“On the eastern edge of Iowa, not far from the Mississippi River, adjacent to the small town of Walcott, you’ll find a place like no other in the world.”
So says the homepage of Iowa 80—and the blurb isn’t just promotion. Iowa 80 is the world’s largest truckstop, boasting 90 developed acres, a main building of 130,000 square feet, parking spots for 900 trucks plus 250 cars and 20 buses, 34 high-speed diesel pumps, 42 fueling positions for cars and RVs, nine restaurants, 580 onsite employees, even a trucking museum.
The website goes on: “Some say Iowa 80 Truckstop is like a small city, others have likened it to a Trucker’s Disneyland, all can agree it is a place not to be missed.”
All these descriptions are apt for a site where professional drivers can visit a barber, dentist, and chiropractor; relax in a den, library, or movie theater reserved for truckers; keep fit in the workout room, followed by a private shower; shop for gifts, customized gear, and truck accessories; have their trucks washed and serviced; and visit the laundry center while Fido gets clean in the Dogomat Pet Wash.
Six thousand customers per day is impressive. Yet even those numbers rise each July when Iowa 80 hosts the annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree. In 2025, the three-day event drew more than 45,000 attendees to see more than 175 exhibits, an antique truck display, fireworks, and to cheer the Super Trucks Beauty Contest, Trucker Olympics, and live country music.
Perhaps most amazing of all, Iowa 80 has been in continuous 24/7 operation and has never closed its doors since the day in 1964 when the late Bill and Carolyn Moon opened Iowa 80 for business. Across the six decades since, Iowa 80 has served 23 million eggs and 36 million cups of coffee. And in a single year alone, the staff serve 50 tons of potatoes.
Now in its 62nd year of operation, the Iowa 80 Group remains a family business. Yet senior vice president Delia Moon Meier, daughter of the founders, adds that the company’s family orientation extends to its employees. “We work on staff recruitment and retention all the time because our people are what differentiate us from competitors,” she explains. “The work here is fast-paced, so that the people who stay are energized by our environment.”
Instilling a customer service-oriented culture is vital, given the sheer diversity of tasks performed by Iowa 80’s hundreds of employees. Jobs run the gamut: retail and foodservice, diesel technicians and parts sales, fuel centers and truck washes, truck scale construction and maintenance, facility maintenance, accounting, janitorial, and housekeeping.
In a recent recruitment video, employees testify to the family vibe at Iowa: “I really enjoy coming to work ... and the people that I work with.” “Out of all the jobs I have had, Iowa 80 Truckstop is my favorite.” “When it comes to family atmosphere, Iowa 80 is all about family.” “We all help each other.”
Meier knows that the strengths of the large-format truckstop, which Iowa 80 pioneered more than 60 years ago, are attracting new entrants. Chains such as Wally’s and Buc-ee’s are expanding around the nation. “They’re good operators, but so are we,” she observes. “And we have benefits of excellent people and an excellent leadership team.”
Excellence in operation is enhanced through strategic partnerships with industry leaders. Iowa 80 sells BP fuel products and is a TA/PetroTravel Centers of America franchisee. And while the family-owned Iowa 80 Kitchen seats 300 for homestyle dining, the company is a QSR franchisee for Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Blimpie, Caribou Coffee & Einstein Bros. Bagels, and Dairy Queen & Orange Julius.
On the fueling side, Meier adds, “We started out with Standard, then Amoco, and now BP. Since our location is so big and we have so many different revenue streams to manage, we keep our focus on that, rather than developing our own private fuel brand.”
Keeping up with changes in the trucking industry also requires focus and ongoing adaptation. “We once had a room full of payphones,” Meier remarks, “but now we have only one payphone because it’s required. Beyond that, cellphones and onboard electronics have brought a lot of changes to how drivers plan their routes and how fleets manage their drivers.”
Federal rules that regulate drivers’ daily service hours have likewise changed the industry. “Through traffic is increasing because drivers don’t get paid for stopping,” Meier reports. “Yet the services we offer remain vital.”
