Wow! I'm at a truck stop in northern Minnesota.

[imanamerican63]

I came in the restaurant to have a home cooked meal. What do they have on the menu? 1 special that didn’t sound good and a hamburger steak dinner. The rest of the menu was breakfast, salads or sandwiches with fries. No chicken dinners or any pasta dinners. I haven’t stopped here in a couple of years and I don’t think I stop again anytime soon. I ended up getting a hamburger steak dinner, but it wasn’t that good and it was really pricey after all that and the tip.

Times have really changed since I started driving a truck 38 years ago! The waitress told me that they cut the menus because they were very busy anymore.

[SheltieLover]

1. Doesn't sound like a place I'd stop again.

Maybe this is why they aren't very busy...

[Beachnutt]

2. Well you remember the Bingo truckstops out west

Last edited Thu Apr 24, 2025, 10:43 AM - Edit history (1)

they would give you a free steak dinner with fillup.
And the old Mid-Continent truckstops that gave you a free buffet with fill up 100 gallons or more.
And no cell phones or gps just a rand mcnalley map to travel by.
Had to find a phone booth to call home or dispatch.
No federal drivers license database so a ticket didn't hurt you to much.
Whole different trucking world now.
I started driving in 1983 and retired in August 2020.
I do miss it sometimes but not the new way.

[2naSalit]

6. Yup...

I remember older stuff than that, started in the mid '70s and retired in '92.

[Beachnutt]

9. You're one of the old school truckers

that I learned from, lots of tricks of the trade from mountain driving to driving in bad weather, ice and snow.
How to navigate scale houses etc..
I bet you drove some of the old cabovers too.
I drove one cabover in my life and it was a local job.
Drove cross country in the mid 80's pulling doubles for contractor leased to Bowman freight.
Big long nose petes and freightliners with 4 1/4 cat 18 speed or 400 cummins 13 speed.
We thought that 425 cat was a big motor and it was at the time.
Never drove a 2 stick though.
Used to gang up at petro in El paso or Border Cowboy in Wicket Texas and run across interstate 10 to L.A 20 or 30 trucks long and run all night.
So many memories from all over this Country.
Bet you saw N.C. Cameljockey wrote in truckstops nationwide and even at warehouses.
That was crazy.

[2naSalit]

12. And the magic term...

That ages me is; 73280.

If you know what that means, you're an old timer.

[Beachnutt]

14. Wow, you are old School

two stick driver.
We ran as close to 80,000 as possible, sometimes ran heavy though but knew how to get around the scalehouses or when they closed.

[peacebuzzard]

7. I had a radio transmitter to listen to chatter on the highways while driving

it had a huge antenna (was it called CB radio?) I could communicate with other drivers on the road (mainly truckers) to find out road conditions and speed radars. It probably still exists? it helped keep me alert while driving long distances. At the time I was a regional sales rep and was always going somewhere. I kind of miss that now it's not necessary for a passenger car since they have more technical radar detectors and cell phones. But I gave up that career by 1979.

[DiverDave]

11. I just retired 2 years ago

After 30 years.
My CB burnt out in 05 or 06. Never did replace it.
Not many people used it with cell phones so common.
Back in the day, it was very useful and entertaining.
Late at night, the conversations kept me awake.

[peacebuzzard]

16. I hear ya!

There were some wild conversations I listened to.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. CB Radio

My dad drove a truck.
Not OTR though; he was home every night.
But, he had a CB in the cab and later both cars.
Then we put them in our cars (my cousin & i) and went 40 channel SSB. Same as the base station at home.
Yeah, we had the 12 or 15 foot fiberglass whip on the TV tower.
I remember we used channel 37 sideband low. We basically had a private channel from our cars to the house.
My mom might call me to tell me to stop at the supermarket for something.
Could probably be 10-12 miles from home and worked great.
LoTech cellphones, I guess.

[peacebuzzard]

15. this truck stop post jarred loose some great memories

my handle on the highways was "rainbow" lol.
I enjoyed driving back in those days. Today it's a different story: way too many cars; way too many crazy speeding darting drivers.
Driving is far more dangerous than in the 70s...and back to the post: there is nowhere worth a darn to stop and enjoy a meal.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Around Here...

...there is a truck stop chain that is partnered with a small, local chain of Mexican food places. Around a dozen of these places.
Their food is terrific. Atmosphere is nothing at all, but the food is great. It's not honestly food (unless you're Hispanic, I suppose) but, the food is good.
BTW: my handle was "Quarter Note". Seemed appropriate for a piano player.

[peacebuzzard]

21. When I wandered up to Abiquiu NM I found a gas station

It was small, just a pit stop with a different Southwest menu, but it was at least a hundred miles from the bustling I40 and the main interstate 25 through NM.
And it is probably still there.
It looked like nothing from the road, and the inside was unremarkable, but the menu was certainly homemade and native.
I ate the best green salsa, Quarter Note!

[Jacson6]

22. That was CB Radio.

It still exists, but most people now use Google Maps for traffic warnings while driving. Truckers still have it for local direct talking.

[peacebuzzard]

23. thanks for letting me know. I don't see the telltale huge antennas on cars

anymore. That was decades ago.
I guess no one in a pax car uses it unless they are somehow in communication with an 18-wheeler. I guess it is still called that ...those giant trucks.
I just drive an old, beat-up 15-year-old economy car to park at airports primarily and do my shopping and appointments.
If I have to do interstate, I will rent a car to drop off at the destination.

[dem4decades]

3. We had a truck stop near us, open 24 hours. We would go all the time.

Midnight for breakfast, breakfast for breakfast, salad bar for lunch. There was a nice server that put her kids through school working there. Then, a few years ago, they closed the restaurant, laid off the server and everyone else, and replaced the restaurant with a Popeyes and a Taco Bell. I feel bad for the truck drivers, they went from a nice place to eat to crap. We lost out too, but we could go other places.

[peacebuzzard]

17. those diners and waitresses were the best

I can't think of a single one anywhere like those truck stops back then. And I still occasionally travel on 75 for a couple hundred miles. I couldn't do today what I used to back then.

[JoseBalow]

4. "I came in the restaurant to have a home cooked meal."

I'm confused

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Not sure where exactly you're at but a lot of supply chains and restaurant help have been fucked up here since covid.

[CurtEastPoint]

8. what? they cut the menus because they were (or were NOT?) very busy anymore?

[msongs]

10. too many prefab ready to eat food options vs sit down and order. times have changed nt

[Meowmee]

18. Maybe purchase food and make your own- it's a lot cheaper

And healthier most of the time. Then you can just go there for a beverage and dessert etc.
I remember going to a road place on a trip that had huge sculptures of cows everywhere etc. I can't remember the name of it now, that was years ago. My bf at the time was semi vegetarian.

I often bring some food of my own if I am going to an event etc., which is rare now, due to my dietary restrictions. I haven't been to a real restaurant for a long time, even since before the pandemic. I remember eating at a dinner held for us by a friend, he assured me the gazpacho he made had very low carbs, but my bg spiked a lot, so I think not. It is always hard to tell for sure with everything I have to deal with.

[Straw Man]

19. The rest stops on the NY State Thruway ...

... used to have sit-down full-service restaurants. Some of my high school friends got their first jobs waitressing there. Now it's all fast-food chain crap.