Old Tucumcari Truck Stop

Nara Visa had incredible food...family run homemade....The Shell in town did as well
Now imho they closed for different reasons
The new exit on 40 and eliminating having to run thru town to access 54 was a factor...along with the hook and loves
The woman that ran the restaurant at Nara Visa was getting up in years and they really couldn’t find a suitable replacement..,so the food went way down hill
The Shell on the other hand while somewhat caught up in the new exit/mega stops...the actual demise is directly linked to Cornflakes shutting down
For those of you that actually spent time there last century.....I’m sure you recall it lookin like a CF yard 24/7
Huge relay point for them as well as their almost exclusive use of the upstairs sleeping rooms...,
Now add that to all the mega carriers micro managing and so many newbies relying on gps set to interstate routing.,,,the old outlaw trail back to the Midwest/east coast has severely cut traffic on 54/61/50
Just a thought

 

When I started Trucking in the mid 80s Tucumcari was already done, the holdout on I-40 was McLsan Texas. It didn't open until somewhere around 1990 IIRC

 

Y'all must mean the TS on US-54, that wasn't a bad place to stop. When I drove for an outfit out of KC, our drivers would run US-54 all the time, so I stopped there in Tucumcari pretty often. It wasn't a huge truck stop or travel plaza, but a hand could grab fuel and readily park, get a shower and something to eat. Every so often, I'd spend the night there, but there wasn't a whole lot going on, which actually made for a good night's sleep, lol. Kinda weird to see all the old Shell & 76 stops going (or gone) the way of the dinosaur... but the world changes. Sometimes, I'd skip the stop in Tucumcari and hit the T/A in Santa Rosa instead... and if I didn't need fuel or a place to shut down, I'd roll right through and skip both of those stops.

 

Wonder if a truck could park there without being run off.

 

It is the same old story. Deregulation in 1980:

First Qualcomm satellite tracking allowed real time truck locations and communications in 1988.

That in turn allowed "logistic experts" to determine the best places for their customers (mega carriers) to purchase fuel and improve equipment utilization
(Read that: No more trashing around truck stops pinching the waitresses, we know where you are and how long you have been there)

Then previously small concerns (Pilot, Flying J, more recently Loves) entered the market with a new concept.
Convenience food stores with a couple of fuel islands and minimum parking.
But most importantly, long term fuel contracts with pricing no independent could match.

The legacy Truckstops of America(owned by Ryder, then Standard Oil, who then bought the remaining operations of Union 76, and Petro.
Now Travelcenters of America(note the name change in 1997)is struggling to provide the remnants of a full service facility. And failing in most cases.

The control was just extended to literally everyone in the business with the advent of smart phones(2007), build out of the networks.

Hope you like that microwave sandwich and bland coffee.
That is the future.

 

Studebaker Hawk,

Words of wisdom and experience from a true veteran driver. The newer generation of drivers have no clue as to how it was back in the day. I remember it all along with you. I began driving in 1969 and the times at a Pure, Union 76 or original TA were the best. Times change and not always for the best.

 

And about the only response I get from some of them when they roll their eyes:

" OK Boomer"

 

Really doesn't get much done today or tomorrow thinking about 50 years ago or yesterday does it?