Thursday, February 1, 1990

Truck Stops

There are major truck stop chains in America. Each has its own style and amenities. I stop at all of them sooner or later, some more than others. Each one has things I like and things I don't like.
TravelCenters of America
[ FUEL PRICES ] [ LOCATIONS ] I stop at TA all the time, mainly because it's usually my cheapest source of fuel. It's not that I don't stop at other truck stops, I do. It's just that TA is normally my best place to stop when I compare fuel prices, primarily because I'm in a program where I receive fuel discounts. This means that most of my showers are taken at a TA as well.
Petro Stopping Centers
[ FUEL PRICES ] [ LOCATIONS ]
I'm not a big petro fan. Yes, they have fuel prices that are almost as good as TA. Yes, they do repairs like TA. Yes, their restaurant is probably better than the one at TA. But they aren't as common on the roads I travel and I have to blind-side back to get a parking space all too often. That means that only "real truckers" go there and I'm not a "real trucker", I'm just a part-time one.
Flying J
[ FUEL PRICES ] [ LOCATIONS ] I stop at Flying J all the time. I'm addicted to their egg rolls and hot wings and salads. I also like their pizza and occasionally I'll get something from the Magic dragon menu.
Pilot Travel Centers
[ FUEL PRICES ] [ LOCATIONS ] Of all the truckstops, I like Pilot's coffee the best. They also have the best breakfast rolls of the major chains and tehy always seem to have bananas and a fast food joint of a natioanal chain, which is lacking at TA, Petro and Flying J.
Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores
[ FUEL PRICES ] [ LOCATIONS ]
Love's Travel Stops are out of Oklahoma with their first store having been opened in Watonga. I stop there for bananas, apples, sunflower seeds and a certain brand of apple pie. They almost always have a national fast food chain and, sometimes, good hot pizza or chicken.
AMBEST
[ FUEL PRICES ] [ LOCATIONS ]
I usually wind up at an AMBEST when I'm looking for a place to park. They usually have nice big lots and a sit-down-blue-plate-special kinda restaurant.

Truck Stops - Directories

TruckMaster Fuel Finder
The Truckmaster database has 6145 truck stops and fuel prices for 1500 of them, average prices along with the high and low price. It also has over 1700 rest area listings, 500+ listings for ports of entry, and 1500+ store addresses with overnight parking.
Truck Stop Info Plus
Truck Stop Info Plus has a significant amount of information on each truck stop in the database it uses. It does not have as much information as the TruckMaster Fuel Finder database, but is easier to use.
DieselBoss
DieselBoss is not as easy to use as Truck Stop Info Plus and doesn't contain as much information as TruckMaster Fuel Finder, but it does generate a report of all the fuel prices for all the major chains in the United States for the day that it is ran.
America's Independent Truckers' Association (AITA)
According to the site, "AITA is in the process of updating our Truck Stop Listings." although some inforamtion is available. However, by doing a cursory browsing I could immediately tell that the information was out-of-date.
American Trucker
American Trucker is simply a listing by state and city of truck stops. It doesn't even list phone numbers.