MADERA – After nearly two months of delays, Madera County welcomes its latest truck stop to the area. Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores is now open. The nation’s industry-leading travel stop network, Love’s is located off Highway 99 at Avenue 17. With the Pilot Truck Stop open at Avenue 20, Madera County will soon be the truck stop capital of Central California with two more truck stops scheduled to open on Highway 99 at Avenue 12 this month and at Avenue 7 within the year.
Love’s opened their doors last Wednesday to the public adding 94 jobs to the community and 95 truck and 57 car parking spaces. “We’re excited to add another location on the West Coast and our 12th location in California,” said Tom Love, founder and executive chairman of Love’s. “Professional and four-wheel drivers now have another safe, clean and well-maintained stop in this vital corridor to help get them back on the road quickly.”
The 8,500 square foot location is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and offers many amenities. Along with the 95 parking spots for trucks, this new facility offers truckers nine diesel bays, laundry facilities, showers, and an onsite dog park. The Love’s Country Store features bean-to-cup freshly brewed gourmet coffees, brand name snacks, and fresh kitchen items like sandwiches and cups of seasonal fruit.
The food court brings Madera County it’s first 24 hour Arby’s Roast Beef, with a drive-thru window. Rumor has it that they’ve got the meats. Also truckstop favorite chicken from Chester’s Chicken and making their long-awaited return to the valley, Godfather’s deep dish pizza.
Godfather’s Pizza, A Pizza You Can’t Refuse has a total of 572 franchise locations nationwide, 6 in California and a total of 116 locations in Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores across the country. This location offers online ordering and serves seven core Godfather’s Pizza specialty pizzas and Hawaiian pizza. All pizzas are served on Godfather’s Pizza Golden Crust, a buttery pan-style crust.
“We are excited to open a new Express location with Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores in Madera, California,“ said Dave Gartlan, vice president of development for Godfather’s Pizza Inc. “Love’s is a great partner since they operate outstanding sites all across the country. Our famous pizza and side items are a great complement to the other food programs they offer.”
On March 12th at 11:00 am, officials from the Madera Chamber of Commerce, as well as the city of Madera, will be on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony welcoming Love’s to the community. In honor of the grand opening, Love’s will donate $2,000 to the Hillside Parent Teacher Council.
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores is the nation’s industry-leading travel stop network with more than 510 locations in 41 states. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company remains family-owned and operated and employs more than 25,000 people.
Love’s provides professional truck drivers and motorists with 24-hour access to clean and safe places to purchase gasoline, diesel fuel, fresh coffee, restaurant offerings and more. Love’s has more than 380 truck service centers, which include on-site and stand-alone Speedco and Love’s Truck Care locations.
Love’s and Speedco combined is the largest oil change, preventive maintenance, and total truck care nationwide network. Love’s is committed to providing customers with “Clean Places, Friendly Faces” at every stop.
Love’s Supplier Ignores Handicap Parking to Save 15 Yards
On a not-so-joyous side note of the opening of the new truck stop, while this reporter was out at the location taking photos, one of Love’s suppliers for the Country Store, McLane Trucking of Merced, pulled into the over crowed parking lot in front of the store and took over two handicap parking spaces with no regards for people trying to park.
This, even though Love’s had provided a loading zone area just 15 yards away near the less crowded diesel bays. The driver and helper from McLane offered no apologies to a handicapped driver trying to park and refused to move their vehicle to the loading zone just a few extra steps away.
This might be a location the Madera Police Department’s new handicap parking enforcement may want to keep an eye on.
#McLaneDisrespectsHandicap
