T/A truck stops

I don't care for them much and glad we don't use them for fuel. However some of their newer locations seem worthwhile (handful built in the last 5 years)

But Loves and TA/Petro are definitely tied for "worse large chain". Maybe they are great for fuel and discounts/points but that's not high on my list of priorities in a coast to coast truck stop chain where I'm looking for more locations and more consistent and worthwhile amenities, no matter where I am.

 

I can tell you that I have basically boycotted the one in Janesville Wi. That used to be my regular fuel spot but I got sick of all the turds taking their breaks in the fuel island. That one doesn't even have space to pull ahead after fueling, so you can imagine what it looks like most of the time. That and the filthy bathrooms and the useless mouth breathers behind the counter. Yuck... I'll go somewhere else.

I do generally like the Petros though.

 

All truckstops suck some more than others.

 

It depends on the truckstop. There used to be a wonderful quiet old TA armarillo east where you could count on a attentive staff and quality food back in the day.

Many TA's used to be 76. Many 76's were owner operators and independant and did well. Some did not so well.

Culturally truckstops stopped offering many things and stopped being a place you could call home, they want you out of there in 15 minutes with bad fast food in one hand and a empty wallet in the other these days. I do not call them truckstops. Certainly not in the old tradition.

 

As everyone who has traveled the highways of this country for any length of time knows that the days of friendly truck stops has gone by the wayside for the most part. Back in the 50's-70's when the Mom & Pop's where around and the Pure and Union 76 were the full service truck stops to go to life was good. Even T/A and Petro's were able to treat drivers like they were family. Today with every business wanting the almighty dollar and cutting costs which in the end affects the customer base it is no wonder that we are stuck with just fuel stops that offer fast food and very limited driver amenities like sit down restaurants and plenty of parking. I surely do not see things getting any better for us. I hope T/A stops removing their sit down restaurants when remodeling for fast food only as we need the restaurants.

 

Definitely depends on the location.

Also depends on how tired, hungry, and dirty you are.

I mean at the end of like a hard 10 days or so, even a Love's looks good.

I mean the T/A in Hubbard Ohio is a full on carnival of debauchery.

The one in Coachella has to be one of the ### holes of the world.

Tonapah I give a 7. There's a small one on 80 in Nebraska that GREAT food, or I'm just really hungry when I go through there. It has a really F/U parking lot. Might be Ogallala.

The truck & travel T/A on 5 in Oregon has had the same 2 pieces of chicken in the case at the fuel desk for the last 11 years.

Ft. Bridger is excellent.

OKC west got the worst food poisoning of my life.

The one's in Ohio & PA I like.

It trully depends on their location, and what the gene pool is like, that they have to draw from.

Knoxville is really good too.

 

You probably were in Little America then Dave.

I second the Fort Bridger one. That hill has my name on it on ice... it's not fun for me. Fortunately Ive enough ice back east to swallow my fear and get it over with.

Many have been buried by big box stores in PA. Im hunting one at this time called Midway on what I think was either US 6 or 17, near a valley with three Iron Truss Bridges. Im having trouble finding it. If you followed the road south, you hit the steamboat at the US 15 jct. Im still working to solve the midway, it's a tiny stop to the west of a curve not too far from say Troy as the crow flies. Maybe they built a new alignment or bypassed the lost valley as I call it now.

Crosskeys comes to mind a cookie if you know where that one was.

Opal was another. They changed that to a fast food place today.

Frederick Md was my home stop it was a 76 right around the 54? mm on 70. That place finally was bought, then buried by a costco. Having a hard time hunting pictures of it.

There is a couple more I can think of. Shipway I think is one in western maryland. Old 40/48 alignment prior to the I-68 opening. And in Jersey, US 22 The Ranch I think. I could have confused it with another wonderful diner with room for like 4 trucks next to the car park in the woods. But it was a legit truck stop, however small. There is one south of Rochester that burned. A diner type situation. The roastbeef was to die for there.

I can go on. But there are some that are something else and not worth life and limb to visit. Jersey City off 15C comes to mind. Another would be the 76 not too far from say Cleveland what was a wild place with wild women and drinking up there. There has been many over the years gone bye bye. Memories only. Sometimes I think I should go Bye bye myself and no one will remember.

 

I don't have this recollection "the old 76's, T/A's, Petro's, and many of the small independent truck stops treated me like family back in the day"

They dealt with a different breed of driver then, but they still offered as little as they could get away with and often with attitude.

Not saying today's mega-chain truck stops treat drivers any better, but considering the clientele they have to deal with today, I think overall the PFJ's and Loves are doing an okay job.

What do you want out of a truck stop? Chances are what you're looking for can be found but probably not at a large chain operation.

 

The trucking industry has changed drastically the last 30 years, and the major truck stop chains have simply adapted to changing wants and demands of the truckers who buy the goods and the carriers who pay for the fuel and services