Why we warn about propane tunnels instead of routing around them

We changed how RV Compass handles propane. If your rig carries propane, it no longer routes you around propane-restricted tunnels. It warns you before each one instead. Here's why.

What we did before

When you told RV Compass your rig carries propane, it routed you like a truck hauling hazardous materials. The routing engine avoided every road tagged as closed to hazmat, which includes the tunnels that restrict propane. On paper that sounds safe.

Why it was wrong

The propane tanks that run your fridge and furnace are not hazmat cargo. Hazmat road rules are written mostly for tankers and placarded loads. But the map data doesn't say which hazmat rules apply to an RV's house tank and which apply to a tanker truck, so routing every propane rig as hazmat avoided all of them.

In practice, that pushed big rigs off the interstate. Stretches of urban interstate in Texas are tagged closed to hazmat, so a propane rig near Waco or through downtown Houston was sent onto frontage roads and city streets to dodge a rule that wasn't meant for it. That's a worse route for a big rig, not a safer one.

What happens now

Propane rigs get the same route as any other rig with the same height, weight, and length. Then RV Compass asks for the route a second time with hazmat restrictions on. Wherever the two routes split, there's a restriction on your route, and each one becomes a Propane cautions entry in the route report, named when the map data has a name (the George C. Wallace Tunnel in Mobile, Alabama, for example). Tap it and the map goes there. The printed turn-by-turn lists it as still on your route.

In navigation, the app says it once, about 2 miles out: "Propane restriction in 2 miles. Check local rules." That's your cue to shut the valve or take the posted alternate. When the data isn't clear, it warns rather than staying quiet.

Why a warning beats a detour

Most propane-restricted tunnels let RVs through with the valve closed. A few don't allow it at all. Only you, the signs, and the tunnel authority know which rule applies to your rig today. A warning gives you that decision with time to make it. A silent detour made it for you, and usually made it wrong.

Our propane restrictions and tunnels guide has a table of the major crossings and their rules. Low bridges and weight limits are routed around exactly as before, and now come with their own spoken warnings.