Truckstops

"I gotta find a hole, in more ways than one..." me

Our home away from home, the fabulous truckstop. Oh, yes! Well, not being a true OTR trucker, I'm not as familiar with them as most of y'all, but I'll give you my impressions anyway.
We have the "Big 4," as I call them; you know them, right? Petro, Pilot, TA, and Flying J. I have my personal faves, for different reasons. Some I like because of the food, some because of the easy-ness of fueling, etc. I'm the kind of driver who likes the larger ones, with 24hr services. These little "hole-in-the-wall" places that shut down at 10pm, and open again at 5am are for the birds. I mean, sometimes you have to stop there, either because you're low on hours, nothing else around, breakdown, etc. But since I start at 2:00 in the morning sometimes, I need to have
a store where I can get coffee, cigs, etc. in the "middle of the night." I used to love to go to the World's Largest (debateable) Truckstop in Walcott, IA, usually on my way back from Des Moines. They have an incredible gift shop, and they added on this section with a truck showroom, with life-sized models of the more popular trucks, all shiny and chromed-out. Pretty
cool.
Then you have the "2nd tier" level of truckstops, not as many, but some still pretty big. Loves, Williams, AM Best, Sapp Bros., et al. Some of the larger gasoline chains have them as well: Citgo, BP, Mobil - I see a lot of these in WI, outside the larger cities. But again, ya gotta worry about the hours they're open. And many times, the only food they have is fast-food, chains that are
right there in the truckstop (Pilot/Arby's comes to mind). Some you can't even get hot food at, you have to do the old "chips and soda" routine, which gets old pretty fast. I dunno, after a hard day's work, I like the idea of being able to go in, sit down at a restaurant, and be served a hot meal (preferably by a hot waitress - those are few and far-between). Call me crazy, but that's my preference. Then, I'll go into the shop and buy a bunch of desserty kind of junk food for later. See, once I go back to the truck, I'm pretty much done. Once I take my workboots off, I really don't want to have to put them back on again. Sometimes I have to, like when the reefer's fucking up, or another driver's meeting me to bring/take something. I bought a pair of shower shoes (flip-flops) a long time ago, so sometimes I'll throw them on if I have to walk back into the truckstop to take a dump or whatever.
Rest stops are popular with some guys, I dunno why. Again, I thinks it's probably out of necesssity rather than anything else. I've often cruised by them at 4 or 5am, and they're totally packed. The "Oasis" system on the Illinois tollroads are kinda like "mini-truckstops," only the parking is very limited, and those poor bastards that don't get a spot have to park on the shoulders and walk. The ones I can't figure out for the life of me are the drivers who park on offramps and onramps. Nothing else around, out in the middle of nowhere. I guess if you have the shits in the middle of the night, you have to go in the bushes. Not my idea of a good time, although I do carry a roll of toilet paper with me just in case of such an emergency. I'll talk more about "Bodily Functions" in an upcoming post. But again, no hot coffee in the "wee hours" is my biggest reason for not parking on shoulders or rest stops (unless you enjoy vending machine coffee - blecchhh!).
I think all you non-truck drivers should experience a truckstop at least once in your lifetimes,
to see how "the other half" lives. And believe me, they are the "other half." I mean, c'mon people! Let's not perpetuate the stereotype of truckers as inbred, toothless, tobacco-spitting
morons. But I'll bet money if you non-truckers go to one, you'll see exactly that. Look, I ain't the cleanest, best smelling guy in the world, but at least I believe in getting a haircut once in a while, and I "own a comb." (tip of the hat to Chris Farley). Some truckstops are more "family-friendly" than others (I won't say which), and some truckers resent that. I mean, it's understandable - who wants to hear a baby crying when you're trying to enjoy your meal after a particularly grueling day? Not me, although it really doesn't bother me all that much. Shit, I only stay at them a couple nights a week, so standing behind the old foagies that can't make up their minds as to what they want to eat ain't that big of a deal. Sure, I get impatient, but not enough to say anything.
The best resource for a truck driver is the truckstop directory. I mean, you can "wing it" and hope you find one along the way. When I first started out with Werner, they told you which truckstops you had to go to, so there really wasn't much choice (wtf?). But that little book has saved my ass on more than one occasion. I remember going up to the UP of Michigan, and there
might be 2 truckstops up there. But I found one - it wasn't the greatest, but...See, that's one of my biggest concerns; being out there and not having a safe place to shut down. Next to getting lost, it's probably my biggest fear. You know, just roaming around, looking for a place, while your hours dwindle down. Not a pleasant thought, is it? Shit, for $10 you can at least have a little sense of security. It's the same with a trucker's atlas; I don't know why anyone who considers themselves a professional truck driver would NOT have a trucker's atlas. It's the best source of info. you could possibly want. Yes, they are expensive, but how much $ is "peace of mind" worth? Think about it.

More soon,

Steve