I apologize also, i'm form glen burnie, md about 20 miles away from jessup, i've never had any bad experinces there but i know the place is a real dump, they need to tear it down and start all over again lol

i usually pull in there once every 2 weeks, spend the night, and run outa there faster then you can imagine. it is not your job to aplogize to us truckers, the bottem line is that its the TA, and the State of MD that should be the ones saying sorry to us for the fear and filth. i no i am a new driver, but for years i have heard about this place, and how nasty it is, i bite the bullet and refuse not to shower there, i wont even eat there, there is something with filth and food that kind of turns me off.
about a month ago i was there, i guess it was shift change for the cooks from the restruant there, and i observed the cook getting off of duty and the cook getting ready to go on duty both shooting up just to the right of the steps leading from the parking to the store. sharing the same needle, i turned around, went back to my truck, locked the door, took my knife's out and put them next to me, and both doors.
as i was walking back to my truck, 2 of the most nasty looking " things " approched me asking if i was looking for a " date " i told them that the date was looking more promising for my dog before them, ( i dont really have a dog )
here is my thing, if someone is knocking on my door. i will not open my curtin unless i feel a truck make contact with my truck, and ill come to the door if ihear them yell " police/dot "
well. im sitting there, tv on, trying to fall asleep. and i feel my truck kind of rocking back and forth, and at first i thought maybe the wind was stating to pick up and was just blowing me side to side, ( volvo ) and then i hear the guys on the cb yelling to who ever is in the red volvo that i have a lizard wiping her chest on my door.
i throw open the door, and start flipping out. she runs away. 20 mins later 3 more chick climbing up on my steps, both sides, and again the cb is yelling for me to handle it. this time im really pissed off, grab my cell and dial 911, tell them what going on, and they ask me for my location, i say, " I am at the TA in Jessup." and the reponse i got was " uh... yeah, we'll get an officer out there as soon as we can, were pretty buisy tonight with cars parked illegaly someplace " i said, " they are trying to break into my truck with me trapped inside " she said to me " uhh, yeah sir' as soon as our officers are done with the tickets ill send someone over, they are pretty bu---" i cut her off and told her the name of the company i was driving for and that i was out of hours to operate, and to notify DOT and allow them no that i was pulling out of the lot, being out of hours, and i was going to travel the highway in an illegal manor to please have them pull me over. she said " sir, i assure you i will send a cop over when they are done " i said not to bother i will be out of there jurisdiction by the time they arrive.
i started my truck, with them on it, and started pulling out, they jumped off, i got pulled over on 95 north by state police, he came to my window and asked for all my documintation, and asked where i was going. i told him to the next pull off to sleep, and that i was out of hours already. i told him i pulled into the TA and there was no spots open, and he cut me off and said " Sir, if you continue 10 miles noth you will hit the Chesopeak house, exit to the left. and await my arrival.
i did. he showed up, he asked me to enter the building with him, state police- yeah, ill do what they tell me. we go inside, he's getting his coffee. offers to buy me a coffee. i refuse the offer, i want to sleep.
he continues to tell me that the state police have been notified to look out for my truck, and to investigate the situtaion. he did, he told me that i made the best choice by pulling out, and said that in the future to stay away from there cause the local cops do not like going there.
i thought i would be in major amounts of trouble for doing what i did, and getting pulled over, turned out to be the best bear iv ever come across. gave me his card, patrol car # and said if im ever in a jam to contact him when ever travling through MD.

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my dream of becoming an o/o and making something of myself is starting to become nothing more then a fairytale

I personally do not go to any TA unless I am desperate. I have found most of them to be dirty, and the drivers who stop there are generally dirty too. A few of them are all right, sometimes I run across one out in the boonies that's clean and well-run, but most times I steer clear.

I agree that the TS in Hancock has good eats- I always stop when I go through there.

It's been many years since I've been at the Jessup Truckstop, it wasn't even a T/A at the time. Back then, (early 80's) it was clean & the food was something to look foward to. I used to load furniture out of Upper Marlboro, about 25 mins away, that was a great place to stop for the night. The lot lizzards were there but not that bad. sorry to hear what it has become. I did a friend a favor a few months ago and pulled a load to Atlanta, that was my first OTR trip in about 8 years, I definately have to agree that all of the T/A's I stopped at were real $#!tholes. I always preferred them to Union 76. What the hell happened to them? I also liked the Petro chain too, but they seemed to be going downhill also. I was considering resuming OTR driving when I retire from my current job (3 years) but seeing what road life has become I'm not so sure anymore.

Ed

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Big Ed

I stopped in the TA in Jessup a couple of months ago just for fuel and to use the restroom. The restrooms have been redone so they were in decent shape. I would never think of spending the night there let alone pay to park in that lot. Maybe a loose bomb from Fort Meade could find its way over there and level the place. Life would be nicer for the residents of the area.

As far as I am concerned the JessupTA does not even exist.

Beware of all who may enter there...you have been forewarned.

TA had owned most of the U76 for years, and about 1996 (or so) TA told them ALL to change to TA or go independent. Many of the ones that went indy, are in far worse shape than any other TA you have ever seen.

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Since TA bought Petro, the same thing may happen there. I hope not, we're running out of decent places to stop for the night, or just for a good home-cooked meal. Seems all the quiet mom-and-pop places are being replaced by dirty noisy crowded TSs with fast food chains inside.

Do any of you that stopped there in the 90's remember Reggie , the chaplain ? I've often wondered what happened to him .

Was he a big, older gentleman? I think I remember him but it has been many years. Do they still have the chapel there?