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," on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. CDT, focuses on Midway employees and the oddball cast of characters who pass through.
The show's producer, Leftfield Pictures, produces other reality shows including "Pawn Stars" and "American Restoration."
Each episode will showcase different happenings at Midway. The premiere earlier this month featured a group of Civil War re-enactors who try to camp out on the grass outside the motel, and a "biker granny" who wants a tattoo of a wolf on her back.
"We have so many interesting people who stop by," Joe Bechtold, Midway's general manager, 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. Bechtold has been running the truck stop for more than a decade.
Bechtold calls tonight's episode — about a Willie Nelson concert — his favorite. Midway put on a concert featuring 12 bands, and more than 3,500 people attended. There was severe weather and mishaps, but Bechtold says the staff pulled it off.
"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. To say the least, visiting Midway is a unique experience."
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
