Iowa 80 TA Truckstop, located in Walcott, Iowa, will be celebrating its 40th birthday next year.

And in celebration, Iowa 80 will be offering professional drivers special pricing on various items each month in 2004 at all Iowa 80 Group locations.
Iowa 80 is also publishing a coffee table book featuring many historic Iowa 80 and trucking related photos. The book will be available at the 2004 Walcott Truckers Jamboree, which will feature a giant birthday cake.
Iowa 80 began its operation in 1964 in a small building in the middle of Iowa cornfields just west of the Mississippi River – before Interstate 80 was complete. Standard Oil built and opened the truckstop, which featured two diesel pumps, one lube bay and a small restaurant operated by the Peel Family. In September 1965, Bill Moon took over management of the truckstop for Standard Oil.
"My father was a great visionary," said Delia Moon Meier. "He always said that Walcott was the perfect spot."
Under Moon's management, the truckstop began to grow, and in 1984 Bill Moon and his wife, Carolyn, purchased the truckstop from Amoco.
Now that it was theirs, the Moon family began to remodel, update and expand the restaurant and truckers store. The shop bays were closed to build private showers and a driver's area -- rarities in a truckstop at this time. In 1989, Iowa 80 added a new store highlighted by a 1918 Oldsmobile hoisted above the cashier island.
Three years later, Iowa 80 Truckstop expanded its fuel center and became a Truckstops of America franchisee. This move gave Iowa 80 the opportunity to associate with a nationally recognized name and at the same time maintain its independence. Truckstops of America would also serve as a connection to the trucking fleets that had grown over the years.
And one year later, Iowa 80 opened its TA Service Center. Moon died in 1992, but his family is still operating the truckstop. There’s someone from the Moon family on the grounds on any given day.
Bill Moon's focus on the customer is what sparked the beginning of the Walcott Truckers Jamboree in 1979. The Jamboree began as the Moon family's way of thanking their driver customers and continues to do so today. The event includes a pork chop cook-out, Super Truck Beauty Contest, live entertainment, exhibits and an antique truck display that features part of the Moon family collection.
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the Walcott Truckers Jamboree.
Today, Iowa 80 TA Truckstop sits on 225 acres. After a $4 million expansion in 1994, the truckstop now boasts the Iowa 80 Kitchen (still run by the Peel family), along with its 300-seat restaurant highlighted by a 50-foot buffet, complete with omelet bar and carving station.
There is a 12,000-square-foot Truckers Warehouse Store, 23 private showers, a 60-seat Dolby Surround Sound movie theater, a driver's den with a fireplace, two game rooms, a barber shop/styling salon, dentist, TA Service Center, Truckomat Truck Wash, CAT Scale, and a state-of-the-art fuel center with 16 diesel pumps.
There is an embroidery center, custom vinyl graphics shop, upscale gift and collectibles store, travel store, Wendy's restaurant and Dairy Queen in the Food Court and a Blimpie located in the fuel center.
Iowa 80 launched a mail order catalog in 1997. Drivers can order everything they want from Iowa 80 TA Truckstop even if their schedule or route doesn't take them to Walcott. The catalog has evolved to include an e-commerce web site as well. The web site, http://www.iowa80.com, gives drivers access to more than 23,000 items -- everything from bumpers and exhaust to truck and engine brand apparel and gift items.
In 2003, Iowa 80 broke ground for the Iowa 80 Trucking Hall of Fame.
Scheduled to open in the summer of 2005, this museum will be a tribute to trucking and feature many antique trucks as well as trucking memorabilia from the Moon family's collection.
"My father loved trucks and trucking," said Delia Moon Meier. "Over the years he collected several antique trucks, antique toy trucks and other trucking memorabilia. This is going to be a great way for us to share that with others interested in trucking and its history."
The Iowa 80 TA Truckstop is part of the Iowa 80 Group that also owns Joplin Petro Truckstop, Joplin, Mo.; Oak Grove 70 Petro Truckstop, Oak Grove, Mo.; and Truckomats in Little Rock, Ark.; Effingham, Ill.; South Holland, Ill.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Walcott, Iowa; Joplin, Mo.; Oak Grove, Mo.; Hebron, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Laredo, Texas.