20 most dangerous truck stops in America.

[Rigjockey]

I found this video on YouTube. How many of these truck stops listed have you been to and what is your story of being there?

 

[Rigjockey]

I stopped in Gary. I had my Father with me and he loves trucks and as we are walking to the restaurant he is looking around at all the trucks.
I said stop looking around, walk with a purpose and act like you belong here.
I was just telling him what his brother told me when we ran team together.

 

[Rigjockey]

T/A Baltimore, MD. Yup been there! Not a good place to be but nothing you can do when the Port of Baltimore kicks you off their property because... overnight parking at the Port is not allowed.

Baltimore is sketchy AF.

 

[Rigjockey]

55 trucks stop in the Chicago area. Yup, spent three days there.
When I was there it was paid parking and I felt safe. The video must be from before it was fenced in paid parking.

 

[Rigjockey]

West Memphis.
I have been there but only during the daytime. I heard it was not the place to be at night.

 

[Rigjockey]

Dallas.
I knew Dallas was going to problematic so I would stop 2 hours out from there and drive in in the morning,
I did stop in Dallas during the day though.

 

[Electric Chicken]

I'm probably too naive to recognize a dangerous truck stop because even the local TA seems dangerous to me because the pavement sucks.

 

[GAnthony]

I stopped in Gary. I had my Father with me and he loves trucks and as we are walking to the restaurant he is looking around at all the trucks.
I said stop looking around, walk with a purpose and act like you belong here.
I was just telling him what his brother told me when we ran team together.

yeah, when i first started driving, i did pull into the Gary, IN Union 76, that's what it was back then......i had actually been there all of 3 times. the 3rd time, when i was in the restroom, a guy comes running in, blood all over his shirt....he claimed his co-driver stabbed him.

that was it for me, back then, we had paper logs, so i made sure to color that logbook, to avoid that place from there on end.

T/A Baltimore, MD. Yup been there! Not a good place to be but nothing you can do when the Port of Baltimore kicks you off their property because... overnight parking at the Port is not allowed.

Baltimore is sketchy AF.

Yes, the Jessup T/A......i stayed there maybe 2 times, against my better judgement, but it was all good, frankly

sorry to say, the video being over 30 minutes long, i did not watch any of it......

i'd rather be watching some sort of gun(s) video's instead.

 

[Duck]

the 3rd time, when i was in the restroom, a guy comes running in, blood all over his shirt....he claimed his co-driver stabbed him.

that was it for me, back then, we had paper logs, so i made sure to color that logbook, to avoid that place from there on end.

I'm not defending the reputation of the truck stop of course. But if the dude was stabbed by his co-driver, it could've happened anywhere. Team operations are long-haul. They go all over.

Now if the dude had said he was stabbed by someone other than another long haul truck driver, then yeah, it's a place I'd avoid.

 

[Electric Chicken]

yeah, when i first started driving, i did pull into the Gary, IN Union 76, that's what it was back then......i had actually been there all of 3 times. the 3rd time, when i was in the restroom, a guy comes running in, blood all over his shirt....he claimed his co-driver stabbed him.

that was it for me, back then, we had paper logs, so i made sure to color that logbook, to avoid that place from there on end.


Yes, the Jessup T/A......i stayed there maybe 2 times, against my better judgement, but it was all good, frankly

sorry to say, the video being over 30 minutes long, i did not watch any of it......

i'd rather be watching some sort of gun(s) video's instead.

There's actually two TAs down there. One in Jessup where Die Hard with a Vengeance was filmed and then the one right around the corner from the ports in Baltimore itself. I think both are sketchy AF. The worst truck stop I've personally been to at least based on appearance was the New Transit truck stop right off I-97 in Odenton MD. I was only there for the scale and even in broad daylight it was nasty.

Didn't see many people around so maybe it's a perfectly safe stop, I dunno. But I'm not very worldly.

 

[GAnthony]

I'm not defending the reputation of the truck stop of course. But if the dude was stabbed by his co-driver, it could've happened anywhere. Team operations are long-haul. They go all over.

