On the outskirts of small-town Iowa, the makings of civilization roll by, 18 wheels at a time.
That might mean a tarp-covered load of lumber. Flatbed of steel beams. Double-decker of new SUVs. Lowboy with construction equipment. Refrigerated truck of vegetables. Livestock trailer with Holsteins. One tanker of gasoline, another of milk.
The divergent yet compatible, impromptu caravan of semitrailers seems ongoing at the Interstate 80 truck stop in Walcott, Iowa, billed as the largest in the world. That’s “largest” as in number of parking spaces (900 for trucks), employees (500), acreage (225) and building size (around 123,000 square feet), said Heather DeBaillie of the Iowa 80 Group, which owns the complex.
The truck stop is halfway between New York City and San Francisco, along the nation’s second-longest interstate highway (I-80 is roughly 2,900 miles long and 200 miles shorter than I-90).
The business has not closed since opening in 1964. It is beyond what you’d expect and averages 5,000 customers per day.
Where else can you buy hood ornaments, mud flaps, toys, jewelry, wall décor and leather boots in one swoop? A specialty is custom-made work — embroidery, laser engravings, business cards, truck lettering — made while you wait, or ready upon your return trip.
The truck stop’s interior is big enough to show off the latest in truck accessories, sometimes dressing up already-colorful trailers and truck cabs. Permanent fixtures include the Blue Ox (equipped for long, heavy hauls) and the Corn Patch Cadillac (a Peterbilt cab in canary yellow).
“We have no way to get these out until we expand again,” DeBaillie said, of what is parked indoors. “They were put in here before windows were put on the building.”
Flashier is the wall of 572 lights, so drivers can see what each kind of light-emitting diode will look like when illuminated. Other décor is big on Americana: Murals celebrate patriotism, Iowa, the interstate.
At your service
When driving is a professionand you’re in it for the long hauls, more necessities require attention on demand. Truckers can take a private shower at the Iowa 80 — not unusual for a truck stop — but also can wash their 18-wheeler and their dog. (FYI: The Dog-O-Mat has a de-skunking option.)
A TV lounge and laundry area ease life on the road. So does a 65-seat movie theater, where admission is free and selections are available by request. Add an exercise room for workouts and a library for working quietly.
Irene’s, the third-floor barbershop, stays open until 10 p.m. daily. Look for it near Interstate Dental: Dr. Thomas Roemer moved his business here after repeated calls from the truck stop about toothaches and broken dentures. His specialty is emergency care.
Chiropractor Justin Seifert is here, too. He takes walk-ins and is certified to conduct the Department of Transportation’s mandatory physical exam for commercial drivers.
A medical doctor hasn’t hung up a shingle yet, “but I’m sure that day is coming,” DeBaillie said.
Local pastors staff a small chapel from 5 to 8 p.m. on most days and conduct a nondenominational service on Sundays. Like everything else at the Iowa 80, you don’t need to be a truck driver to benefit.
“Everybody’s our customer,” DeBaillie said. The driver hauling 80,000 pounds of cargo may have a different parking space need, but “their level of expectation from the truck stop is no different than anybody else’s.”
So belly up to the driver counter at Iowa 80 Kitchen, a 300-seat restaurant at the truck stop, for conversation and stories from the road.
The sit-down restaurant is best known for a warm apple dumpling dessert that is served with cinnamon ice cream, and a big buffet of comfort food: fried chicken to mac and cheese.
“If you were going to a potluck, this is the type of food you’d see,” DeBaillie said.
Ordering off the menu is an option too, as is grazing from the food court’s half-dozen national chains.
From the beginning
Bill Moon of Kansas is responsible for the oasis, whose location he scouted and managed for Standard Oil 55 years ago. That first truck stop had two diesel pumps, a little store and restaurant. All would fill only half of Iowa 80’s main building today.
When his employer bowed out in 1984, Moon took over ownership, figuring the completion of I-80 would boost business. He already was a fan of big trucks and a founding member of the nonprofit American Truck Historical Society.
One of the antique trucks he saved from the scrapyard is a 1910 Avery, made by a company that first built farm tractors. It is an anchor at the truck stop’s Iowa 80 Trucking Museum.
Other truck lovers have donated too. One example: Hank’s Highway Hilton, a 1981 Kenworth K100 Aerodyne that was heavily decorated and was entered in parades and truck shows around the world. The vehicle won 121 trophies before owner Hank Good retired it in Walcott.
At least 100 trucks are on display. A few are in need of major TLC, but most glisten as though they were built yesterday. Educational and old-time videos about trucking play too, and written timelines explain how transportation progressed from foot power to horsepower.
Much of it is a reminder that planes, trains, ships and barges help bring the world to us, but we often can’t benefit until precious and necessary cargo arrives by the truckload.
If you go:The Iowa 80 World’s Largest Truck Stop, 755 W. Iowa 80 Road, Walcott, is off exit 284 of Interstate 80. The truck stop is open 24/7 and about 20 minutes northwest of Davenport. iowa80truckstop.com, (563) 284-6961
Admission is free to the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum, 505 Sterling Drive, Walcott, but donations are appreciated. iowa80truckingmuseum.com
The Iowa Pork Producers Association chooses the state’s best tenderloin every year, and the 2011 winner is across the road from Iowa 80 truck stop.
Gramma's Kitchen serves breaded pork tenderloin for breakfast (with sausage gravy and eggs), lunch and dinner. The Travel Channel has talked up the pork tenderloin sandwich (served breaded or grilled) and meatloaf dinner. grammaskitchenia.com
Truckers Converge
The 40th annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree is July 11-13at the Iowa 80 truck stop. It’s a big bash for truckers and others. Admission is free.
What happens? A beauty contest for trucks. A big cookout of pork chops. Country music concerts.
Expect dozens of antique trucks to gawk at during daylight, and a truck light show at night.
Truckers compete in their own version of an Olympics. That means strap-winding, tire-rolling and other tests of strength and skill.
Jamboree attendance in 2018 was nearly 42,000.
Trucker Trivia
- The average commercial truck and trailer are 75 feet long.
- A “pup trailer” is 28 feet long.
- Truckers historically have referred to Iowa as “the corn patch.”
- A “parking lot,” from one trucker to another, is a traffic jam.
- An “alligator in the road” is tread from a blown tire.
- A diesel truck, on average, gets 5 miles per gallon.
- The U.S.has 46,876 miles of interstate highways.
- The first 38,000 miles were open by 1976 (that’s 20 years after the Federal Aid Highway Act was signed).
- The 1975 country song “Convoy” was a No. 1 hit that inspired a 1978 movie by the same name. It was about truckers who protested government regulations.
- In 1979, “B.J. and the Bear” made its debut on NBC-TV. The stars were a roving truck driver and his chimpanzee.
Source: Iowa 80 Trucking Museum
