What are the safest and most dangerous truckstops??

Good stops:

Any Bosselmans. Grand Island (I-80 exit 312, Nebraska) is probably the nicest overall t/s in the US, including Iowa 80. Big Springs (I-80 exit 107, Nebraska) is decent with a lot that goes on and on, and it has a nice steakhouse. Altoona, Iowa (I-80 exit 142) is nice, large and is next to a large casino / entertainment complex (across street, also has rig parking).

Iowa 80, Walcott IA

Pilot in Eloy, AZ -- very well laid out, subway and DQ inside.

Flying J, Joplin MO I-44 exit 11 (east side of town, away from the bunch of fairly nasty ones on the west side exit 4)

The J in Phoenix is just fine, with clever bobtail parking throughout the parking lot that I haven't seen elsewhere. The Pilot a few miles west is a hole, however.

The J and Loves in Tucumcari, NM are both nice, though the Loves has a ripped up parking lot at the moment.

I will disagree with a few posters who claim the Aurora Flying J is a poor T/S, it is by far the best in the Denver area (compare the Pilot, the Sapps or either T/A). The lot is comparable in size to other J's, and the paving in the parking area is almost perfect (at the pumps is very hilly, but I don't park there). It is a little tight because all the spots on the west side of the lot are 90 degree backs but nothing an experienced driver would consider a problem. Never been bothered there (again, compare with any other Denver t/s!), it is easy to locate and get to and from. Recommended.

I will also disagree on the West Memphis truck stops. I've taken many a 10 at the Pilots or the J there without incident. Of the three, the best would be the northernmost Pilot, but I'd stay at any of them any day of the week. The Petro across the road is sketchy, however. As others have noted, the twin pilots on the south side of Memphis, TN (on highway 78 ) are no-nos.

Worst stops (mostly not mentioned already):

The Pilot as you come into Birmingham on Hwy 78 has one of the worst lots anywhere, and traffic jams galore. The armed guard afternoons and evenings should tell you what you need to know.

Most of the Pilots in small towns in the northeast -- very limited and poorly laid-out parking lots. Hazelwood, PA is a good example.

Pilot in Las Vegas -- absolute dump.

Pilot in Amarillo, Texas -- among other problems, is right at the end of the Amarillo airport runway!

Loves in Atoka, OK (Hwy 69/75 between Big Cabin, OK and Dallas, TX) -- terrible lot, poor food.

Pilot in Denver -- terrible lot, bad crowding at the pumps, blue beacon is almost always backed up 2-4 hours (no joke).

Both T/A's in Ontario, CA (east side of LA) are marginal, but the eastern one (left turn off of Milliken as you come off the I-10) is better and I don't mind / worry about staying there.

 

Maybe I'm just not that picky, but my only real no-park zones are West Memphis, Drums PA (just awkward layout), and Jessup/Baltimore, MD. The Pilot in Milford CT isn't bad if you can find a spot, if not there's Secondi's next door. You may get propositioned but she's more than likely a cop.

Of course, I'm from NY, lived in Brooklyn, and would sooner spend the night on the side of a street in Greenpoint than in MD.

 

The Pilots in Memphis, The Pilot and Petro in West Memphis, The T/A's in Ontario CA, The Pilot and T/A in Gary IN, The Pilots in Monroe MI. These are all bad places; unsafe. Any of the Bosselman's in the Midwest are great places to stay. Grand Island Nebraska is my favorite.

 

i'm sittinghere at the hook in west memphis,did laundry,had dinner,no lot lizards and it's saturday night-what's so bad about this place????

 

west memphis off the interstate is ok. But definitely avoid the pilot and Loves on US78 in memphis.

 

The fence was put up as part of a deal with Ontario PD. Either fence out the lizards or be shut down. The place was pretty crazy back then.

 

From what I saw yesterday, May 4, 2009; the Travel Centers of America in Jessup, Maryland (I 95, Exit 41 A) seems to be improving.

I saw ...

three Howard County cop cars on a call and three people arrested.

a family of a driver in the laundry room

a whole parcel of kids with their parents on the way to the shower

the office door open on the lobby level and a TA employee peering out

random patrols by TA employees of various parts of the facility.

I think this place is getting better.

 

TA in Boise, of the two days this week I've been here I've been approached by panhandlers in the parking lot twice and there is a car parked in the middle of the truck parking island. Very slow service inside as well. Almost forgot, EXPENSIVE laundry, Iowa80 expensive but not nearly as nice.

Pilot Denver, absolute train wreck of a truck stop. Like every Pilot, bad parking lot, bad traffic, bad wireless and no drivers lounge.

I55 truckstop southwest of Chicago, not a great area, pay for parking in what must have been an old minefield, slow service inside and they don't sell tobacco of any kind.


Bosselmans Salina KS, this place had great everything and lots of it. Parking, service, wireless, showers were so so but easily in my top five favorite truck stops. Actually I haven't been to a Bosselmans that wasn't top drawer.

 

That I-55 truckstop that was in Joliet is now closed, it has been closed for a while, but yes it was a shizzhole

 

That would be the T/A West, that is the one with the motel along the back row