Truck stop
A truck stop, known as a service station in the United Kingdom,[1] and a travel center by major chains in the United States, is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made food and other services to motorists and truck drivers. Truck stops are usually located on or near a busy road.[2]
For the place where trucks are sometimes required to stop for weighing and inspections, see Weigh station.Australia[edit]
In Australia a roadhouse is a filling station (service station) on a major intercity route. A roadhouse sells fuel and provides maintenance and repairs for cars, but it also has an attached restaurant (usually a café or diner) to sell and serve hot food to travelers. Roadhouses usually also serve as truck stops, providing space for parking of semi-trailer trucks and buses, as well as catering to travelers in private cars. In remote areas such as the Nullarbor Plain, a roadhouse also offers motel-style accommodation and camping facilities.
Approximately two thirds of truck stops are independently owned with the remainder being owned and run by 'Big Oil' brands such as Caltex, BP and Shell.[7]
In Germany and some parts of Austria there were newer official developments to the existing highway service station. The often state owned service stations at the highway were insufficient to deal with the growing number of lorries and the necessary stops for lorry drivers to rest. Since 2001, the traffic regulations of Germany Straßenverkehrsordnung include a road sign, Autohof, literally car yard or automobile court.
An Autohof is run by a private company, but the government provides the road signs at the highway, indicating an Autohof, if the facility:
In the United Kingdom, the term "truck stop" is not in common use and the equivalent stops are motorway services.[8] There are relatively few areas on motorways just for trucks to stop at. Most designated rest areas are used by every sort of motor vehicle.
On A roads (major routes which are made to a lower standard compared to motorways), a truck stop may have no refuelling facilities but simply offer a place for tired drivers to rest and/or get food and drink in a transport cafe. They may not be signposted well, if at all.
Notable truck stop locations in the UK include:
Corporatization[edit]
The economics of truck stops have driven most of the small, post-war operations out of business and they have been replaced with large corporate chains or franchises. Truck drivers are a captive market, because the trucks' size and local regulations place severe restrictions on where a truck driver can park. The initial investment in land, permits, equipment and maintenance requirements are large and growing: accordingly, some large truck stop chains have begun to cater to a wider range of the traveling public by combining trucks stops and traditional gas stations.