24 HOURS AT THE WORLD'S LARGEST TRUCK STOP

A portion of this video is sponsored by the Motley Fool. We're about to spend the next 24 hours at the world's largest truck stop. We're gonna try the food, check out their amenities. Bathtub.

What are we, four year olds?

And hopefully learn a little bit more about the unique lives of full time truck drivers. So if I had a camera and came up to you and you were a stranger and I said, hey, do you have a bed in your truck? How weird would that be? Excuse.

Me.

Today we are in Iowa and we are on our way to the world's largest truck stop. It's called Iowa 80 and this place is huge. It sits on 75 acres of land which is equivalent to 57American football fields. Every day it serves over 5,000 customers. The main building is 100,000 square feet and there's parking for 900 semi trucks.

Alright, we have officially arrived at the world's largest truck stop. And I don't know if it's just because I'm paying attention and recognizing them, but in the last 15 minutes we have literally passed hundreds of semis. Semi trucks, big rigs, 18 wheelers. Didn't know there were so many names.

Wow.

So Iowa 80 was founded in 1964. It was just a tiny little pumper with two diesel pumps and a small store. And I don't know that the moon family ever set out to be the world's largest. It was like we realized it and then said, okay, now we have to claim it and we have to make sure that we stay the world's largest. We're currently in the main building which is over 100,000 square ft. But this room alone is probably bigger than most truck stops that we've been to. It's a combination between a food court, a convenience store, and like a retail shop. They even have puppies. Look.

He'S fake.

I legit thought these were real. The other half of the main building is pretty much all stuff just for truck drivers.

Oh, there's an entire semi truck in this room.

I've never been in this semi truck before. They have a golden sparkly shifter. Shifter. There is so much going on here. Check out the bed. They have a little closet to hang stuff here. A refrigerator. Truck drivers are like the OG van liners.

Wow.

Look at this exhaust pipe. Ours is like, do we have an exhaust pipe? The chrome illuminated donkey. This would be good for our next adventure. Foreshadowing.

We are ready to go.

You get some lights for the van. What if we left here with like blinking lights? All around our windshield. Check out this corn.

Maybe we should get one of these for the van.

They have an area where you can test out mattresses for your truck. Oh, wow. They have a custom shop where you can pretty much get anything you want customized. Apparently, some truck drivers are very proud of their trucks. And they'll get their entire truck embroidered on something. The original couple who started Iowa 80, the wife was so super crafty and loved sewing and embroidering, and so this was like her thing. So up here in the second level is where things get really interesting. We have massage chairs. It's going, it's going, but I haven't paid. My back is rolling. The most unexpected part of Iowa 80 for me is there's a real dentist.

Office as opposed to a fake dentist office.

And right down the hall every evening from 5 to 9, you can have prayer and fellowship in the bible study room. And right next door is the gym. They don't have a lot of equipment, but it is free, believe it or not. There's a full time barber. There's also an entire laundromat containing 27 machines. This is the lounge where on Sunday mornings they hold a church service. But during the week, it's just dark, relaxing place to sit and watch tv. Unfortunately, the movie theater is closed, which is very sad because I was really looking forward to going to the movies.

Good.

Try that one.

They're good at locking 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 when they're open, the line is usually out the store. I know this would be my first stop if I was a turn driver, which I feel like we pretty much are at this point. We've done a lot of driving the last few weeks.

This tank right here feeds the diesel pumps across the entire truck stop. And we learned that it holds 1 million gallons of diesel. Just think about how expensive that would be to fill up. It seems 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 insane rate. We would be full in like, what, 15 seconds. If you see that green tank on the side there, that's the fuel tank. And then there's one on the other side as well.

So between those two tanks, a semi truck can hold up to 500 gallons of diesel. To put that in perspective, I think our van can hold 20 to 25. A semi truck. Truck is holding 20 times more fuel than our van.

So right next to the truck wash, they have a pet washing station. We just learned that a lot of drivers drive with a pet, like, as a companion or a support dog. And it just makes so much sense. I love it.

We've left the main building, and we've made our way over to the trucking 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 turned into the largest trucking museum in the entire world. There are over 100 old trucks in here. And the best part is it's completely, completely free.

And then, of course, we can't forget the women pioneers in trucking, Luella Bates. It was kind of one of those things where she was thrown into it in World War I and fell in love with trucks.

Do you know what the ratio of male to female drivers are?

It's about 10% women. So this is an armored police vehicle from the 1930s that was used in Minneapolis. We're just gonna break the rules, and we're gonna special accent. Look at how thick these doors are. They're bulletproof. These were the gun ports the police.

Open, and they could stick their guns out.

So the tires have protection from the front, but not at all from the side.

This is an REO Speedwagon, the band. This is where they got their name. Let's go.

All right, it is lunchtime. So the final stop in the main building is the Iowa 80 kitchen. So in addition to a food court, they also have their own restaurant.

