the worst truckstops!

[futuretrucker]

In my area we have a local flying j and it not only sucks but the employees are maybe at a 10th grade level, i'm not a trucker but soon to be and i would go down there to talk to truckers about what they thought of this and that, over all the place was a mess and rude employees

Flying J
Pasco, Wa.

Well I only fuel never had the opportunity to eat at any.

[yoopr]

sure you didn't mean Relieve your Bladder? :P

:shock:

[susansmith]

I most dislike TA's and it's for lots of little reasons. No cream or even half-and-half for coffee (thank you I don't *want* non-dairy creamer, cream comes from a *cow* not a factory). Too often I've pulled in and they only have the little short windshield scrapers... and no steps, so I have to climb all over my truck to get at the windshield. It's like... they cut corners on ridiculous things that can't really save them much for the amount of annoyance they cause customers.

Yes, Pilots have bad parking in general and no real food, but at least there's decent coffee with half-and-half and I can clean my windshield! Loves are about the same as Pilots.

Who I am becoming fond of is KwikTrip - their stores have real food! You can buy a carton of cottage cheese, whole bananas, apples, oranges or melon fruit cups, fresh salads, hard-boiled eggs, etc. I mean, sometimes I don't *want* a buffet in order to get some real food and they're pretty much the only ones who sell real food in the store.

When I *do* want a buffet, I like Petro... those Iron Skillets generally have a *bunch* of fresh veggies and fruits and some darned good homemade soups.

[DD]

Pilots are the worst because of fast food and they are small and expensive. Pilot bought Williams and replaced all of their restaurants with fast food.

There is a big Pilot in Ohio that had a nice buffet restaurant and a subway but the big restaurant is now closed and Subway is going to close now too and it will just be a big wendys. What a shame they got rid of the nice restaurant but then subway?

[preterist70]

Pilot has to be the worst, taking over 1st (last) place and setting a new high in low after TA had held the record for a long time. It really pisses me off to see them take out restaurants that serve HOT FOOD to put in crap that I can get anytime I'm home. When I go into a truckstop, I want to see laundry facilities, hot food 24/7, and a place to sit down and read the paper and drink some coffee. Pilot corp should be prosecuted for what they've done to the former Giant out near Gallup, NM.

Flying J is a bit slow on service, and I don't really appreciate how they cater to the RVers instead of us...YET, the food and showers are consistently good, though 'spensive, and I find the parking lots to be reasonably clean and spacious. It may not be saying much, but Flying J is the best.

As far as the worst individual locations, the Pilot in Gary, IN is horrendously bad, as is the TA across the street, and that Petro in Atlanta that others have mentioned. Before it was renovated, the TA in Columbia, NJ was perhaps the worst truckstop on the planet. There's one off the Boston loop that charges $10 for a shower--EVEN IF YOU FUEL! The restaurant in the Petro in Rochelle, IL is terrible. Kaghann's Korners off of I-69 in northern IN is a pit. Some rat hole I don't know the name of in Decatur, IL, on IL-48 just north of I-72. The Pilot in Indianapolis. There was one in PA, north of the Mack plant and the WaWa convenience store, don't remember the name, but it has a little motel between the parking area and the building that I wouldn't walk through at night, and I'm not afraid of much. I can just imagine all the diseases being passed around there. The 76 in Bolingbrook, IL is...is...really...something.

Good ones: Petro in York, NE. Petro in El Paso, TX (not as good as it once was, but still ok). Petro in Commerce, GA. Bosselman's in Des Moines, IA. Bosselman's in Grand Island, NE.

Another bad one: Just after TA took over the 76s and were in the process of converting them, I stopped in one that was just being changed over. It was in Alabama, not far across the line from Georgia. Went into the restaurant and ordered a burrito platter. I ordered it to go and was going to eat in my truck and go to sleep.

I could see the um, cook, and I use that term loosely, making my food. As he did so, he smoked, ate dinner of his own, and licked his fingers. When my dinner came out, the mexican rice turned out to be white rice with some salsa in it. The tacos were kind of dumped in the rice, soaking in it. There was no burrito.

The waitress took it back and I could hear her arguing with the cook. "OF COURSE THERE'S SUPPOSED TO BE A BURRITO WITH IT. IT'S CALLED A BURRITO PLATTER!"

When it came back again, the burrito turned out to be the kind of frozen burrito you ate in college when you were short on funds, one of those 5-for-a-dollar frozen burritos. It was to a real burrito what Top Ramen is to spaghetti.

Disgusted by this and also by the disgusting actions of the cook, I asked to see the manager. According to the waitress, Salmonella Joe, who was back there cooking, WAS the manager. She ripped up my check and I took a cold ham sandwich back to the truck.

