Name The Best And Worst Truck Stops In America And Canada.

Well, Old School, I have to weed out possible future career considerations. Everything has to be carefully weighed out. I need to study and analyze everything before making any moves. I think like a champion chess player in that respect. I am a cautious man. It could be very well that the condition of establishments that truck drivers frequent could be the ultimate turn-off for me. I might just apply for LOCAL driving positions only. That way the truck stop issue is off the table for good. It is not just the paycheck size, but the overall quality of life for me. I won't eat at choke-n-pukes even to make $50,000 a year.

I am on disability right now and on the verge of recovering from it. I have about a year to go before getting back to work anyway.

If you've actually spent any time around military people you'd know that tats are a common right of passage. But hey, Bye Felicia.

Referring to people with ink as unclean is akin to stirring up a hornet's nest. I'm fairly certain I can't scrub all the ink out/off my arms and legs so I'll just throw my hat in with the unclean peons. Besides, it's more fun here.

Ravenswood claims to be a thinker by writing this:

I tend to think of people who wear tatts as unclean.

Call me a dirty old man then... The above prejudice is an asinine statement having nothing to do with hygiene. Likely insulted half the people on this forum with that remark. I tend to think you are just another jerk having no clue about this job, even after many of us have sincerely tried (in vain) to help you better understand it. I have managed to eat healthy, maintain my weight and rarely eat truck stop food. Your point is a smoke-screen, a cop-out for a basic fear that you likely do not have what it takes to succeed at this. We see it all the time...nothing new, nothing special.

Is this here a promise?...

I am going to put my interest in driving as a career at the bottom of the barrel.

That's a great idea RW, you have our support. With your prejudiced, elitist attitude, a very wise decision.

Perhaps, I am just living in the WRONG times.

It is not just truck people, but these times. I see disheveled people in many trades these days.

The trouble with a long-haul transportation job is that I can't take along my clinical sterile living conditions, that only a dwelling on a fixed foundation provides, with me unless I were an airline pilot or cruise ship crewman. I'm sure cruise ship personnel live and work in sterling on-board conditions. A truck however is not a cruise ship or even a Winnebago for on-board living luxuries. With a LOCAL driving position, the personnel go home after work every evening after putting the typical banker's hours shift in. They can pack a lunch box for lunch on their shifts and can completely avoid unclean restaurants. I think OTR trucks should have more than just a sleeper berth but an entire enclosed living space the likes of a Class A motorhome: complete with living room, shower, commode, kitchen, stove, ice box and so on. When they start manufacturing Winnebagos or Fleetwoods to pull a semitrailer, I think the thought of OTR might be more appealing.

With a LOCAL driving position, the personnel go home after work every evening after putting the typical banker's hours shift in.

Ravenswood, you really should just take a break from posting comments for a year or so, or maybe at least until you can get some of your facts straight!

Local drivers put in long hours, and I am sure you just opened up another can of worms when some of the local drivers in here see what you think about how they work. Maybe you should just concentrate on being a banker, no wait some of that money they have to count is stinking nasty!

Living in the cab of a semi and maintaining a "clean", healthy lifestyle is not impossible. It takes effort. I clean my truck on a regular basis. I have a fridge and a microwave so I only eat "truck stop" food occasionally...and I have never suffered adverse effects from eating at diners and such along the way. You definitely don't sound as if you are suited for this lifestyle. By the way...about the tats and the whole unclean thing...I have a tat, but you'd never guess by looking at me. It's in a place that is only seen by those I have wanted to share it with. Please take a long look at yourself, and stop being judgmental about superficial things. You will be a happier person.

Ravenswood claims to be a thinker by writing this:

I tend to think of people who wear tatts as unclean.

Call me a dirty old man then... The above prejudice is an asinine statement having nothing to do with hygiene. Likely insulted half the people on this forum with that remark. I tend to think you are just another jerk having no clue about this job, even after many of us have sincerely tried (in vain) to help you better understand it. I have managed to eat healthy, maintain my weight and rarely eat truck stop food. Your point is a smoke-screen, a cop-out for a basic fear that you likely do not have what it takes to succeed at this. We see it all the time...nothing new, nothing special.

Is this here a promise?...

I am going to put my interest in driving as a career at the bottom of the barrel.

That's a great idea RW, you have our support. With your prejudiced, elitist attitude, a very wise decision.

I do have a clue about truck stops. Laymen who travel in cars tend to bad-mouth them a lot. As a motorist who has traveled through several states in a car, I have a very good idea of the roughness of such establishments. I can't say much positive about the bathrooms in Love's or about the cooks in T/A's.I only stopped at a Pilot for gas one time so I don't know much about their food or toilets.

I usually pack stuff for sandwiches in several coolers on the road. Motel 6's are grungy too these days. I prefer to pitch a tent at a campground with hot showers when I travel by car weather permitting but if is too hot or cold I have to settle for a fleabag with air conditioning or heat that hopefully works. I especially can't stand eating at places in the desert like Nevada or Arizona. The "gravy" one time at a Winnemucca joint had the taste of toothpaste, I swear. This makes me a little gun shy of OTR or even regional work.

Much of my understanding of trucking comes from TV shows, country-western songs and Hollywood movies. It is not a glamorous life.

Much of my understanding of trucking comes from TV shows, country-western songs and Hollywood movies.

TV shows, Country western songs, and Hollywood have always been great sources of reliable information! C'mon man you are starting to make us laugh. If you had all that great information, then why did you ever start looking into this in the first place?

Have you ever considered the folks who are packing that lunch meat that you put into your sandwiches might be wearing beards and sporting some really outstanding ink? Wouldn't that be disturbing!

With a LOCAL driving position, the personnel go home after work every evening after putting the typical banker's hours shift in.

I put in a year OTR and am currently driving local. I literally just got off the phone with G Town talking about the work we do. He works for Swift on a regional Walmart account and I work for Swift on a local Target account. We both have the opportunity to be home every night, but we definitely don't work "banker hours." I actually have a set schedule most of the time, but I work 12 hr and 10 hr shifts and commute an hour each way--plus I work nights. I was given an opportunity to work days but I would have had to get up at like 3 am every day and work until the sun set--not banker hours.