I'm so hungry. Are we near the ocean? No, we're not. So I don't think I'm gonna get the fish sandwich. So we would love to start with the cheese curdie. Whoa, baby. I think this might be my first fried cheese curd.

Ooh, so good. Keep in mind, we're at a truck stop right now, and I have handmade local cheese curds.

Hot.

That one. Really hot.

Mmm. It has to be, like, one of the most unhealthy things in the world. It's so good.

I'm gonna get the homemade meatloaf.

Want to do the pork chops place?

Hot. Okay. Okay.

Wow. One pork chop would have been more than enough. And there's two.

This is what Heather said we had to get. I would say the most popular thing ordered in the restaurant has to be the meatloaf dinner.

Wow.

I feel like meatloaf and gravy is kind of a version of turkey gravy. That's acceptable to have any day of the year. Like, I feel like this should be eaten on a holiday only. But it's just a random Thursday.

According to the Internet, Iowa produces the most pork in the entire country.

There's a T shirt over there that says the state bird of Iowa is a flying pig.

So the pork chop just felt like the obvious choice. But I made a tragic mistake. You can't eat a pork chop without mashed potatoes. So is this like, a thing, or did we only do this in my family growing up? Let's just say it tastes as good as it looks. I'm super impressed.

What is your name?

I'm Nate.

Nate. Are you serious?

To meet you, Nate, is there any chance you drive a truck? Just a little bit.

Can we see it?

You could, yeah. Nate actually watches our videos, and our goal was to find a truck driver to talk to to be able to learn more about their life and actually see inside of a truck. You gotta hop in and hit the horn.

Okay. Oh, my gosh. Look at these rearview mirrors. Oh, you're lifting the seat. It's like an elevator. All right, I think I can handle this.

Now you gotta pull the horn up the.

Watch out, everybody.

My schedule is sleep for 10. I can drive for 11. I usually bump about 60 to 70 hours a week. So how long are you away from home? Average for me is five to six days. But, like, some of these people might be months.

Do you ever do any, like, sightseeing on your drives, or is it strictly business?

This is about as much sightseeing as I get. Goodbye, fist bump.

See ya. Bye. He was so sweet.

Nate was awesome. And it was super cool to learn a little bit about what it's like to be a full time truck driver and get to see inside his truck. But what we really wanted to see was one of the trucks that someone lives out of. After living in a van for over a year, I'm just so curious what their setup is. So it's time to get a little awkward.

I don't think I can do it. It's literally like walking up to a stranger and asking to go in their house with a camera.

Also, a lot of truck drivers are very burly men. They're very intimidating looking people.

So if I had a camera and came up to and you were a stranger, and I said, hey, do you have a bed in your truck? How weird would that be?

That's so weird. I don't know. I can't decide.

Excuse me. Are you excited?

Thank you.

Have a Good one. Mission failed. I think he was scared of the camera.

I don't want to be in camera. Okay.

And he was embarrassed that his truck wasn't nice.

Guys. I know. Because there's so many other nicer jokes. How do you know it's a cool truck if it's a Peterbilt or a Kenworth?

So I don't know if we should just, like, go sit in front of one of those and wait. That's.

We're not going. And sitting in front of someone's truck. This is, like, the most awkward thing we've done.

I'm channeling my inner yes theory right now. Still no luck. I feel like this is gonna get even more awkward when the sun goes down. Are you sleeping in your truck today?

Yeah. What's up here?

Have a good night. You're asking the next two. I've done the first tune.

It's less creepy coming from you.

No. I'm so thirsty.

One more.

So hot.

And we'll take a kombucha break. How's it going? Hi. How are you? We love your truck. Thank you. Thank you. One of our goals is to see inside the slee. I'm kind of remodeling.

I'm picking the whole thing apart.

My apologies. I'm sorry. Really, I'm sorry. Thank you. You have all the world. You have an awesome truck. Thank you.

I loved him even though he said no.

We were so close.

We were so close.

Can we see the inside of it?

We've been on a mission all day to see inside someone's truck. Really?

What are you sleeping in?

We live in.

Oh, okay.

One of those people. Yeah. Give me a second.

I'm so excited. We weren't even seeking them out anymore. I had just given up on being awkward and asking people. And this very nice person saw us with our camera and said, you should go take a picture of my truck. And we were awkward again. We were like, do you have a bed inside?

And he still said yes. My name is Josh. I'm from Maquoketa, Iowa. I've been driving truck for seven years. What's your schedule like? I like to go out for three.

Weeks and then go home for a week.

I'm fourth generation. My grandmother drove, my mother like, my dad, my great grandfather.

I mean, it's just a long line. That's super cool. So did you always know that this is what you're gonna do?

Can I see your tat one more time?

Who's your favorite?

I'm actually a Peterboat guy for sure.

He just told us we could go inside and give ourselves a tour. Here we go. Whoa, baby.

How do I look? This is my eye level. This is the road. He's made some cool customizations. We have a blue sparkly disco ball as.

Shifter. All of these little.

Knobs are made.

