Where is the WORST Truck Stop You've Been?
 

I don't know if it's still around or not but when I was driving I recall RUBES Truck Stop in NJ as being one insane place to spend a night back in the day. I've heard gun shots when I've been there, cops were always being called, a waitress told me they found "another" body dumped out back the week before I was there one time and confirmed by a fuel-jockey. Niiice. After that, I would just get fuel and get the hell out of dodge and take my chances parked on the street downtown at night waiting for my delivery to open up the next morning.

Any other doozy truck stops still around where you have to be looking over your shoulder or sleep with one-eye open anymore?

Walt Whitman's in Philly. Man that place is a scary dump.

anything in the seattle area

Jessup, MD - The TA draws some interesting characters and is a ***** to get in and out of. My dog sat up all night in the driver's seat growling, and while I'm not afraid of being a woman alone on the road, I definitely did NOT get out of my truck after dark.

The USA Truckstop in Dallas,TX is also a rough one... Arrow drivers are prohibited from going to the Pilot in Dallas. We lose our jobs no questions asked if the Qualcomm shows us to be there. I was at the Lancaster Swift terminal one night a few years ago when a driver was shot out at the USA. Of course, that stop is right across the road from Werner's terminal.

The Walt Whitman in Philly has to be the bottom of the barrel.

But

As mentioned, the pilot in Dallas is pretty bad

the pilot in West Memphis Arkansas was pretty rough last I was there

Haven't stopped there in awhile, but the T/A in Gary Indiana used to be pretty terrible.

Most of the "mom and pop" truckstops in New England should have been condemnded by the building department or shut down by the health department years ago.

The Loves in Albuquerque New Mexico is the toughest fuel stop in the world to get out of (as in, you exit to the left of the fuel islands, but if there is a truck pulled forward from the lane left of you, you don't exit until he does... it's that tight.)

Mind you, these things can change (well, except for the Whitman, I can't imagine it ever changing.) In 2002 I was pulling dedicated into GM in OKC. The Pilot in OKC used to be, by default, a whorehouse with fuel pumps. On a bad night you'd see a dozen lizards squirming on a 50 truck lot, on a really bad night you'd have police cruisers all over the lot and a helicopter barnstorming the place. It's no longer a pilot (called BJ's or something now) and last I was there it seemed like it was pretty quiet. h

I-55 Truckstop
 

How about the I-55 truckstop in Bolingbrook, IL. While I was parked overnight there, a dry van about 3 spaces down from me was completely emptied out. Not to be outdone, the thieves also went so far as to remove the doors! All of this for ONLY a $10.00 parking fee. The attendant didn't even look ashamed when taking my money. :D

Re: I-55 Truckstop
 

I can't remember which TA it is on I-44 between Joplin and St. Louis, MO - but I was trucking along one day and saw the entire back line of the stop with doors swinging... easily 20-30 trucks. I ended up calling both the TA and the cops from the interstate.... to this day I can't bring myself to stop there...

Re: I-55 Truckstop
 

tndieselgrl,
I almost commented that they should have had a lock on their van doors. Then, "POW" the proverbial light came on and I realized that some probably did. It probably slowed the thieves down by about a microsecond :x I guess that the padlocked dry van is similar to door locks on a car/truck............Simply there to keep the HONEST person HONEST.................

That was either Strafford or Mt. Vernon MO.

I know those are the two out there, but without looking at the exit, I couldn't tell you offhand.