24 HOURS AT THE WORLD'S LARGEST TRUCK STOP

part of this video is sponsored by the motley fool we are going to spend the next 24

hours

at the

largest

truck

stop

in the

world

we are going to try the food see their amenities bathroom we are four year olds and hopefully we will learn something a little more about the unique lives of full-time

truck

drivers, so if I had a camera and I walked up to you and you were a stranger and I said, hey, do you have a bed in your truck? How strange would that be today? Iowa and we are on our way to the

largest

truck

stop

in the

world

, it's called Iowa 80 and this place is huge, it sits on 75 acres of land, which is equivalent to 57 football fields every day, it serves more than 5,000 customers, the main building is 100,000 square feet and there is parking for 900 semi-trucks, well we have officially reached the largest truck stop in the world and I don't know if it's just because I'm paying attention and recognizing them more, but in the Last 15 minutes we've literally passed hundreds of semi trucks, so my trucks, big 18 wheelers, they didn't know there were so many names, so Iowa 80 was founded in 1964.

It was just a little pump with two diesel pumps and one small shop, and I don't know. The moon family once set out to be the biggest in the world, it was like we realized it and then we said okay, now we have to claim it and we have to make sure we remain the biggest in the world. We are currently in the main building that was completed. one hundred thousand square feet, but this room alone is probably bigger than most truck stops we've been to, it's a mix between a food court, a convenience store, and like a retail store, it's fake, legit me, thought they were real, the other half of the The main building is pretty much all trucker-only material.

Oh, there's a whole semi-trailer in this room. I have never been through this for my truck before. We have a shiny gold gear shift, yes. There is so much going on here. Let's take a look. bed they have a little closet to hang things here a refrigerator truck drivers are like the og van liners whoa look at this exhaust pipe ours is like we have an exhaust pipe the illuminated chrome donkey this would be good for our next adventure foreshadowing what that we are Ready to go, you get some lights for the truck. What if we left here with lights flashing around our windshield?

Look at this horn. Maybe we should buy one of these for the trucks. We have an area where you can test mattresses for your truck. Oh wow, they have a custom shop where you can customize pretty much anything you want. Apparently some truckers are very proud of their trucks and will embroider their entire truck in something from the original couple that started Iowa 80. The wife was super. crafty and she loved to sew and embroider so this was her thing so here on the second level is where things get really interesting we have massage chairs it goes it goes but I haven't paid the back it's rolling most unexpected part of Iowa. 80 to me is that there is a real dentist office instead of a fake dentist office and right down the hall every night from five to nine you can pray and fellowship in the study hall biblical and right next door is the gym that you don't have.

There is a lot of equipment but it is free, believe it or not, there is a full time barber. There is also a launderette containing 27 machines. This is the hall where on Sunday mornings they hold a church service, but during the week it's just a dark relaxing place to sit and watch TV, unfortunately the cinema is nearby which is very sad because I really wanted to go to the movies. Good job, they are good at closing things, in addition to a dentist office, they also have a professional chiropractor, which, if you think about it. makes a lot of sense heather said that when they are open the line is usually outside the store.

I know this would be my first stop if they flipped me, which I feel like we are at this point. We have done a lot. After driving around the last few weeks, this tank here feeds the diesel pumps throughout the truck stop and we learned that it holds a million gallons of diesel. Just think about how expensive it would be to fill it. Looks like something that should be protected with a little more than three strands of barbed wire, the tanks on the side of a truck hold 250 gallons so I mean this is pumping at an incredible rate, we'd be full in about 15 seconds If you see that green tank on the side that is. the fuel tank and then there is one on the other side as well so between those two tanks a semi can hold up to 500 gallons of diesel to put that in perspective I think our truck can hold 20 to 25 a semi can hold 20 times. more fuel than our truck, so right next to the truck wash they have a pet washing station.

We just learned that many drivers drive with a pet, as a companion or support dog, and it makes a lot of sense. I love it. We left the main building and headed to the truck museum, which was started by the Moon family, the same family that started Iowa 80. And what started as a passion project to save some old trucks eventually became the largest truck museum. big. museum around the world there are over 100 old trucks here and the best part is it's completely free and then of course we can't forget the women pioneers in trucking, Luella Bates, it was one of those things where that they threw it It was in the First World War and I fell in love with trucks.

