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A truck stop in North America is a commercial facility that provides fuel, parking and usually food and other services to long-haul trucks. They are usually located on or near a busy road and consist (at the very least) of a diesel grade fueling station with bays wide and tall enough for modern tractor/trailer rigs and have a large enough parking area to accommodate from five to over a hundred trucks or other heavy vehicles. Also common are large vehicle scales which assist truckers in adhering to weight limit laws. Most truck stops also offer a convenience store specializing in trucker needs and a range of services for professional drivers to rest and refresh themselves, such as both fast food and sit-down restaurants, barber shops, health services, self-serve laundry/showers, and in some cases, religious services.

The truck stop originated in the United States in the 1940s, as a reliable source of diesel fuel not commonly available at filling stations. This, coupled with the growth of the Interstate Highway System, led to the creation of professional haulage and companion truck stop industries.^[1]

Most long-haul tractors have sleeping berths, and to allow for comfortable sleeping many truckers have had to keep their diesel engines running for heating or cooling. Since a single diesel idling, let alone several, makes considerable noise and can be visibly polluting, they are often banned from such use near residential areas. Truck stops (along with public rest stops) provide the main places where truckers may rest peacefully, as required by the DOT regulations. Modern innovations, such as truck heaters and auxiliary power units are increasing, and some truck stops are also providing power, air conditioning, and communications through systems like IdleAire. Most chain truck stops also have WLAN internet access in their parking areas, though most are not free. Idle reduction—reducing the amount of fuel consumed by truck fleets during idling—is an ongoing economical and environmental effort.[1]

While not closed to other drivers (referred to with varying degrees of friendliness or contempt as "four-wheelers"), special areas are frequently set aside for truckers. These may contain tables with phones (so truckers can privately call families and conduct other business), bathrooms and showers, a television, high speed internet access for laptop computers, and internet kiosks. When there is an internet kiosk, usually it is placed between the "truckers only" area and the rest of the establishment.

The smallest truck stops may consist of only a parking area, a fueling station and perhaps a diner restaurant. Larger truck stops may have convenience stores of various sizes, showers, a small video arcade, and a TV/movie theater (usually just a projector with attached DVD player). The largest truck stops, like Iowa 80 (the largest in the world), may have several independent business operating under one roof catering to a wide range of travelers' needs, and may have several major and minor fast-food chains operating a small food court. Larger truck stops also tend to have full-service maintenance facilities for heavy trucks, as well as vehicle wash services large enough to accommodate them. Some truck stops operate motels or are adjacent to them. The refueling area almost always offers dual pumps, one on each side, so large trucks can fill both tanks at once (the second referred to as the "slave" or "satellite" pump).

The retail stores in large truck stops offer a large selection of 12-volt DC products, such as coffee makers, TV/VCR combos, toaster ovens, and frying pans primarily targeted towards truckers, who generally spend 26 to 27 days on the road full time. Likewise, such shops generally offer a wide selection of maps, road atlases, truck stop and freeway exit guides, truck accessories (such as CB radio equipment and hazmat placards), plus entertainment media such as movies, video games, music, and audiobooks. Increasingly, as interstate truckers have become a large market for satellite radio, the retail store also sells various satellite radio receivers for both XM and Sirius as well as subscriptions to those services. Kiosks run by cellular phone providers are also common.

The economics of truck stops have driven most all of the small, "mom and pop" operations that dotted the country in post-war times out of business and replaced them with large corporate chains or franchises. While truckers are a "captured market", since the trucks' sizes and local regulations vastly restrict where a trucker can spend money, land and equipment costs, and upkeep and maintenance are large and growing, requiring it be made up by chain volume buying and an increasing quantity of customers. Some large truck stop chains have begun to cater to a wider range of the traveling public. In the late 1990s, Truckstops of America (T/A) changed its name to TravelCenters of America to reflect this marketing strategy. There is no exact distinction between "truck stop" and the newer term "travel center", but some differences are size, proximity to interstate highways and major roads, number of services, accessibility to automotive and RV travelers, and a certain extra emphasis on facility appearance. Many truck stops chains such as Flying J and T/A also serve the recreational vehicle market. All national chains have established customer loyalty programs to promote repeated patronage.

Truck stop restaurants are often recommended to non-truckers because of their reputation for large portions of good food. Truckers have their choice of places to re-fuel, and a good restaurant is an attraction.

Truck stops are often depicted in films and novels as being somewhat seedy places frequented by aggressive bikers, petty criminals, and prostitutes (e.g. the "lot lizards" in the JT LeRoy novel Sarah). This is in general an outdated stereotype, as most modern truck stops are generally clean and safe, becoming a "home away from home" for many truck drivers. However, it should be noted that most truck stops do reflect the social environment of the area they are in; consequently, one still occasionally finds seedy truck stops in seedy areas.

• Iowa 80 (World's largest truck stop)
• Rest area
• Road Ranger
• Greasy spoon
• Travelcenters of America
• Flying J
• Pilot Travel Centers

Note: the Unocal 76 Travel Centers popular with both older truckers and in popular media^{[citation needed]} have been bought out by TA (see above). The Sapp Bros. Truck Stops have been bought out by Roady's. (see above)