Now if the dude had said he was stabbed by someone other than another long haul truck driver, then yeah, it's a place I'd avoid.

i ran long haul as a team when i first started..way back then, for many of the companies hiring new drivers, that's the way it was.

there were times i had thoughts of wasting my co-driver........he was only 20 years old, and had been with 3, yes 3 trainers......by that time, i had, had several weeks under my belt, so they teamed him up with me..oh F-ING JOY......when did I become a trainer...???

one time in fact, i called the recruiter and told her, that if Adrian Johnson, (yup that was his name, a farm boy from PA), that i was going to rip his arm off, and beat him to death.....

she immediately transferred me to dispatch..dispatch told me not to touch him, and he will take care of it.

this is when i was with "ComTrans", the general freight division of NAVL...(north american van lines), out of Etters, PA

anyway, we were at the fort...Ft. Wayne, IN, terminal

that's where they sent him to a graydog to go to Louisville

from that point on...i was a solo driver.

and when i had to go west, and thru indy, i made sure to by-pass Gary....

so i highly suspect it was his co-driver, ready to fully slice and dice him...........at that Gary, IN Union 76........

 

[Electric Chicken]

If I had to team drive, I would probably be some sort of felon by now.

 

[GAnthony]

If I had to team drive, I would probably be some sort of felon by now.

unfortunately, for newbies, back in the day, that was the norm, after you got released from your trainer.......at 1 company, out of Medway, OH, Victory Express, it was 3 months...i forgot the time required by NAVL.

when i was at Victory, they had no one from RI, so they asked if i wanted to team up with an OH driver, i said, sure, i wanted to hurry up and do my time.

that's when i stayed in OH for 4 months, they had a bunk house, and i was given full company car privileges.

the safety guy nearly drop his cigarette to the floor, when i told him i had been there 4 months straingt.

that's when he called HR, and he was told, that YES, there was a RI student there, with his trainer

they cut him loose, teamed him with me, and i finally got home, for 4 days.

then when we returned to OH, we went right back to the GM Dedicated dispatch board, that i was working for the past 4 months

THAT co-driver did not last long.

the tornado in KS, yes, that state, scared the shit out of him, and he wanted out forever.....

but then too...before this job...??

he had like 6 other jobs he could not handle, and his father-in-law laid DOWN the LAW, on taking care of his wife and child, with another one on the way

again...i went solo, but kept the hood they assigned me, rather than dump me into the Darth Vader Helmet cabover (Peterbilt), cuz i told them, i'd walk away too, to go into that POS truck.

 

[Electric Chicken]

unfortunately, for newbies, back in the day, that was the norm, after you got released from your trainer.......at 1 company, out of Medway, OH, Victory Express, it was 3 months...i forgot the time required by NAVL.

when i was at Victory, they had no one from RI, so they asked if i wanted to team up with an OH driver, i said, sure, i wanted to hurry up and do my time.

that's when i stayed in OH for 4 months, they had a bunk house, and i was given full company car privileges.

the safety guy nearly drop his cigarette to the floor, when i told him i had been there 4 months straingt.

that's when he called HR, and he was told, that YES, there was a RI student there, with his trainer

they cut him loose, teamed him with me, and i finally got home, for 4 days.

then when we returned to OH, we went right back to the GM Dedicated dispatch board, that i was working for the past 4 months

THAT co-driver did not last long.

the tornado in KS, yes, that state, scared the shit out of him, and he wanted out forever.....

but then too...before this job...??

he had like 6 other jobs he could not handle, and his father-in-law laid DOWN the LAW, on taking care of his wife and child, with another one on the way

again...i went solo, but kept the hood they assigned me, rather than dump me into the Darth Vader Helmet cabover (Peterbilt), cuz i told them, i'd walk away too, to go into that POS truck.

I'm relatively blessed and spoiled when it comes to trucking experience.

 

[GAnthony]

I'm relatively blessed and spoiled when it comes to trucking experience.

yes...you "newer drivers have it much better...not much long haul (OTR as they been calling it) these days, right out of school.

however, way back then, it was the ONLY way to get started, UNLESS you "knew someone"....in a union shop or at a REAL trucking company that was local.

also, would you believe me if i said, "back in the day, to get a job at Werner, you HAD TO HAVE at least 3 full years of verifiable expereince"..??

would you also believe me if i said, that.."back in the day, to drive ANY SORT OF TANKER......you NEEDED 10 years of verifiable experience...."?

when times were changing to just get "seat meat", or "anything with a pulse"....i knew it would be the end of what a profession the job would be

yes, THERE ARE still real professional truckers out there.......but too many are retired, or soon to be retired.

why do you think law firms push for nuclear verdicts against the companies...??

they KNOW the idiots and deadbeats out there, causing those massive wrecks.

do your time, earn your bank money, retire early (or young), then get a job away for trucking until you fully retire.

don't be out there as long as i was.

