by Matt Konkle
Torque Editor-in-Chief
Yeah, we know. That blue sign coming up on the left that reads “rest stop” is about as exciting as watching a last-place football team try and execute a two-minute drill.
Food, fuel, service. About as boring as it gets when you are adding up the miles on a cross-country road trip to Johnson Valley.
And yet, wait. Why does it seem like every semi-truck is in the parking lot of this particular rest stop. And why does the building of this place look more like an National Basketball League stadium.
Better yet, what is all this flashing neon lighting proclaiming this rest stop as the biggest truck stop in the world.
Certainly, this bears a few minutes of our time, yeah?
So the next thing we know, we are pulling off exit 284 on I-80 in Walcott , Iowa, to see just what is going on during an otherwise boring driving night.
Like we just said, the first thing you notice is the crowd. Cars are shoved in all across the front of the place, while rows after rows of semi-trucks are parked out back.
Yeah, this isn’t your average truck stop.
Sure, this place offers everything you’d expect in an average stop with tons of gas and diesel pumps, convenice store food and drinks, and a bunch of products like oil, wiper fluid, wipers, tire gauges, etc. to keep everyone moving.
Yet, walk a little deeper into the facility and you see all kinds of shopping items — almost like an anchor department store at your local mall. But, like the infomercial guys like to say, “that’s not all folks.”
The I-80 Truckstop has a full-service restaurant, movie theater, library, massage therapists, chiropractors, dentists, pet care, Laundromat, private showers, truck product showroom and work out area — all designed to give average truck stops an anxiety complex.
It even has a truck museum, annual truck beauty contest and a spot to register your antique truck for the truckstop’s annual Truckers Jubilee.
Well, for us, all that was nice, but we quickly focused on a 1951 Willys M38 that was one of several vehicles on display throughout the truckstop’s interior. Painted up in the famous Willys Green, it certainly classed up the place. At least in our opinion. Also on display was a fire red Dodge Power Wagon featuring retro Superwinch hub assemblies.
The website declares this truck stop as now the World’s Largest Truckstop, established in 1964 and a home away from home to countless drivers and a destination for travelers as well. Some say tbis Iowa 80 Truckstop is like a small city, the website states, while others have likened it to a Trucker’s Disneyland — all agreeing it is a place not to be missed.
