TRUCK STOPS: HAVEN FOR HUNGRY AND WEARY TRAVELERS

It's 2 a.m. Everything is quiet except for the hum of the powerful motor and tires of an 18-wheeler rolling down the "Double Nickel" and the radio voice of Willie Nelson blaring out "On the Road Again."

Occasionally, a car cuts through the darkness. A billboard ahead hawks diesel at good prices and breakfast at all hours. Suddenly, dropping off a small incline, there's a flood of lights, a parking lot stacked with 18-wheelers, a RV or two, cars and people.

It's the all-American truck stop, in this case, Rhodes 101 Travel Center just east of Mile 91 at the Interstate 55-Airport Road intersection near Cape Girardeau.

The truck stop is a haven for hungry truck drivers and weary travelers.

Rhodes Travel Center, the McStop Truck Stop near St. Louis, and many others like them are nerve centers for road transport across the continent.

Many offer sleeping rooms and, or, parking spaces for drivers -- free with the purchase of fuel. There are chapels, showers, games rooms, communications rooms and comfortable driver lounges.

Some offer 24-hour road repair facilities and truck washes; others provide parts and supplies, tapes, boots and bumper stickers.

Drivers who haunt these truck stops defy stereotypes. Some are the "good ole boys" from the South who proclaim their heritage with specialty hats and T-shirts. Some sit quietly with their Bibles. More than a few are women, some alone, some part of a husband-wife team that lives on the road.

Modern new-look service stations and truck stops are a combination of service and efficiency. Not only can a driver get coffee and food, but also available are showers, haircuts, shoeshines, truck service and sleeping quarters 24 hours a day.

"The bulk of our traffic here at the Travel Center is truckers," said Jim Maurer, general manager of Rhodes Oil Co., which includes 14 other service station operations throughout Southeast Missouri.

"When we started planning the Travel Center, we visited truck stops along Interstates 70 and 55," said Maurer. "We wanted to provide services to fit the needs of the trucker, salesmen and traveling families."

The Rhodes 101 Travel Center is "one of the most modern in the United States," said F.E. "Gene" Rhodes, president of Rhodes Oil Co. "Some are bigger but none or more modern."

Rhodes said as many as 3,000 trucks a day stop at the center.

"They don't all buy fuel," he said. "Some conduct truck business from our communications facility. Truckers are not just drivers now ... they're businessmen, too."

Now in its third year, Rhodes' facility features an impressive catalog of conveniences -- hot showers, laundry, telephone and fax room, game-room, and a large restaurant with telephones available at many of the tables.

When the facility opened in 1991, it included a chapel. "We don't have the chapel now," said Rhodes, "but church services are conducted in the driver's lounge every Sunday."

The restaurant, which is leased to an operator by Rhodes Co., occupies about 6,000 square feet.

Rhodes insists on good food, and often tests it himself. He also stresses top-notch service and cleanliness.

"Good people are a necessity for any operation," said Rhodes. "Without top-notch people we couldn't do the job that we do. I have bonus and incentive programs for all of my employees."

Rhodes, who describes himself as a self-made man and proud of it, started his business in 1955, with an investment of $250. "That was enough to make a down payment on a tanker truck," he said.

He started as a delivery salesman for an oil company. Eight months later the company made him a distributor and later a jobber. He continued to branch out in business, and now has 15 service station operations.

In addition, Rhodes is developing various properties -- office buildings and rentals for various businesses.

"We hope to see a motel developed in the area of the Travel Center within two years," he said.

Rhodes agrees that the stereotypical service station has died. "It's as extinct as dinosaurs," he said. "The old concept went out with deregulation. The market is much tighter and more competitive now."

The future, he said, will be exciting.

"There'll be new, bigger superhighways and trucks," he predicted. "Truckers, salesmen and others will need as much one-stop shopping as they get in these busy times."

The trucking industry, says Rhodes, is in a growth pattern.

The U.S. Labor Department agrees.

There are more than 40,000 trucking companies in the U.S. today, employing more than 1.6 million people. The department has estimated that over the next decade another 680,000 new jobs will be added by the trucking industry.

Twelve of the other Rhodes' 14 operations are service station-convenience stores.

"We completely remodel all of our convenience stores every two to three years," said Rhodes, who added that the company is "getting ready to rebuild and modernize the operation at Scott City.

This wasn't always the setting for truckers and, or, motorists.

Not so many years ago, truck stops were small places -- in many cases mom-and-pop operations. The food was probably among the best anywhere (it was true -- truckers knew all the good places to eat. But these cozy little places have been nearly all replaced by the large multiservice operations.

Gone too are the old service station settings with the dark, dingy atmosphere of a grease pit, the "ding-ding" of the driveway air hose, which was a signal for the friendly "fillin' station" attendant to make his appearance from a small usually one-room, building.

The face of the roadside has changed too, from the narrow two-lane roads into divided highways and interstates.

"Trucking companies are looking for better stops with more facilities to accommodate the drivers," said one trucker. "The companies are more concerned now that drivers are treated well." Trucking firms often make arrangements with certain truck stops for fuel discounts and credit for their drivers. Truck stops in turn are offering more services and conveniences in order to get more contracts.