Knoxville Truckstop and CB Shop - Pitstop To The House

I am heading in to the house for what will be left of the 4th of July weekend. However, I will be out of hours in 1 hour which will put me just short of the Gorge so I wll camp in Knoxville for the night.

I pulled in to the T/A at exit 369 because I am just used to going there, usually will get their BBQ. (If you like BBQ you need to stop and theirs out). I didn't need BBQ today though cause I had just eaten my tuna fish an hour earlier. I dipped in to use the bathroom then I figured I would go up to the T/A at exit 374 just to look around because I hadn't been to that one in about 8 years. I am so glad I went there. It was one of the cleanest T/A truckstops I had ever been to.

I first noticed it while I was in the bathroom (yes again but to do something a little different). You don't see the writing on the stalls. All of the soap dispensers actually had soap. The paper towel dispensers had towels. This seems minor but I can't tell you how often soap and paper towel dispensers are empty or dysfunctional like they have to call in another company to correct the problem or something. In fact I had just left a truckstop with an empty paper towel dispenser. No names.

ANYWAY . . .

Management Matters

I came out and ended up at the CB display inside the convenient store. I was look at the Blue tooth Cobra 29LTD. Started talking to the manager Cedric who was flying back and forth from helping customer at the counter to what I think was a storage closet or something, (I don't know for sure). We somehow we talked about a variety of issue in a short amount of time, from management to life. Young guy about 36 I suppose, very professional and obviously serious about his work.

As I found out with our conversations though, also serious about his family. He was not from Knoxville. I was telling him about some of the issues that compelled me to do the website like making sure future big truck drivers considered the fact that they would be away from their family and what that meant. Like missing the small things at home with their children and events and so forth.

He was saying how he couldn't be a big truck driver and being away from family. He was getting a taste of it first hand as a manager from out of town with his family still at home. I really appreciated his expressed love for his family. It says something about a man. Which I supposed is related to a person's work ethic and why this Travel Centers seems to be ran so well.

ANYWAY,

The CB Shop

Manager Cedric had to run outside and change the fuel price, (don't know if it went up or down) so I ended up talking to another guy that walked up to the CB display. I said something about the Cobra Bluetooth oh yeah, I was saying how I didn't really see me using the CB for phone conversation.

He said, "you looking for a radio"

I was like, "no not really, I was just trying to see if this thing was for what I thought it was for, having phone conversation on the CB."

Then I thought, hey I might be about to get a steal of a deal here.

I said, "why? Are you selling a radio?"

He said, "what kind of radio you got."

I am thinking now this I not the proper response for guy selling his radio.

So we started talking about my funky little radio (yall already know what kind of radio I got if you get my Rss feed or blog). He asked me was it peaked and tuned. I didn't know a lot about the radio because I had bought it from another driver who had just upgraded to a CB radio. (I think he got the Galaxy don't know what model). I told him I know it had been worked on but not exactly what was done.

So he was like, "bring it in I will check it for ya."

So come to find out he was Whiplash, the guy from the CB Shop in the T/A. Anyway I was like, "naaah man, I am not gonna do anything to it right now." (Pockets was light, if you know what I mean)

He said no charge just bring it in and I will tell you what was done to it and what can be done. I'll check for you but no charge but I am not gonna be here much longer today.

So I did.

He tested it and everything. It was putting out 16watts and now its putting out 28watts with a few minor adjustments he made. He also changed something else out that he didn't have to. Said that the way it was done was shabby basically. Then he said the soldering was cold (means it wasn't laying flat to the circuit board getting the best connection).

Whiplash fired up a torch and started waving it across my circuit board I said whooa what are you doing? (I thought he was gonna melt it)

He said, "I am heating it up". I just laughed cause I could easily tell he was heating it up. He said, I said I wasn't going to charge ya. I said yeah but you were supposed to check it not work on it. But it was like automatic, while he was pointing out what was done bass ackward he corrected it. He said don't worry about it, I am an ex-driver I know how it is.

Whiplash was telling me that he is an ex-driver. Had one of those niche jobs I was telling you about too. Hauling Pharmaceuticals. You think he was getting paid? Of course, however, something happened that caused him to stop driving.

I will see if he will tell yous guys his story himself.

While I am writing this he doesn't know it yet but I am gonna put him up a page so you can ask him questions. I will tell you right now though he hasn't been in the T/A long and he don't have a computer set up there for internet access so I don't know how long it will take him respond or if he even wants to participate.

We will see what happens. I just think he's good people and I can tell he knows what he's talking about. Seems like he could benefit from the page and drivers could benefit from the services and pricing.

I can't tell you much about CB Radio's. I am not a CB enthusiast but I can tell someone when else is.

That will be Whiplash at the Travel Centers at exit 374 off I 40 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

If you know a good CB Shop that drivers should know about, what are you waiting for. Tell us.

Knoxville Truckstop and CB Shop