truck stops
 

where is the nastiest, dirtiest, most dangerous truck stop in the country, and why?

Drivers truck stop on I-35/Meacham in north Ft Worth.
Don't know why, but it's rough.
I think the FWPD has a terminal there. :p


Another one is the Pilot on I-10 in El Paso. I've always heard that you shouldn't spend the night at that one.

Any in or near a large metro area. Heard bad news about the Walt Whitman in the Philly area. Atlanta has at least 1 that I know of that's dangerous.

i don't belive the walt whitman exists anymore.

As of Jan. 25th it existed.

I think those big giant service plazas on the north end of the NJTP are dangerous. If Walt Whitman is still in business that place would be high up there in the rankings. That was the only truck stop that I have ever pulled into to spend the night and end up leaving after a while because I was scared. That T/A in Jessup used to be a whole lot worse than it is now, if you could imagine that. It would have probably been on my top ten places to be robbed/mugged.
Also, any Pilot is a dangerous place to be if you care about your truck. Especially your fenders, hood, and mirrors.:rofl:

X2 on the Pilot!! I stayed at a Wal Mart down the road from a Pilot the other night and like i clown i left my cb, i woke up to some guys about to kill each other right in the parking lot, thanks to all the other truckers for the commentary.. it sounded good but i was to tired to keep listening, it was going on for a while!!

Maybe it's just me but i got kinda of bad vibes about the Flying J at Carlisie... That T/A at Troutville at the 150 on 1-81 doesn't look that great... and That T/A at Jessup, WHOA!! I seriously thought i was going to get robbed when i was sliding my tandems there one night after leaving Baltimore with a Backhaul, i think a driver watching me from his truck noticed.. "Damn Schneider, What's Wrong Buddy. Think Somebody Watching You" Obviously he was but there was two guys in all black standing at the back of the building.. they damn sure didn't look like Truck Drivers, not to mention the Lot Lizards!! I just stay away from the T/A's (Except for the one at Exit 89 on 95), DAMN SURE PLIOTS UNLESS ITS LATE AT NIGHT AND I CAN STOP IN FRONT OF THE FUEL ISLAND, the flying J's and and Petro's... My favorite Truck stop is one that has lots of parking and the folks inside are as nice as a sunny day!! Lee-Hi at 195 on I-81

I Also heard guys wouldn't get caught dead staying at the T/A in Alabama..

when i was running o.t.r. i mainly ran east of the mississippi with the exeption of a couple of states so i would have to say that the walt witman in philadelphia and the t/a in jessup had to have been the most dangerous ones that i have been in. all thou the flying-j in W.memphis and the t/a in memphis were dumps if i remember correctly. i remember being in the gary/lake station area and the pondarosa parking lot was full of scum.

It was closed a year or two when I went by. Everything was closed and in disrepair. It was my understanding that they were going to tear it down and build something else on the site. I think that I still have pictures. If it is opened someone had a major project to get the doors open. That place used to be a real dive.

GMan, the person who informed me might have been confused..........

pilot in ATL probably the worst..if you get a parking spot anytime of day, you cant walk from the parkin lot to the door without someone tryn to sell you anything from porn to watches or video games

use to be the T/A in ATL before it closed.

anyone of the truckstops on I-20 in dallas for the same reasons, but here you gotta worry about getting shot or mugged also.

That's no lie! :lol:
Both the Petro and the Flying J can have some bad nights. I've never spent the night at either one of them, but I've gotten fuel there. The couple of times that I've fueled up at those 2, from the look of things, I wouldn't want to spend the night.

Lucky Lady Truck Stop, it's a Fina on the Northbound lanes at exit 238 on I-45 in Rice. I stopped in there for a "convenience stop" last summer. The place was so dirty I would not even use the rest room. Their A/C either wasn't working or they had it turned off to save money. I'd hate to even think about how much sweat the cook was dropping in the food in the restaurant.

Opps, forgot to say, that Driver's may be rough but the last couple times I was in there it was a LOT cleaner than the one I mentioned!

My dad's brother and family live in Crowley. As many times as I've been to the Metromess, I've never stopped at Driver's. Everytime I pass by it, the disco lights are on. :p I've always heard that place is bad news.

It has been a LONG time since I've been in there. Once I get on I-35, I really don't want to stop until I get out of the metromess!

That aint no joke. Right there at 287/I-35, you better be mashin on it, and just pick a hole. :lol:

The last time I was in Philly, it was completely bulldozed, and there was new construction going on. Girders for something that was going to be two-stories. Have no idea if it was going to be a truck stop again or not. I have no idea what you saw in Jan, but I was there last fall. In the past, I have parked there to wait for further orders (generally, no more than half an hour), and last fall, it did not exist as a truck stop.

It still exists but sometimes gets mistaken for a junk yard.

Most of the stops in Ga around I285 are pretty scary. (I live in Ga...Atlanta is pretty much a hole...heard they closed one down it was so unlawful)

I have been told not to sleep on the streets of Dallas after dropping at the big Sears depot...but so

far have not been bothered by anyone...streets are empty at night in most big cities.

St Louis has many abandoned streets where I have stayed...we end up down late at night there after all the truck stops are full so you gotta do what u gotta do.

Must park somewhere......can't circle the drop zone all night like a plane :)

I also heard Memphis was a rough place...I finally slept there a few weeks ago...place is just another truckstop.

Slept down in Jersey a while back over near the bulk mail center...other than the psycho that nearly beat my door off the hinges...the place is pretty peaceful....and stinky.