 

[Electric Chicken]

yes...you "newer drivers have it much better...not much long haul (OTR as they been calling it) these days, right out of school.

however, way back then, it was the ONLY way to get started, UNLESS you "knew someone"....in a union shop or at a REAL trucking company that was local.

also, would you believe me if i said, "back in the day, to get a job at Werner, you HAD TO HAVE at least 3 full years of verifiable expereince"..??

would you also believe me if i said, that.."back in the day, to drive ANY SORT OF TANKER......you NEEDED 10 years of verifiable experience...."?

when times were changing to just get "seat meat", or "anything with a pulse"....i knew it would be the end of what a profession the job would be

yes, THERE ARE still real professional truckers out there.......but too many are retired, or soon to be retired.

why do you think law firms push for nuclear verdicts against the companies...??

they KNOW the idiots and deadbeats out there, causing those massive wrecks.

do your time, earn your bank money, retire early (or young), then get a job away for trucking until you fully retire.

don't be out there as long as i was.

Saw a billboard seeking union electricians. $70/hr.

Makes me wonder if this old dog can learn a new trick.

 

[Rigjockey]

Saw a billboard seeking union electricians. $70/hr.

Makes me wonder if this old dog can learn a new trick.

Well, you are still young. Do your apprenticeship and then you are golden.
I thought about being an electrician, so I took it in high school, There was a lot of math involved and I suck at math but now we have smartphones.

 

[Duck]

Well, you are still young. Do your apprenticeship and then you are golden.
I thought about being an electrician, so I took it in high school, There was a lot of math involved and I suck at math but now we have smartphones.

I've been doing just that lately.

Nothing major. Just changing emergency lights and exit signs in a dance studio. And the drop ceiling, some crazy stuff the OSHA (occupational safety and health assholes) trolls don't need to know about.



Now we're waiting on the last piece of glass to do the wall in one of the rooms because the boss broke one when it fell over in the trailer.

In the meantime we changed a door and a toilet on "King Arthur Lane", then window on a farmhouse yesterday, then the boss's truck overheated and we ended up working on that til 9:30 pm.

And we're halfway through a concrete job in Kankakee, gonna do the pour on Saturday. Next week, a roof & siding job, then back to the farmhouse to convert a pole barn into a barndominiun for the lady's daughter and her BF to move into.

I'm way more suited for this stuff than trucking.

We do everything, not just electrical.

 

[Rigjockey]

I've been doing just that lately.

Nothing major. Just changing emergency lights and exit signs in a dance studio. And the drop ceiling, some crazy stuff the OSHA (occupational safety and health assholes) trolls don't need to know about.

View attachment 98383

Now we're waiting on the last piece of glass to do the wall in one of the rooms because the boss broke one when it fell over in the trailer.

In the meantime we changed a door and a toilet on "King Arthur Lane", then window on a farmhouse yesterday, then the boss's truck overheated and we ended up working on that til 9:30 pm.

And we're halfway through a concrete job in Kankakee, gonna do the pour on Saturday. Next week, a roof & siding job, then back to the farmhouse to convert a pole barn into a barndominiun for the lady's daughter and her BF to move into.

I'm way more suited for this stuff than trucking.

We do everything, not just electrical.

That's good man! I always wanted to get into the trades, but I was always too busy trying to make a living in trucking.
If for whatever reason I have to leave this industry, probably my back or knees I am looking at getting into locksmithing. Basic locks and also Car fobs and fob door locks.

 

[Rigjockey]

i ran long haul as a team when i first started..way back then, for many of the companies hiring new drivers, that's the way it was.

I started out local after trucking school.
Dispatcher was like here are the bills.
These are the keys.
That is the truck.
Goodluck!