‘Truck Stop’ makes for good TV

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS

If you’ve driven west on Interstate 70 near Columbia, Mo., you may be familiar with the Midway Truck Stop, the subject of the Travel Channel’s new show, “Truck Stop Missouri.”

Midway is more than gasoline pumps and hot coffee. The truck stop consists of 12 businesses, including a motel, a tattoo parlor and a fireworks stand. It’s a popular stop for travelers, selling close to a million gallons of fuel a month, and 5,000 pounds of biscuits and gravy a week.

“Truck Stop Missouri,” which premieres tonight, focuses on Midway employees and the oddball cast of characters who pass through.

Joe Bechtold, Midway’s general manager, was wary initially when Leftfield Pictures called and told him they wanted to produce a show about a truck stop. Leftfield Pictures produces other reality shows including “Pawn Stars” and “American Restoration,” but to Bechtold, combining a truck stop and reality TV seemed like a dubious idea.

“Once I did my research on Leftfield Pictures and the shows they produced, I became very excited about it,” Bechtold says. “The staff was very excited, too.”

Each episode will showcase different happenings at Midway. The premiere features a group of Civil War re-enactors who try to camp out on the grass outside the motel, and a “biker granny” who wants to tattoo an image of a wolf on her lower back.

“We have so many interesting people who stop by,” Bechtold says. “That’s part of how we may have sold the Travel Channel, as we were able to tell stories for hours. We have a 35-foot electronic billboard that we’re replacing with an LED one. While replacing it, the company we had working on it found somebody living in the billboard. That’s just one story. We have a little town out here.”

Bechtold inherited Midway from his father, who bought it when it was just a two-pump gas station. When Bechtold’s father became sick, Bechtold moved back from Australia, where he had been living for 10 years. That was more than a decade ago, and he has been running the truck stop ever since.

“Midway is iconic,” he says. “We’re one of the last family-owned truck stops. You won’t find all of the things that we have — bar, motel, fireworks stand, events — anywhere else.”

We have a big Mud Run coming up in September. Somebody could come, stay at the motel, eat at our diner, compete in the Mud Run, drink some beer after it’s over — with people they’ve been seeing on TV. To say the least, visiting Midway is a unique experience.”

Bechtold hints at a future episode — his favorite — about a Willie Nelson concert. Midway put on a concert featuring 12 bands, and more than 3,500 people attended. There was severe weather and many mishaps, but Bechtold says the staff pulled it off.