Do you know what the ratio of male to female drivers is? It's about 10 women. So this is a 1930s armored police vehicle that was used in Minneapolis and we're just going to break it down. the rules, oh special accent, look how thick these doors are, they are bulletproof, these were the gun porch, the police would open it and they could take out their guns so that the tires would have protection from the front, but not from the side stand. it's a reo speedwagon the gang this is where they got their name it's time for lunch so last stop in the main building is the iowa 80 kitchen so in addition to a food court they also have their own restaurant.

I am very hungry. Are we near the ocean? No we're not so I don't think I'm going to have the fish sandwich so we'd love to start with the cheese curds honey I think this might be my first deep fried blue cheese curds so hey keep going . in mind we are at a truck stop right now and I have hot handmade local cheeses that were really spicy mmm that's like one of the unhealthiest things in the world well it's so good I'm going to get the homemade meatloaf I want to make the pork chops wow one pork chop would have been more than enough and there are two this is what heather said we had to get i would say the most popular thing ordered at the restaurant has to be the meatloaf dinner wow me fancy meatloaf and gravy is kind of a version of turkey gravy that is acceptable for any day of the year, I feel like this should only be eaten on a holiday, but it's just a random Thursday, according to the internet, Iowa produces the most of fork across the country, there's a t-shirt from there that says Iowa's state bird is a flying pig, so the pork chop seemed like the obvious choice, but I made a tragic mistake: you can't eat a pork chop without mashed potatoes, so this is it or it did.

We only made this in my family growing up, let's just say it tastes as good as it looks. I'm very impressed. What is your name? My name. Is there any chance you could drive a truck just a little? We can see it? You could, yes, Nate. In fact, check out our videos and our goal was to find a truck driver to talk to so we could learn more about their life and see the inside of the truck. You have to get up and honk. Okay, my God, look at these rearview mirrors. oh, they're raising the seat, it's like an elevator, okay, I think I can handle this, watch out everyone, my schedule is sleeping for 10.

I can drive for 11. I normally work 60-70

hours

a week, right? how long are they? you're away from home, uh, the average for me is five to six days, but like some of these people, it can be months. Do you ever do any sightseeing on your trips or is it strictly business? This is all I can do, bye-bye, fist bump. See you, it was so sweet. Nate was awesome and it was great to learn a little about what it's like to be a full time truck driver and be able to see the inside of his truck, but what we really wanted to see was one of the trucks that someone lives in after living in a van for over a year.

I'm really curious to know what your setup is, so it's time to get a little awkward. I don't think I can do it, it's literally like approaching a stranger. and they ask to enter his house with a camera. Additionally, many truck drivers are very large men and look very intimidating. So if I had a camera and I walked up to you and you were a stranger and I said, do you have any? a bed in your truck how weird would that be that's so weird I don't know I can't decide excuse failed mission I think he was afraid of the camera I don't want to be in front of the camera okay and he was embarrassed that his The truck wasn't nice, how You know what a cool truck it is if it's a Peterbilt or it can run?

So I don't know if we should sit in front of one of those we're not going to sit in front of. someone's truck this is like the most uncomfortable thing we have i'm channeling my inner yes theory right now still no luck i feel like this is going to get even more uncomfortable when the sun goes down are you sleeping in your truck tonight Yeah? having a good night, you're asking the next two. I've done the first two, but then it's less creepy coming from you, no, I'm so thirsty, one more, so hot and we'll totally take it, thank you, thank you, one of our own. goals we were so close all day to see the inside of someone's truck really what are you sleeping? we have a truck oh okay you're one of those people give me a second I'm so excited we weren't even looking for them anymore we just gave up being awkward and asking people and this very nice person saw us with our camera and said you should go take a photo of my truck and you get awkward again and we're like, do you have Venice?

Hey, yeah, my name is Josh. I'm from Iowa. I've been driving trucks. What is your schedule? I like to go out for three weeks and then go home for a week. I am the fourth generation. My grandmother grows up. My mother. My father. My great-grandfather. I mean. It's just the wrong one, that's great, did you always know this is what you're going to do? Can I see your faucet one more time? I'm actually a guy from Peterborough, I'm sure he just told us we could come in and turn ourselves in. a tour here we go baby how do I look? this is my eye level, this is the way, he's done some cool customizations, we have a shiny blue disco ball as a gear shift, all these little knobs are made of gold bullets, there are so many. levels and numbers up here I think this could be the horn I don't think it's going to fit in there This looks like the size of a double bed with a top bunk that can be lowered we have these like a sunroof windows, which is super nice, it has blacked out windows on both sides and a refrigerator with air conditioning back here looks like you have controls for the air conditioning right from your bed, now we know where truckers hang out when they're just sitting on the side of the road it's awesome thank you so much for your time yeah, that's heavy, not only did we get to see the inside of one, but it was one of the prettiest in the entire parking lot, you picked a fudge flavor, hands down, chocolate, coffee, mocha, fudge, and let's say that it's dark, you were so sure, well, most of the day, bro, so Iowa 80 has a full dinner buffet and that was the plan for tonight until we ate too much at lunch.

