A Visit To Love's Truck Stop!

I really enjoy Gabriel...he is hilarious......

There were a few places for rigs to park (I've been hearing that most truck stops have NO parking) BUT this was in the afternoon-probably couldn't BUY a spot at night. Not QUITE as noisy as I thought, but it still won't be easy sleeping..Those big diesels have a ground shaking growl. Checked out the showers and found them sparkling clean, (they smelled like Clorox) with plenty of room to shower, shave, change clothes, etc. and an attendant wiping everything down. NICE!!! (I heard that it was nasty at these places).

You'll find that varies from one Loves to the next. Some of them (I absolutely hate the one in Wamsutter WY and plan my trips to avoid the place) are nasty, too. All Loves are small for parking compared to P/FJ and TA.

But after a few months you'll find (like me) that you have trouble sleeping WITHOUT the sound of diesel engines running. I miss my reefer running when I'm empty!

Can't wait to meet some of y'all!! (I'll be the skinny one)

Not for long, kid......

Cheers, Howard

There were a few places for rigs to park (I've been hearing that most truck stops have NO parking) BUT this was in the afternoon-probably couldn't BUY a spot at night. Not QUITE as noisy as I thought, but it still won't be easy sleeping..Those big diesels have a ground shaking growl. Checked out the showers and found them sparkling clean, (they smelled like Clorox) with plenty of room to shower, shave, change clothes, etc. and an attendant wiping everything down. NICE!!! (I heard that it was nasty at these places).

You'll find that varies from one Loves to the next. Some of them (I absolutely hate the one in Wamsutter WY and plan my trips to avoid the place) are nasty, too. All Loves are small for parking compared to P/FJ and TA.

But after a few months you'll find (like me) that you have trouble sleeping WITHOUT the sound of diesel engines running. I miss my reefer running when I'm empty!

Can't wait to meet some of y'all!! (I'll be the skinny one)

Not for long, kid......

Cheers, Howard

Don't blame the Loves cause they are that way. Sure they are small but the nastiness/dirtiness comes from the truck drivers. Truck stops don't throw trash in the parking lots or **** on the bathroom floors or leave the toilets full of god knows what without flushing. Truck drivers do though.

I'm not fond of that one in Wamsutter either, but mostly because it was always full with a line at the fuel aisle and CRST had that as a regular fuel stop for us. Always took a long time to get in fueled and out. That, and all their water faucets at the pump leak and in cold weather it could be really icy right around the pumps. I ended up on my backside there one cold night.

I've noticed one problem with Loves, Pilot and Flying J in general. They also cater to the general public and that can make getting in and out a problem. Petro and TA all seem to be more driver oriented in general. Not that you wont get the tourists in those, but for some reason it always seems less crowded. Plus they have more parking and I have used their reserved spots a few times when I could find no other parking.

As to general public using truck stops, something I have been seeing more of is people parking motor homes in truck stops. That is a minor peeve with me. They can go to RV parks. We cant.

I couldn't stand going to Love's cause they were way too tight. You definitely have to be on top of your backing there. Give me a Flying J or TA, they were always big and had plenty of parking.

As to general public using truck stops, something I have been seeing more of is people parking motor homes in truck stops. That is a minor peeve with me. They can go to RV parks. We cant.

Had that happen to me a few times. You think you're going to pull into a spot, sike! Random motorhome is just chilling right there! And they always park a little further back so you don't know it happens until you pass right by the spot, or are about to set up to back.

I'm going to go against all of you guys and say that I actually prefer a Loves. Probably not a good idea to go to a loves at 6pm to park but otherwise I enjoy my time there.

Several reasons why Loves is actually good:

They have the best merchandise that's not jacked up prices like TA/Petro.

2 snickers bars for 1$, try finding that at other major truck stops.

Great Loves Rewards with the card, like free refills.

Their restaurants are superior to restaurants at other truck stops. Arby's is always slightly cheaper. And you actually get to enjoy a "real" Subway. Pilot/J's Subways don't actually have any special discounts like the December 2$ customer appreciation and some don't even acknowledge the JanuAny special for this month.

I think I just started a war, but, I do believe that Love's is on par or better than any other truck stops (except for parking).

Loves is certainly the best on their points system. They were a major fuel stop for us at CRST and I always had platinum and that was with me and the co driver splitting the fill ups. When I went over to Knight, I had almost 50 dollars of points on my Loves card which I used to pick up a couple of items I needed for the truck.

As to facilities for the drivers, the TAs, Petros and Flying Js always have the big driver lounges. I know of one Loves with that and that is the one in Des Moines.

I discovered something the other day about parking. I was nicked on my front fender at a Petro the other night by a truck leaving. Nothing serious, just a little jagged scrape on the bottom. (I was inside eating at the time and did not notice it until the pretrip the next morning.)Anyway, the next night, I nosed in. And wow, talk about a quiet night. I may start doing that more often. Plus no one came up to the truck begging for money. That has been over the top this last month. Worst was a girl banging on my truck at 2 AM one morning looking for money. I am afraid I was not very pleasant with her.

I couldn't stand going to Love's cause they were way too tight. You definitely have to be on top of your backing there. Give me a Flying J or TA, they were always big and had plenty of parking.

As to general public using truck stops, something I have been seeing more of is people parking motor homes in truck stops. That is a minor peeve with me. They can go to RV parks. We cant.

Had that happen to me a few times. You think you're going to pull into a spot, sike! Random motorhome is just chilling right there! And they always park a little further back so you don't know it happens until you pass right by the spot, or are about to set up to back.

I saw a motor home come the wrong way through the fuel aisle and block a truck about to pull in. It was at a Pilot and I was in the pull through area and starting to leave. And the driver of the RV was clueless, just got out and started to fuel his RV. I was able to make out the face of the trucker starting to pull up, and he had his mouth wide open just staring. I think that was in SC. I just went on down the road. Thing was, the RV was towing a car, so I am sure it was not easy for him to back out.

Petro and TA all seem to be more driver oriented in general. Not that you wont get the tourists in those, but for some reason it always seems less crowded.

I also prefer the TAs for the same reasons. I'll settle for a P/FJ, but they're usually smaller and have more 4-wheelers and touristas clogging things up.

The main reason a refuse to do business at the Loves in Wamsutter is because I stopped there one day, fueled, parked, and went in to take a shower. The snaggle tooth old biddy behind the counter gave me a number and said I had to wait. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And then I waited some more.

After about 45 minutes, there were four or five other guys waiting, too. So I just walked back there to see if anyone was actually cleaning the showers. That's when I discovered the plumber (butt crack showing and everything) working on replacing the broken pipes.

That's when I went back out front, gave the other guys the 411, and then told the old battleaxe exactly what I thought of her wasting my time by not telling us they didn't have water. Then I went back to my truck and went to sleep like I would've done an hour earlier if she had just said they didn't have water just then.

Anybody who wants to do business with me had better respect the fact that my time is worth money and it's not to be wasted for no reason. If they don't value my time, then they had better not count on valuing my money, either.

Those losers in Wamsutter will not ever get one red cent from this driver no matter who I'm driving for!

Cheers, Howard