The Ultimate Truck Stop

The size of the parking spaces isnt as important as the size around them, really. Most truck stops have parking spaces that are an OK size, sure, you stick out a little bit, but that doesnt matter as much as the fact that it's impossible to park when the place gets fullish.

Needs to have parking on the edges for oversize loads. I've seen some truckstops where the guys hauling wind generator blades will call ahead to the truckstop theyre gonna park at and have a large area blocked off and reserved for them. And restareas. That's an EXTREMELY oversize load though, around 150 feet long if im estimating right. But maybe post signs encouraging that behaviour to smaller oversize loads.


And yes, this is quite an undertaking. Why not start with a more reasonable business model.

Like I'd like to some day own a truckstop. it wouldn't be the biggest but it would be the greatest. It would have a good restaurant. The restaurant would cook food to order. Omelettes will actually be folded over. Omelettes will not be pre-cooked like ihop. Showers will be clean and all tile so they can just be hosed down. I like that idea. Bathrooms will be cleaned. Will have multiple registers and enough staff to man them so lines wont be long for no reason at all. Won't have stupid rules. Might not have much parking but the parking will be properly engineered for todays trucks. Would have free wifi for reasonable usage (will limit bandwidth somewhat so if a bunch of people decide to download porno at the same time, other people still have enough bandwidth to do normal things). Showers won't cost $10 without fuel. Will have shore power hookups for parking spots, free with fuel and cheap without, not the ridiculous idle aire prices (this is mostly for people with APUs that support shore power...run their heat/air without fuel!). C-Store prices will be cheap. Not walmart cheap but you wont spend $10 on a darn can of walmart cheez-it and wheat thins (i did that once!). Will not ever have subway, mcdonalds, etc, but maybe it can be near them for people that like that worthless crap. No obnoxious ads on the PA like pilot. Parking lot will be cleaned up when needed. Parking will be free.
Will still cost thousands but maybe i can make it happen some day.

 

I have to agree with that, but there are plenty that have stood the test of time.
Keep looking, and after you have a few years out here, I'm sure you will find some places you like.
As far as the size of the parking lots, they were probably considered roomy when they were built.
I read a statistic once that said the number of trucks on the road doubled from 1980 to 2000.
Be interesting to know what it's up to now.

 

depending on the part of the country, a "safe haven" parking area for those who haul explosives, etc., would also be nice. I think 40 acres is about the minimum size you would need for something, your roughly talking about 200 parking spaces 70' long x 10' wide, with 100 spaces being the minimum. For what others mentioned about spaces to accomodate oversize, you need to figure some spaces that are 100' long by 15' wide, preferably designed to be pulled through as some of these oversize, especially the guys hualing the blades for windmills are not able to back real well when full stretched out. Parking for escort vehicles would also be great for these oversize. You talking a 50K sqft building, maybe take into consideration making it 2 or 3 stories and/or a basement storage area. As has been mentioned, clean reasonable priced hotel rooms would also be good.

Iowa 80 and very few others have the right idea, keep the truckers fuel desk seperate from the cash registers for the c-store, if possible keep have seperate c-stores as well, fast food resturants are okay in addition to a regular sit-down diner, and not McDonals or the other fast food places. Subway, Panda Exp., Noodles & Co. or similar that are relatively healthy would be nice. Build a truckstop, not a travel plaza that is designed with 4-wheelers in mind. Someone mentioned Johnson's Corner, excellent place, the resturant accomodates everyone, the c-store is for everyone, but there is also an area for truckers to pay for fuel without the hassle of the public and buy small supplies that we need on a regular basis.

 

Well, sir, let me apologize for not taking you seriously, but this is not the first time this topic has been broached, so please forgive my skepticism.
The money figure I threw out there was just an educated guess, but it seems I wasn't that far off.
I just picked the CB question as a starting point for my unwarranted rant, but as long as I'm here I will approach it seriously.
For the most part, CB radios aren't the hot commodity they once were.
"Smokey and the Bandit" was a big marketing boom indeed. Perhaps you remember Roslyn Carter having one in the White House. Her handle was "First Lady". That movie inspired me somewhat to get into this, but I digress.
Nowadays, drivers are more involved with other electronic toys, such as IPOD,MP3, handheld devices such as Blackberry, and almost everybody has a laptop on board. My favorite distraction is satellite radio which is on constantly. I rarely use the CB, but that may have more to do with being an old grouch.
In my experience, the truck stop owner generally leases a space to an independent repairman, sometimes within the main building, often in a remote building. And these seem to be rarer with each passing year.
A lot has to do with our disposable society, often being cheaper to just buy a new one.
There are some highly successful stand alone CB shop around the the country, such as Clay's out in Gordon TX and the serious radio guys know of these places and will seek them out.

As for you other questions, as an older guy and heart attack survivor, I am making an effort to eat healthy, which is progessively becoming more difficult on the road. One can actually put to together a decent low fat sandwich at Subway, but I prefer a good, hot, sit down meal with a nice salad. Some weeks, I may only get that a couple of times, depending on where I am.

I had to look up Iva and see it's not far from Elberton. I mostly grew up right down the road near Augusta.
Once again, allow me to apologize, and I will be more than happy to assist if I am able.

 

Flyin J and Pilot allows fuel purchases at any registers while the older places tend to have a dedicated fuel desk. I would say it overall, it probably speeds things up.

There was a time in the distant past where full service fueling was available just like the gas station I worked at when I was a teenager, but self serv is pretty much the norm now, with a few exceptions.

Believe it or not, there have been plenty of times when I would have gladly paid to park.
This usually occurs in areas that have a lopsided truck traffic/parking availability ratio such as parts of the northeast and areas of California in particular.
Some truck stops have been able to capitalize on this. You will have guys that stop only to sleep and leave without spending a penny.
You just have to hope it evens out I suppose.

As far as showers, I remember once being at a little place in KY that offered me a free shower when I needed one and I couldn't fuel there.
The next morning I discovered the coffee was free as well.
That was over 20 years ago and to this day, I continue to give them business.

 

partner with a bank that won't charge atm fees.

then put in a wawa the chances of a driver coming in to get cash and walking out without buying something are non exsistent.