Maybe one day it will happen, maybe one does exist but this is how I would like to see a truck stop and it comes about from the frustration of having 200 parking spots and 4 or 5 toilet cubicles and food that would make a billy goat chunder - ala technicolour yawn.

Drive in, pay an amount to rent the spot - $10 is fair - pull in along side your own private shower/toilet cubicle. Also laid out with bed and table - you supply your own linen and pillows, Air conditioned, Access to TV and cooking facilities. You can go to the main building or satelite buildings scattered throughout the complex and purchase your food, if you don't already have it, or have a sit down meal - you choose if you want to have it cooked to order or you can choose your own steak and cook it yourself - memories of days gone by in Australia. A place where a driver can unwind and enjoy his/her stay.

There are endless possibilities and I doubt very much if it would be a failure, just a damn shame I don't have the money to do it!

That would be quite an idea. Maybe shore electric power so people with on-board electric AC units could plug them in and not run off the batteries.

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They need to put urinals next to the fuel pumps so ignorant drivers don't pee on the fuel island in between their trucks. Is it really that hard to walk the 50 or so feet into the store?

I really love that urine smell when I'm fueling my truck.

My God!!! People do THAT!?!?

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

I have heard claims of people doing that for years, but have never encountered it nor seen any signs of it. I often wonder if it really happens or is it just an urban legend that has gone on through the years. Were I to see it happen, I think I would call the police immediately and have the guy busted for exposing himself in public, let him have a nice sex offender rap to carry around with him. He could register every where he went.....

I haven't seen anyone actually relieve themself at the fuel island, but I have seen drivers peeing everywhere else. I saw a guy park (at Tooele UT TA) hop out, and relieve himself next to his drives. While I have stopped on on/off ramps to answer nature's call, my trainer would have none of that- in the middle of the night, he pulled into a rest area, stopped the truck (with four ways on) in the lane between the parking rows, and took care of business (again that dreaded 50 ft walk was too much).

The truck stop having beds that you could sleep in (and leave trk off) sounds great. Good food would be a huge plus, but one miracle at a time...

You're right Wallbanger - 1 miracle at a time! So why not call it "The Black Stump" - in Aussie folklaw it has never been found, it never will be and no-one has ever been past it - beyond it means you are in paradise

Well I'm not too sure about the bed thing. I know it sounds nice on the surface, but I have reservations on that one seeing as how some truckers are not exactly the most sanitary folks in the world. So I sure as hell don't want to lay in a bed that was probably at one time occupied by these very bad apples.


My idea for a perfect truck stop would be as follows:

1) Free parking......there are just some things we should not have to pay for and a federally mandated 10 hour break ranks right up there.

2) Showers so clean, you could eat off of the floors. I scrubbed a ton of showers in my Army days, and it's not that hard. Just hire some folks with some work ethic and fire those who lack it.

3) Ten hours of free Idle-Aire with a fuel purchase of 50+ gallons. I love Idle-Aire, but those fees can add up quick.

4) All pull through parking. Backing accidents just plain suck and they should not happen in a perfect truck stop.

5) Absolutely NO FOUR-WHEELER or RV traffic allowed on the premises. Violators will be shot; survivors will be shot again.

6) Super smooth, concrete-paved parking surfaces with clear lines for parking lanes. Some of the best truckstops still have either a crater filled parking lot or some mud pit that will equally ruin your day unless you just like getting dirty for no reason.

7) A minimum of 5 feet between parking spots thus giving each driver ample space between him/her and their parking neighbor.

One special area for reefer vans far away from the sleeping ears of everyone else. (I have no problem with them, but a lot of folks do.)

9) Enough room between parking rows for a stretched out Pete 379 hauling a 53 footer with the tandems all the way to the rear to be able to do multiple U-Turns without fear of striking any obstacles.

10) No less than 800 parking spots. (Hey if it's the perfect truck-stop, then a lot of drivers will be there.)

11) Mandatory public flogging for anyone caught urinating in the parking lot.

12) Competent roving security on watch for the above as well as lot lizards, bums, peddlers, and anyone attaching unwanted flyers to parked trucks.

13) A myriad of restaurants inside that offer a rather wide variety of cuisine for the driver with a taste for something other than the normal SOS. (At a reasonable price, of course.)

14) A 16 cinema theatre with all of the box-office hits. (Hey let's go all out.)

15) Both a self-serve and a full service truck wash with prices so low that even a Swift driver could afford it.

16) 50 working fuel islands with clean window wash and diesel cheaper than Ramen Noodles.

17) Coffee that actually tastes better than colored water filtered through a sweaty gym sock.

1 Hooters girls for waitresses and clerks inside the truck-stop. (Hey I can dream, right?)

19) Lots of personal services such as massages, barbers, shoe shines, etc. all at a reasonable price.

20) And a large shopping center with a wide range of items that resemble the selection found at any Wally World.




Ok I may have gone just a tad overboard, but you get the picture.

Cocky - you have a valid point on the bed - maybe a better idea would be like an aircraft boarding ramp that moulds itself to the side of the truck so you use your own bed

Would have to be a nominal charge to cover cleaning and maintenence of the unit

Totaly agreed with

No idle air - takes up to much space

An absolute must

Agreed

Agreed

Need more room - have to allow for the cabin

I have that problem - agreed

[quote]9) Enough room between parking rows for a stretched out Pete 379 hauling a 53 footer with the tandems all the way to the rear to be able to do multiple U-Turns without fear of striking any obstacles.[quote]

Was thinking enough room to turn a road train

Is Rhode Island for sale?

Yes - and then geld them

Absolutely

Already in original dream

Big Screen TV in Cabin should work

Yes

Could do if you buy the noodles at Diesel prices

Of course - and free

Possible - was thinking more in line of bikinis

Yes

Just better quality

And for those truckers who insist on idling at The Black Stump or who have an unmuffled exhaust system, the sound of an Air Start Mack Titan winding up being directed at their trucks, when they are asleep, till they turn their engines off!

OK Cocky and Aussie -- everything sounds GREAT! But, in addition to the Hooters/Bikini girls, could we throw in a couple of Chippendales guys for those lady truckers out there -- just a thought -- since we want it to be perfect for everyone.