I decided to check my map and make sure. The Walt Whitman Truck stop at the corner of S. Lawrence and Patison was completely bulldozed and new construction going on a year ago. Unless the new construction is a matter of rebuilding the truck stop, it is not there anymore. And, from the condition of it before the construction, I doubt the owners had the money to build a new one. Construction looked more like it might be a bank going in. If I have to go back to that area again, I do not expect to find a truck stop there anymore. Last time I was there, I had to park on a side street and wait for the appointment time. There was no truck stop.

Is it possible that you're thinking of a different one we don't know about?

Does anybody else get the incongruity of naming a truck stop after Walt Whitman?

T/A - Gary, Indiana

I stopped there one time after dark - never again

I know I've been in there, but it's been so long ago, I don't remember when it was. Last time I was there, some guy pulled the release on another driver's 5th-wheel, and when the truck pulled out, the trailer came off. I used to pull quarters out of my glad-hand couplings, and lock the tandems back in before I left. Made a couple of dollars that way. These days, I don't even slow down.

Proper pretrip would catch any of those potential problems.

Do you take off your glad-hands and put them back on when you do a pretrip? Most do not. That place has a reputation, so if I ever have to stop there (and a few other places), that's been part of my pretrip. Of course, most times, I do not set the trailer brake, so the red line is charged. It's been pulled off a few times, but they can't put a quarter in there with the air going, and the leaking air generally makes them leave in a hurry.

I was taught to in school and will in my pre-trip that takes less than 10 minutes (not including air brake test) . That and also carry a box of glad hand seals since they are cheap since you wear them out checking them on a regular basis. At the very least check to see the the 5th wheel and trailer tandems are locked. I would be afraid to drive without checking those.

I wonder if you could paint the section of the 5th wheel lock when unlocked a bright colour without getting covered in grease or wearing off right away?

Lake station has the Gary T/A beat anyday. Get off at the Flying J and go past both the Road Ranger(Pilot Ranger) and T/A. To the next xroads Rt 20, its on the RHS Thats all Im gonna say...but give her a shot!!

Also, If you get in a good practice of pulling against the kingpin/jaws when you park, so no one will be able to yank it out.

I like the idea of rigging it up to some explosives.

An inverter and stick welder with the power cranked up would be more enjoyable.

The Walt Whitman in Philadephia has been closed since at least the beginning of 2005. My worse truck stop has to be the TA in Jessup, Maryland. That place has to be one of the smelliest truck stops and as soon as the sun gets close to setting the lot lizards start coming out in full force. I avoid that place like the plague today.

I remember when I used to stop at the Pilot on I-20 in Dallas for fuel, you used to have to leave out of the back of the lot and then drive around the rear of the truck stop to get back to the street that goes back to the Interstate. Anyway, that area behind the truck stop used to be filled with nothing but pimps, prostitutes exposing themselves, crack dealers, and crack addicts. Anyway, I used to feel like I was running the gauntlet.

Then about 2 years ago I noticed they finally cleaned that area behind the Pilot up, which made me curious so I asked a local why it happened, and he told me the Dallas police finally cleaned that place up after about 3 truckers got murdered in quick sucession by prostitutes.

Lets see, loves or pilot near dallas. the two pilots, on us 78 in memphis, the TA in west memphis just to name a few.

Yeah...those two Pilots on 78 are also full of lot lizards. That one in Birmingham, AL is too.

The TA in Montgomery, AL is one of the worst. I don't stop there. They closed the TA on the south side of Atlanta, so I have heard. Flying J in Dallas is pretty bad. I won't even stop there for fuel any more. I have stopped at the Pilot in Dallas, but I will usually keep on rolling. I have found that most of the independents are usually better and seem to be more secure than the big chains. Perhaps when the owner is close by they tend to keep a better eye on their business.

It appears that another independent truck stop has bitten the dust. A friend of mine came through Corbin, KY yesterday and told me that the old Ambest (at least I believe it was Ambest) truck stop has closed. It is a shame that they could not make it. They let the place run down in recent years and it didn't help to have Pilot across the street. They had a decent size parking area and their breakfasts used to be pretty good. Maybe someone will come in and reopen it under a new name.

That's the way it goes. The good, well-maintained truck stops that have been around for years are closing. Seems like the ones that are run-down-not very safe, and nasty are the ones that are having good business. :confused:

Last I checked at least uncle petes hasn't gone down. I'd probably cry if that thing goes bye bye.

The one on the west side of Ft Wayne, IN is a place I used to stop at a lot. Back then, the lot was small. Back then, girls in very short skirts and even shorter shorts used to bend over to sneak under trailers to get away from a very over-sized cop (or security officer). There were times I used to laugh until I cried at the antics I got to see. Well, they cleaned the place up after they enlarged the parking lot. Know what? Back then, I used to fuel up and park. Now, the place is boring. Nothing to look at anymore. I don't even slow down for it.:roll3:

No, I never did any business with them, but I used to stay up half the night watching them.

Now, the one in Corbin, KY is a real shame. That is one I often did stop at to eat. That's one I really will miss.

JT's closed in Murfreesboro, TN about 2 years ago. They bulldozed it and it is now a Pilot. They used to have decent parking. The food wasn't all that great, but wasn't too bad for what it was.

thats a shame, always nice to be able to find a place with decent parking. I stoped by a place recently, can't remember the name of it but it's on I-90 in MY near the NY/PA boarder. I don't know how long ago that place closed but they had decent parking, also DD's around I wanna say mm 205 on I-69 had decent parking and prety decent food as well, it closed around the time fuel started to go crazy. shame to see those places go down