Where would you like to see new LOVE'S be built?

Actually they put up a new Love's in Boron California not to long ago, it's under a year old, very nice! It's 82 miles from the TA/Petro in Ontario to the Love's in Boron and 72 miles from the TA/Petro in Ontario to the Love's in Barstow. So now whether you're going northeast or northwest from LA, you'll have 2 Love's going in both directions.

I get what you're saying though, more truck stops in the greater LA area would be extremely. The only thing is that Love's policy of no paid parking just wouldn't work in the area. There's a new Flying J just about 20 miles down the road from the TA/Petro in Ontario it's less than a year old I think it's only a couple of months old at this point. It's in Jurupa Valley. I guess about half the lot is reserved parking but the half that's free never has any spots. Drivers are too cheap to pay whatever it costs in LA to park their truck somewhere secure.

If Love's put a truck stop anywhere in that Ontario/LA area and didn't make it paid parking, there wouldn't be any spots for drivers who were actually working. It would just be locals parking their trucks there, therefore rendering the spot pretty much useless to the OTR guys who are working and need a place to park for the night.

With that in mind, that the free parking concept just wouldn't work in that area because local drivers would use it as a free parking space for hometime, I think Love's putting up stops about an hour away from LA/Ontario is about the best we can hope for. If Love's were to ever put a store in that LA/Ontario area (don't think it'll happen for reasons already mentioned in this thread), they absolutely have to go for the pay to park model that the TA/Petro in Ontario have. I hate to say that because I hate paying for parking but that's just the way it is in that area, it would have to be pay to park for it to be of any use to OTR drivers. Or do the 50-60 gallon purchase gets a spot or purchasing $20-$25 worth of store items gets you a spot, any of those methods would work.

EDIT - Just saw your comment about the TA/Petro in Ontario being packed to capacity. Actually, at least the times that I have been there this year in 2020 (which has been an odd year that may have affected parking in the area, no doubt), both stops fill up at a reasonable times. I always stay at the Petro there and on the weekends in 2020 there's spots open all night long (I go inside to use the bathroom every time I have to go so I always update the Truckers Path App and look for open spots and take not of the parking situation for future referance). During the weekdays it was filling up around 6:00pm - 7:00pm, which is early yes but not out of the norm for large parts of the US. And also at the Petro if you could wait until 1:00am or so there were usually trucks leaving about that time where you could snag a spot.

I would have to respectfully disagree that the TA/Petro in Ontario are always packed to the brim at all times, I don't see that to be the case although it certainly depends on how freight is moving and what's going on in the country.

 

I'm never on HWY 321 I've never been down that highway before. I do drive through Knoxville sometimes either going east to Asheville or west to Nashville. Knoxville's parking certainly isn't the worst in the country but it's not the best either. I wouldn't complain if they put a Love's south of Knoxville to help out with parking in the area.

 

I stopped at the one in Baldwin a couple of days ago. It's real nice and clean on the inside and the showers are big too! The only thing I don't like about their new showers is they have an air dryer in the showers that are right below and to the left of the shower hooks. So if you have a backpack or bags that hang down it's going to touch the air dryer area. You know after a year or two when corporate stops caring so much about that new Love's location (I'm sure the new stores get extra attention for the first year or two) that the air dryer area isn't going to be cleaned everytime, if at all.

But that's a minor complaint no big deal. The parking situation was kind of bad though, I stopped on a weekday at around 4:00pm and took a shower. By the time I got out at around 5:00pm it was full and it's not a small Love's either (though it's not huge like some of their new stores either).

 

That's good to hear but also a little disappointing. I really wish they would build one around Bismarck or Dickinson, I think it's more needed in those areas. But, I'm not complaining it's always helpful to get new stops.