Kara had two whole pieces of meat and no ice cream. one of our pork chops, we decided we would skip dinner and do a dessert tasting and help you decide, if you ever come to Iowa 80, which dessert you should have based entirely on our taste buds, starting with half of the Brookie cookie. brownie, well, much better, I thought there was no way anything else could beat it because I thought it was going to be thick and dry and I was going to need a glass of milk. Instead, it's basically a squished brownie with a cookie cake on top, look at that. working I think we've been brutal we've been at this truck stop for almost 12 hours now I think we might be a little delirious you ate all this I chose this you take the three of them oh and I feel like the fudge will be good like between the breakup , the brookie and the snooki, what is the snooki?

Our second option is the chocolate, coffee and mocha candy. Oh my gosh, it literally tastes like cake frosting. Last but not least, we have the shmookie, no,we are. Don't do that again Oh my God, okay? Yeah, wow, you can't go wrong with Iowa 80's dessert dip. We're four year olds. We have lived in our van for over a year and have been to many truck stops. but we never really knew if the amenities that are offered to truckers also apply to us, so we have never taken advantage of any of them, but I feel like here we are allowed to use everything that is offered to truckers, so I wonder if you want a car or two.

I'll make one. We only paid 14 for a shower and got this driver ticket number 316. We were told to wait until this number appeared on the screen and then that will tell us. us which shower to go to this is our shower so our receipt came with a PIN number we're just taking one less trucker shower. The craziest thing about this is that when we paid for the shower, she handed us the receipt and said, "you." You can take as much time as you want, we could take a shower for an hour and no one would say anything, but you're 14 years old.

So we have a very spacious normal bathroom, sink, toilet, toilet paper, sand, they provide clean towels, there is a beautiful stone detail. We feel like we are at a resort and not a truck stop.and a giant shower with soap do you think any of the truckers can't move? I have no complaints about that shower. The water pressure is excellent. It's hot. This feels weird. Never talk to anyone while she wets my hair. I have taken those things that are there. a piece q-tip In addition to 900 spaces for semi-trailers, they also have about 30 reserved for RVs and other autonomous vehicles.

You can park here overnight for free with no questions asked. Remember when we tried to spend the night at Bucky's and We could go sleep at Walmart and it doesn't seem like we got much done today, but somehow I feel really tired. I forgot my wallet so close. Yes, morning greetings, let me try Einstein. It's very different. He tastes like a paper cup. I did it. I don't expect the coffee at the truck stop to be up to par with what we normally make, but I should have lowered my expectations, it's not bad how they didn't even make me pay for it because I had this fancy mug, wow, oh my the one we pay.

It was the ten dollar deal month and the best part is that this glass is not as well insulated as the one from Bucky's. Okay, our 24 hours at Iowa Truck Stop 80 are coming to an end and I realize the title of this video is. The idea of ​​spending 24 hours at a truck stop is a little silly, but it was so much more than that. We learned a lot about truck stops and truck drivers to the point that I will never drive past the truck stop or even look. In a dating team, we would say the thing that surprised me most about the truckers is how passionate they were about their own truck and Heather talked a lot about family and the multiple generations that drive trucks and being like a family business and two of the three truck drivers.

Who we actually got to talk to, they both told us that her father, her grandfather, they've been driving trucks for several generations in their family between hot coffee and Bucky's suit. I'm in a puddle. I love Bucky's suit, but not this one. something that should live in the van in the summer you'll come from behind oh my god Gary killed it are you laughing at your own joke? get the cheese curds look at the museum museum kara says I say that word fun museum so there's this little soap thing about the dispenser in the shower and I thought it was like an all-purpose shampoo, body wash, all the things that I like them, I couldn't get the soap off.

I wondered why the soap doesn't leave my body. Body soap. I just washed my whole body. with shampoo