Onboard showers

joeandjulie81

Seasoned Expediter
It sure seems like having a shower equipted sleeper would be ideal. I haven't been able to find much by searching on how folks that have them are actually faring with them. How difficult is it to dispose of spent shower water; I'm noticing more and more signs warning against the discharge of any wastewater on their premises including some rest areas posting a $100 fine. Do those of you that have them mostly use dump stations are can you readily get rid of it otherwise? What are the pluses and minuses, especially the minuses of onboard showers, from those of you that know? We're taking all of this into consideration in looking for our first expediting truck.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
We have a built-in shower in our truck but almost never use it. We purchase fuel several times a week. With 50 or 75 gallons of purchased fuel, truck stops provide free showers that we use instead.

The bathroom is an RV-type toilet/shower room. It is the toilet that we would not want to be without. Black water is stored in a cassette that is serviced from outside the truck. It can be serviced at a dump station, RV campsite or carried inside and dumped into a flush toilet. In expediting, where you can end up anywhere at any time, that protability is better than full-blown RV systems that provide the luxury of a true flush toilet in the truck but require much more fresh and black water capacity and a dump station-only option for servicing it.

A porta-potty inside the truck is also a common option. It provides the same kind of portability. We like our setup because you don't have to carry the cassette in and out of the truck to service it. Servicing it from outside keeps it out of your living, sleeping and eating space. When we drove trucks without bathrooms, we relied exclusively on public bathrooms and did not use a porta-potty. We carried one for emergencies but were always able to avoid using it. Sometimes that meant driving 50 miles to find a bathroom but we really didn't want to be that up close and personal with porta-potty contents.

The truck bathroom also provides a convenient place to hang towels and our uniforms if we are wearing street clothes, or a set of street clothes if we are in uniform. We stow our shower bags there too. The shower is also a great place to hang dripping rain gear or drenched clothes after coming in from a rainy day.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
We used ours and liked it. We have had several and have had very good luck with them. Not sure I would personally run a truck without one.
Let me rephrase that, I am not sure the wife would consider a truck without one.:7









Davekc
owner
22 years
PantherII
EO moderator
 

Paul56

Seasoned Expediter
We have a shower and use it everyday.

Do ensure you have adequate ventilation otherwise the humidity will build and that doesn't make for a pleasant environment inside, unless you have a cough in which case the extra humidity is good. :+

The truck has a cabinet just behind the cab designed to hold wet clothes, mostly outerwear and shoes. Things dry off quickly in there.

Personally, I don't trust public truck stop showers in terms of being clean. I'd rather use our own facilities, otherwise there is little point in having them onboard.
 

Broompilot

Veteran Expediter
50 gallons, free. Choose your Fueling stations wisley. I am very satisfied with the facilities and not having to hang a wet towell in my truck to dry.

Remember one thing everything man made, is gona break sooner or later. I am really tired of fixing STUFF, or maintaining STUFF. Just another STUFF to spend my time maintaining or fixing.

Ever noticed the more STUFF one owns the less time one has to enjoy the other STUFF. The fix is already there for this time consumer, I do not choose to own a in house shower in my truck. Even if my wife did come with me, she would just have to shower with me. Now that sounds much more fun to me....
 

Paul56

Seasoned Expediter
Broom, I understand and respect your reasons for not wanting an onboard shower.

We've been there... done that, with the hanging of wet things inside a truck. That was the reason that when this truck was spec'd we added a cabinet in the sleeper just behind the cab area to hold wet items... outerwear, clothes, shoes, towels, etc. The humidity stays confined to the cabinet that is designed specifically such that wet things dry out quickly and that humidity is dumped outside. Think of that cabinet as an unconventional clothes dryer. :+

I love your comments about STUFF. :) Reminds me of the George Carlin "stuff" routine.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Paul56,

Can you tell us more about your cabinet used for drying wet items? That is an innovation I have not heard of elsewhere.

Humidity has never been a problem in our truck, with wet clothes or towels. It is a simple matter to hang wet items in the shower and let them dry. I guess without knowing it, we have been using the AC or heater or roof fan to circulate enough air to keep humidity from building up. The shower has a heater/vent outlet in it. When the sleeper AC or heater fan runs, air is circulated throught the shower.

I also like Broom's comment about stuff. That is why we got rid of our house and cars and most personal goods. A tremendous amount of time and expense is saved because we no longer have to fund and maintain those items. Instead of trying to enjoy our stuff, we are enjoying our life and work on the road.
 

jaminjim

Veteran Expediter
I love your comments about STUFF. Reminds me of the George Carlin "stuff" routine.
=====================================================================

Do you mean back when he was funny? Now he is not much more than a grumpy old pi$$ed off guy with a foul mouth. No make that a real foul mouth.
 
Top