[FedExDude]

The Truck Stop your referring to in Wrentham is Called Mikes truck stop and by far it makes pilot and the hook look like class a resturant/truckstop, their parking lot is across a reasonably busy highway (Granted there is a traffic light), The parking lot has been dirt/potholes as long as I have been trucking (32 years), They are located next to a towing/salvage yard the food/service sucks chit, the fuel is high priced (when you can get it), If you don't have your own towel you can buy one from them for $10.00 (A very small one I might add) hhhhmmmm lets see what other nice things I can say about them..... well I guess thats about all I have on them

[special k]

It's funny , every complains about the big places but everyone stops there instead of trying somewhere new or different. Hmmm

[DD]

I like walmart truckstops best. Always clean bathrooms. Always parking. Always food. Always stuff to buy. Always quiet at night. Good place.

Oh and a Williams in Ohio that turned into a pilot also took out a nice restaurant and put in a big McDonalds.

Whoever it was that mentioned the 76 in Bolingbrooke Illinois, I am in 100 percent agreement on that one. I had a chance to take my wife on a run with me a while back, it was her first and only chance to get out with me due to a kid and an education, anyways, she had never really been to a real truckstop before and this place was practicly right across the road from where I had to deliver..i delivered and then had to wait for next load and was hungry and needed a bathroom for the both of us...I pulled in there...........I could tell before I even put on my turn signal it was gonna be a bad one....The place was terrible in every sense of the word...Just plain flat out nasty!

On a better note one that I camped out at for the night one time up in Virginia, I think it was called The All America.....It seemed to be pretty nice and it had parking for days, the lot was huge and spaces were very easy to get into.

The only real complaints i have with Pilots is the parking and convenience of the fuel Islands, there are a few that are extremely inconvenient to get in and out of when it gets busy.

[Sans Argonauts]

Anybody remember Jake's Red Ball in Charlotte, NC? Talk about a ratty, nasty place.... that one took the cake.

Pilot in Birmingham, AL. because of all of the trash all over the parking lot and the drug-dealers banging on your door at all hours...

T/A in Mongomery, AL. is a rat-hole also...

Also, I second the opinion on the T/A in Jessup and the twin T/A's in Ontario as dives...

Flying hooks nationwide seem to have the best showers for all of their other problems, however...

[inmate1577]

Did a 6th C/C trip in December. I went via 1/10 & 1/40 to Florida and via 1/40 on the return.

The award for continuously bad stops were Petro. Lord what dumps, followed really close by Loves. T/A were not bad, and Flying J's were ok.

I have found that when a website for a company says how great they are and when you use their product and are greatly disapointed, I dont contact the management of the particular place, I contact the corporate office.

The corporate people dont like complaints, because complaints mean via word of mouth, others will avoid their place of business or product, therefore lose of revenue.

If no one is complaining to the front office, there is no problem. Just complaining to the management means your complaint will be "round filed" and never get back to the main office.

Just something to consider when you go to these places are given alot less than what they promise.

[Windwalker]

I'll agree that Flying J has a lot of room for improvement. But, T/A has gone a long way downhill. Pilot never even started climbing the hill. And Love's doesn't even know where the hill is.

[shahan]

I p/u in jessup, md 3 times a week and I refuse to go to the t/a there. I drive all the way to baltimore before I scale. The best truckstop is a new Petro in upstate NY on I-90 before you get to buffalo.

[Roadhog]

The best truck stop is a new Petro in upstate NY on I-90 before you get to buffalo.

I think you mean the one at exit 41 Seneca Falls. That's between Syracuse and Rochester. I wish they'd get their WiFi up and running. It is a stretch for me to make, but I always shoot for it when I'm crossing on 90 eastbound. It's a full 11 hours drive from T.C., Mi. cutting through Ontario. Usually my return trips, I don't stop. Fuel is cheaper in Michigan.

Sans Argonauts....I'm not sure if this is the same TS I use in Charlotte. It is a tiny rat hole, and fills up fast...(small). Called the Charlotte Travel Plaza on 77 exit 16B. Sounds like the same place.

Petro's are my choice of stops for food and showers. But when I need to get off the road and sleep...I take anything I can find that gives me a bathroom and coffee in the morning. I'll use a Rest Stop...even a secluded off ramp for a power nap....but most of the time, I work it out, so I have some conveniences.

[yoopr]

Wrong-BEST Petro is Sturtevant, Wi.GREAT Food and cleanest truck stop you'll find anywhere.
Worse truck stops are the T/A in Albuequerque and the Walt Whitman in Philly.

[Roco]

Ill'.say TA In the Tenessee are Tops..Also Missouri Area..
In Birmingham .Its TA. Roco

[yoopr]

Ill'.say TA In the Tenessee are Tops..Also Missouri Area..
In Birmingham .Its TA. Roco

oh yeah-Forgot the one in Montgomery, Alabam-GROSS

[pronghornracer]

What about overnight parking in a Walmart parking lot? Or what about
a KOA; does anybody use those? As opposed to truck stops.

pronghornracer