Out of bold bullets.

There are so many levels and numbers up here. I think this might be the horn. I don't think I'm gonna hug it again, though. This looks about the size of a twin bed with a top bunk that can pull down. We have these, like, sunroof windows, which is super nice. He's got blacked out windows on both sides and a refrigerator A.C. back here. Looks like he has controls. A.C. right from his bed. Now we know where truck drivers are hanging out when they're just sitting on the side of the road.

It's amazing.

Thank you so much for your time. Yeah.

That's a heavy.

Not only did we get to see inside one, but it was one of the coolest looking ones in the entire parking lot. You picked a fudge flavor.

No doubt. Chocolate, coffee, milk fudge. Unless they have dark chocolate.

You were so confident.

All right, best part of the day.

So Iowa 80 has an entire dinner buffet. And that was the plan for tonight until we ate way too much for lunch. Kara had two entire pieces of meat.

No, I didn't.

I ate one of our pork chops. We decided instead we'd skip dinner and we'd do a dessert tasting and help you decide if you ever come to Iowa 80 which dessert you should eat. Based totally on our taste buds.

Starting with the Brookie. Half cookie, half brownie.

Whoa. Okay. Way better than I thought it was gonna be.

Brookie's number one. I don't even wanna try it.

There's no way anything else beats that. I thought it was gonna be thick and dry, and I was gonna need a glass of milk. Instead, it's basically a smushed brownie with a cookie cake laid on top. Look at that working.

I think we better.

Brutal.

We're almost 12 hours in at this truck stop now. I think we might be a little delirious. You've eaten all of this?

I picked this out.

You picked all three of them?

Oh, and I feel like the fudge will be a good, like, break up the cookie.

Break up the Brookie and the snooki smookie. What's a Snooki?

Our second option is the chocolate chocolate coffee mocha fudge.

Oh, my gosh.

It literally tastes like cake icing. Last but not Least we have the smoking.

No, we're not doing that again.

Oh my gosh. Is it good? Yes. Wow. You cannot go wrong with Iowa 80 desserts.

What are we, four year olds?

We have lived in our van for over a year now and we've been to a lot of truck stops, but we've never really known if the amenities that truckers are offered also apply to us. So we've never taken advantage of any of them. But I feel like here we're allowed to use everything that the truckers are offered. So.

Do you want one car or two? We'll just do one.

All right. We just up picked. We paid $14 for a shower and we got this ticket driver number 316. We were just told to wait until this number appears on the screen and then that'll tell us which shower to go to.

This is our shower. So our receipt came with the pin number.

We're just taking up one less truck driver's shower. The craziest thing about this is when we paid for the shower, she handed us the receipt and she said, you can take as long as you're one. We could take an hour shower. Nobody didn't say anything. Which for $14. So we have a very spacious regular restroom, sink, toilet, toilet paper.

And they provide clean towels. There's this beautiful stone detail. I kind of feel like we're at a resort and not a truck stop. And a giant shower with stove. Do you think any of the truck towers made out of l?

I have no complaints about that shower. The water pressure is great. It's hot. It's still weird. Never talk to anyone with QTips in my ear.

I've second most things. There's a QTip part.

In addition to 900 spaces for semi trucks, they also have around 30 set aside for RVs, vans and other self contained vehicles. You can park here overnight for free, no questions asked.

Remember when we tried to spend the night at Buc EE's and we could just sleep at Walmart instead?

All right. I don't feel like we've really done that much today, but somehow I feel really tired.

Forgot my wallet.

So close.

Yes.

Morning. Cheers.

Let me try Einstein's.

It's very different.

Yours tastes like a paper cup. I didn't expect Shark's up coffee to live up to what we normally make.

But I should have lowered my expectations.

It's not bad. The lady didn't even make me pay for it because I had this fancy mug.

Wow.

Which we did pay for.

How much was the mug?

$10. What a deal. And best of all, this cup is not as well insulated as the one from Buc ee's.

All right, our 24 hours at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop is. Is coming to a close. And I realize that the title of this video is silly. Like, the entire 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'll never drive past a truck stop or look at an 18 wheeler. The same.

What surprised me most about truck drivers is how passionate they were about their own truck.

And Heather talked a lot about family and multiple generations driving trucks and that just being like a family business. And two of the three truck drivers that we actually got to talk to both told us that their dad, their grandfather, they've been driving trucks for multiple generations in their family. Between the hot coffee and this Buc ee's outfit, I'm in a puddle.

I love the Buc ee's outfit, but this is not something that should live in the van in the summer.

Will you come from the back?

Oh, gosh, Kara, you killed it.

Are you laughing at your own joke?

Get the cheese curds. Check out the museum. Museum. Kara says I say that word funny. Museum. So there's this little soap dispenser thing in the shower, and I figured it was just like, all purpose shampoo, body wash, all this stuff. I, like, couldn't get the soap off. I was like, why is the soap not getting off my body? Body soap. I just washed my entire body with shampoo.