In 1964, Bill Moon was a Standard Oil district representative scouting potential truckstop locations along the planned routes of the expanding Interstate Highway System. Land adjacent to Exit 284 on an open section of Interstate 80 in Iowa seemed a perfect spot. So, Bill and Carolyn decided to build a site themselves and moved their young family to Walcott. The couple started Iowa 80 with a one-bay service area, a small restaurant, 3 gas pumps, a few diesel pumps, a communal shower, and a 24-hour wrecker service.
On Iowa 80’s 15th anniversary in 1979, the Moons launched the first Walcott Trucker’s Jamboree. Then in 1984, their 20th anniversary in business, the couple acquired Iowa 80 from Standard Oil. With whole ownership, they could expand the Iowa 80 store, restaurant, and parking areas, and add more services and amenities.
“My parents always reinvested back into the business,” daughter Delia Moon Meier relates. “They realized, just as we do today, that at a busy truckstop, with all our customer traffic, things wear out—doors, toilets, tile flooring, everything. We have 24 private showers and we’re always rehabbing two of them at any one time.”
Bill Moon passed away in 1992, but Iowa 80 continued to grow. In 1994 as the company celebrated its 30th anniversary, a remodeling of the main building got underway, construction of the Super Truck Showroom began, and a new four-bay service area was built. Ten years later, in 2004, Iowa 80 marked 40 years in business by expanding its service area to seven bays.
Today, Iowa 80 has passed the 60-year mark. Yet the foresight of founders Bill and Carolyn Moon continues to be evident. In addition to operating the world’s largest truckstop, the Iowa 80 Group is the parent company for multiple enterprises.
In 1969, Bill and Carolyn launched a truck washing venture, now Truckomat, which now boasts a dozen locations in 11 states. And as if Iowa 80 and Truckomat weren’t enough, in 1977 the Moons founded the CAT Scale Company. Truckers at the time were paying hefty overweight fees because scales could not weigh the tractor and trailer simultaneously. The new CAT scale did away with inaccurate weights through a fully automated, full-length platform scale. Today, CAT scales are found at 2,300 locations across North America.
In 1987, the Moons built a second truckstop in Joplin, Missouri—later joined by a third location in Kenly, North Carolina, acquired in 2004. The Iowa 80 Catalog, launched in 1997, extended truck accessory sales from onsite to mail order and now to online. And 284 Fuel Supply, another Iowa 80 Group company, wholesales BP branded products and unbranded gasoline, diesel, and biodiesel across 11 states.
When Bill Moon passed in 1992, son Will Moon assumed leadership of the company while Carolyn Moon remained active until her passing in 2017. Today, Will and sister Delia Moon Meier represent the family’s second generation. An experienced accountant, Will serves as president. For her part, Delia as senior vice president oversees marketing, retailing, fleet sales, and risk management.
“I grew up around the business,” Meier recalls. “When I graduated from college in 1987, that was when my parents were building our new Joplin location, Joplin 44 Petro. They offered to put me on the project, and I jumped right in. I was hooked! That summer we hired more than 200 people and I’ve felt a commitment to our employees ever since.”
A third generation of the family is now active in Iowa 80. Meier’s daughter, Lee Meier, is the company’s marketing manager. And her nephew Bill Moon is a restoration technician in the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum, which curates more than 130 antique trucks and other memorabilia.
“My brother Will and I have our separate spheres,” says Delia Meier. “But as a family, we put an emphasis on discipline and having a written strategic management plan. The plan has goals by year, and we manage all our divisions according to the plan. We probably have $100 million tied up in our three truckstop locations. So, the plan is the key to our success because it helps us all know what we’re doing.”
Iowa 80 is a SIGMA member company, Meier says, because “as an industry we’re all stronger when we’re speaking together.” Association meetings also provide opportunities for marketers to learn from one another about strategic planning and other vital topics.
“We use a consultant and do quarterly meetings where all our leadership participates, which builds our team and makes us stronger,” Meier adds. Noting that Iowa 80 owns 225 acres of land, of which only about 90 acres are developed, she says future plans call for the company “to grow organically by growing our site and adding services and amenities.”
In contrast, growth through acquisition or constructing new locations “is tough because we’d be competing against some major companies,” Meier states. “But after all, we own the world’s largest truckstop—and that’s something no one else can say!”
