Altline, a finance company based in Alabama conducted analysis of nationwide reveiws to find the best and worst truckstops in America.
The company collected and analyzed reviews from Google Maps from almost 100,000 truck stops and rest stops across the US and mapped the good and the bad.
Key Findings conclude that Waynesville, NC, offers the highest-rated truck and rest stops in the U.S. At the state level, Vermont has the highest average ratings for truck and rest stops. Also, Massachusetts truck and rest stops have the highest praise for “customer service”.
Of the big four rest stop names, Petro is considered the best by reviewers, according to Altline analysis.
State Stop Average Ratings
According to Google Maps ratings, Vermont has the highest-rated truck stops and rest areas, with an average rating of 4.50 stars from users. Close behind, trust and rest stops in Hawaii are the second-highest rated in the U.S., scoring 4.45 stars on average, followed by Iowa (4.29 stars).
Rounding off the top five states for truck and rest stop ratings are Alaska (4.28) and New Hampshire (4.26).
At the other end of the scale, New Jersey truck and rest stops appear to offer the worst experiences for visitors. On average, New Jersey truck and rest stops are rated just 3.86 stars, the lowest average rating among states in the U.S.
Colorado (3.93) and Massachusetts (3.97) come in only slightly better, and below the national average of 4.17 stars.
Customer Service Ratings
To understand how customer service impacts review scores, altLINE examined the written reviews used by guests, analyzing the keywords and topics that mention good or bad customer service, and compared these to the state average rating.
Results showed that service-related reviews were typically below average in every state, indicating that people tend to take more notice of poor customer service.
For Delaware and Florida, the bad service did not go unnoticed, with their service-related reviews averaging more than a whole point lower than their baseline ratings.
Massachusetts, on the other hand, saw a difference of just -0.1 between its overall rest stop score and the average of reviews mentioning service, suggesting the service there is at least consistent with the quality of the rest stops.
The Best Towns And Cities For Truck And Rest Stops
To truly reveal where the best (and worst) truck and rest stops are, altLINE divided the U.S. into a grid of 1,770 km² hexagons to identify which local regions have a high concentration of truck and rest stops, and then reapplied the review ratings data. The result was a map of rest stop hotspots, along with the average quality at each location.
In and around Waynesville, NC, the study found a cluster of consistently well-rated stops. Achieving an overall average rating of 4.7 from over 7,000 reviews, Waynesville is the national capital for high-quality rest stops.
Ranking The Big Four Truck And Rest Stops
The vast majority of truck and rest stops across the U.S. are not welcome centers run by their states but instead stops operated by several large corporations, the big four being: Petro, Love’s, Pilot Flying J, and TravelCenters of America (commonly known as “TA”).
Examining the average reviews for the truck and rest stops across the nation, altLINE has been able to provide insight as to which “corporate” run truck and rest stops are the best, and offer guests the highest experience on average.
Scoring an average rating of 3.88 stars, Petro is the best rated of the ‘Big Four’ truck and rest stop providers; however, this is 0.3 stars below the national average for stops (4.17 stars). Further analysis found that just 34% of Petros are rated above the national average of 4.17, meaning you have only a 1 in 3 chance of having an above-average experience.
Love’s (3.86 stars) is the second-highest-rated corporation-owned truck and rest stop provider, followed by Pilot Flying J (3.75 stars), and TravelCenters of America ranks the lowest.
Truck and rest stops owned by TravelCenters of America (TA) have an average rating of just 3.66, which puts them significantly below the national average. Just 13% of TAs score above the national average, meaning that the vast majority of the time, a rest at a TravelCenters delivers an underwhelming experience.
Busiest Routes
Annually, over 4 million vehicle miles are driven for freight transportation according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which provides just a snapshot of the sheer number of miles and journeys taken by those delivering freight, commercial, and other truck deliveries.
Many of these journeys run across the I-10, I-80, and I-95, the busiest truck routes in the country.
The best rest stops on busy routes:
I-10, the Official Florida Welcome Center, has a 4.7-star rating.
I-80, the Salt Flats Rest Area, in Utah, stands out with a 4.6-star average rating.
I-95, the Georgia Welcome Center takes the top spot with a 4.6-star average.
These three stops stand out above the crowd, both for their locations, landmarks, and overall good experiences (based on the ratings); they also, interestingly, aren’t run by any of the big corporations that run most US rest stops.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
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