Question about TA
Posted by redfancydress@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 19 comments
My company prefers us to get fuel at Love’s and since we have a platinum membership they them I only go to Lobe’s for free showers and refills.
Today I went for a walk and wandered over to the TA and found out about this absolute gold mine of a truck stop. (Bordentown,NJ of that helps)
How does their showers/driver lounge/gym/laundry work? It looked like if I got 60 gallons of fuel then I can park for free. If I park there is the lounge and gym and shower also free? I imagine I’d pay for laundry like at Love’s tho?
This place was amazing compared to the Love’s across the street. To be fair…this is an older Love’s…so a crappy parking lot and very small outdated showers.
I always plan my trips around Love’s and this is the only one in the NY area so I always end up here. But it would be worth it to me to pay $25 once in awhile to stay at this TA here. Just for the gym and lounge!
Any advice would be great. Thank you.
RectumRavager69@reddit
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redfancydress@reddit (OP)
Thank you so much. Yea this Bordentown Love’s is not great. Another couple shithole Love’s is Jackson,Ga and Baton Rouge,La and Ruther Glen,Va.
RectumRavager69@reddit
There's one in Dallas - I can't remember if it's #293 or #297 but it's right off of I-20 and it's a pain in the ass to get in or out of - and it's worse than the Lamar Avenue love's in Memphis as far as the actual store is concerned. Actually the only time I've stopped at the one in Memphis was pretty recently and they had the national guard out there in the lot and it really wasn't that bad, although it was hilarious seeing the lizards still working the place while dudes in fatigues carrying rifles walked or drove around.
But yeah the bordentown petro is actually pretty nice for where it's located. I took a shower there and had dinner at the iron skillet just last week, the showers were clean and well maintained and hot and the food was good and restaurant cleaned as well.
redfancydress@reddit (OP)
I haven’t been to the Memphis or Dallas Love’s. I’ve read about them and won’t go there. When I go to the Dallas area and know I’m gonna be there a minute I go to the Denton Love’s. Nice showers, big lot, the Blue Beacon is across the street and there’s a good farm road to take a good walk.
JayB_Trucker@reddit
Most TA are old and their parking lots are full of potholes. I think. Love's tends to have nicer truck stops compared to the other major chains. I haven't fueled at a TA in a while but if I remember correctly you can get a free shower when you purchase 50 gallons of fuel.
RectumRavager69@reddit
60 gallons gets you an ultra credit which you can use on a shower or to reserve parking. Every time I get them as a fuel solution I'm putting 60 gallons in.
nicerakk@reddit
Petro and Loves in Bordentown are two completely different places for sure! That Love's is a dump and always packed. It's grimey too. So ya, I see why you think Petro is great.
Fuel 60 gallons there and they give you a shower and it's free parking.
redfancydress@reddit (OP)
Thank you so much !
graibeard@reddit
TA and Petro have folks that only clean the showers when it's busy. So turn around time is usually quicker than loves. Some times lives only has the fuel desk person cleaning showers in between customers. Some of the newer TA express locations are decent.
echo78@reddit
You’re gonna be so disappointed once you see how bad most TA’s are lol
Ninja-Storyteller@reddit
Yep. There are a few good TAs, but most of them are haunted places that seem like they are barely standing, with three day old roller grill meat.
Good restaurants, though.
JOliverScott@reddit
I find the rewards at TA/Petro to be the hardest to earn, hardest to redeem, and hardest to understand. They have two types of rewards, Credits and UltraCredits. I think you earn one UltraCredit with a minimum 60 gallon purchase and it's good for 10 days. You can redeem it for one night free parking OR one shower. Standard credits simply accrue based on total gallons purchased and can be redeemed for purchases but you have to preselect what you want to purchase, take it to a kiosk in-store, and you have to have the full amount in points (no split points and cash) to convert points to a voucher for the redemption purchase. It just seems so complicated that they don't actually want you to redeem them so I gave up on them years ago.
The other problem you're likely to run into is TA/Petros are the most common locations to be partially or fully paid parking. Especially lately many locations are going to fully paid parking simply because they can since many of their locations are in cities with limited parking options. Love's has never had paid parking so they're the first brand whose parking fills up.
redfancydress@reddit (OP)
Thank you much. I’ll stick with loves.
Intelligent-Site7686@reddit
The showers at Love's are usually a lot better than your average TA/Petro. TA/Petro often has more interesting food options than Love's (west coast has Black Bear Diner often, convenience store near diesel pumps has hot bar that varies location to location). On the West Coast most TA/Petro stops have tons of free parking in my experience. Ones like Petro Ontario you have to pay to get in, but if you spend enough money there you can redeem it for free parking. I don't use the points system with them because I have to fuel at PFJ
Ninja-Storyteller@reddit
Yep. Go to Loves for the showers and TA/Petro for the restaurants.
Connor4543@reddit
This one must be an exception. Generally speaking Loves is better in every aspect except for the amount of parking spaces. Like literally nothing else is better lmao
BriskManeuver@reddit
TA on average is a shithole. Loves has better showers and overall interior in my experience. Only good thing about TA and petro are the amount of parking spaces. You can pretty much be guaranteed a spot. But I drive nights anyway so in the mornings I find myself going to a loves/pilot or other travel centers preferably i find on truckerpath. The only time I find myself going to TA is if I need to shut down and its in the middle of the night or evening time
redfancydress@reddit (OP)
Thank you for the feedback. I think I got pulled in with the gym and nice laundry facility. But I can walk over and use it I’m sure without parking there. Doesn’t look like anyone is monitoring them.
Violet_Apathy@reddit
That's the way to go. There are maby half a dozen tas in the country that are nice. There are maybe only a dozen bad loves in the country.