't know princesses came in XXXL size. Wonder if she was green and went by the name of Fiona? (Sorry - sarcasm is my middle name) Maybe instead of whining and crying about her shower not being big enough, she should try being a touch smaller. Being "extra extra extra fluffy" is not a handicap. And if you have reached the point of being handicapped, I'd debate your overall fitness for work.

Agreed ladies - this oversized load was full of it. And gives us all a bad name. Pity you couldn't have phoned Pilot's corporate and said "look, you're gonna get this call... and I was there, and she's totally out of her mind. Keep doing what you're doing". I like Pilots. For all the reasons mentioned above, but my company fuels at the J if necessary (prefer us to fuel up at home if at all possible), and they're not too bad.

I carry toiletries from home. At last inventory I have hygiene products stashed in about 5 places - I'm that paranoid. What I'd like truckstops to do is make sure the shower heads aren't all clogged up with minerals in the water. I like the water spraying on me, not on the walls, ceiling or in such a fine mist that it takes 5 minutes just to get damp.

This ain't no job for princesses. Ladies - yes, princesses - no.

Oh man LG! I have found all the ones you missed! I absolutely hate touching the walls! I'm a germ-a-phobe! EEEWWWW! If it wasn't for my phobia, I wouldn't mind it so much.

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Hellion that is the main reason I carry a pair of channel locks and my own hand-held shower. I even use it in the motels, cuz I that is when I give my doggies a bath and it comes in handy. However it does not always work as some of them have it where you can't use your own. There have been times I have used a plastic cup from the sink just to be able to concentrate the water enough to get rinsed off. Those are the kinds of things that I think are legit to bring up to a company. But if they don't want to change I use my voting power, I either don't stop there or I just deal with it! Could be worse!

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Success is getting what you want, but Happiness comes with appreciating what you get!

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Now MI...I didn't say anything about dirty, just too small. I have been in showers that if I would of had to pay for them, I would of complained to high heaven...and one or two that I just couldn't bring myself to use....but I am not a germophobe...back when I traveled carnivals, we had sun heated water due to running hoses and if we were lucky a place we would jerry rig enough for a little privacy...I can take one heck of a PT&A bath in a gallon bucket of water if necessary...and have taken many baths in rivers and streams.

As long as the water is hot, wet and I have ample towels...I am good to go. I have never gotten atheletes feet from a shower and I do not wear shower shoes or flip flops in showers either...

Now what bothers me is nasty restrooms...I swear ladies, if you sprinkle when you tinkle...please wipe the seat! And if you use those paper seat covers...dispose of them yourself, don't make the next person do it! And put your personal hygiene thingys in the proper receprical and if it is an open trash can, roll 'em and wrap 'em...I don't want to look at your mess! Sheesh...I could go on and on with the nastyness I see in women's rooms...worse than men in most cases.

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The only stupid question is the one you do not ask...

Public restrooms are just disgusting! I stopped at the get go today to use the restroom and i nearly gagged when i got in the stall . there was pee on the seat and the floor , poop smeared on the walls and seat and it looked like it was on the handle also , I walked out and held it til i got to the quarry . Now I may have understood had it been nearer to a childs height , but this was eye level for me , so i know it had to have been an adult .

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just a bucket truck driver

No, I am referring to the unseen germs that lurk on the walls of the shower, because they don't always wipe them down. Mostly it is something that men leave behind if you get my drift? EWWW! But yes, I understand what your saying about odd places and such. But maybe you get what I am trying to infer without coming out and saying it....

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Success is getting what you want, but Happiness comes with appreciating what you get!

Come and join my circle of friends at Facebook -----> Angel Grider
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Sounds like a few green drivers at the Pilot. Nothing new about that. Seems like a soap opera to tell the story tho

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Bobbi and Rocket

I'm sorry? A soap opera? To have a dialog about something that newbies will encounter? We are here to share and learn from each other. I don't call that soap opera. I wish I had had this resource has a rookie. Trial and error can make or break a driver. And sometimes it is the last trial that breaks the camel's back and we lose someone that would have made a good driver, but didn't know how to maybe handle the some of the every day stresses. That is my reason for sharing how to handle things... not a soap opera I think....

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Member Id#: 10736-D

Success is getting what you want, but Happiness comes with appreciating what you get!

Come and join my circle of friends at Facebook -----> Angel Grider
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Miss Impalla,
That wasn't intended for you. The soap Opera was the gal complianing to the Pilot Manager.
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I was just not believn what I was readin.
Newby's due tend to carry on. I know I did. Oh ya. But like the rest, I figured it out. I also remember showering in mens showers cause that was all they had at many of the truckstops.
Be safe out there

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Bobbi and Rocket

Divas have no place on the road. If ya' can't take the heat go be a cosmetic sales consultant at the mall or something, y'know?

Ruffslitch, thanks for posting. Please include your member number in this forum.

Thanks!

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Ellen Voie
President/CEO
Member 10002-I
Women In Trucking, Inc.

Actually - I thought "soap opera" was a rather good pun!

BTW - the shower heads in the J in Dallas are wicked good! Lots of water pressure and it all squirts down onto the hot, sweaty, tired driver. Lovely!

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10448-D

I agree and disagree. I hate germs too. I only drove long haul for one year. I am a very large woman with a thyroid problem. I consume about 800 calories a day to maintain my weight. Any more and my body gains weight. I can not fit into a regular shower stall. The Detroiter in Woodhaven MI, is the only place that all shower stalls are huge. No one thinks about medical problems related to being fat. Another friend of myn is fat because of the medication she is on to stop chrones. I am a local driver in the largest city in Canada...Toronto. I no longer have to shower at truck stops. On the rare occassion of a layover, my company pays for a nice hotel.

The female products I agree should be a planned ahead thing.

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Steffany Perkins

No problem Bobbi! Just wanted to clarify, and Hellion that was funny! Totally went over my head!

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Member Id#: 10736-D

Success is getting what you want, but Happiness comes with appreciating what you get!

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Yup! Showers are MEANT to go over your head!

Know what bugs me? Showers for midgets. Why do some truckstops mount the shower head so low on the wall that I have to duck to get my head wet. I'm 5'9"! I feel for the guys, and there's plenty of 'em, who are over 6'

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10448-D