43°31′28″N 79°54′08″W / 43.524376°N 79.902359°W
The Fifth Wheel Truck Stops was a chain of truck stops, with locations in Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick. They also offered motel service, restaurants, and truck/RV cleaning.
The Milton location appeared in key scenes of the 1978 film High-Ballin'.[1]
History
editThe chain was founded in Milton, Ontario, with gasoline first being pumped there in February 1972 and a restaurant opening the following November.[2] It was founded by Lewis Loveridge and Claude Warren,[3] with Jim Powers owning the adjoining restaurant.[2] It was the first full-service truck stop to be established in Canada.[2]
In addition to Milton, it opened truck stops in other locations:[4][5][6]
- Cornwall (1976) (2013: Gas stop only)[7]
- Dorchester (1978)
- Bowmanville and North Bay (1979)
- Perth-Andover, New Brunswick and Winnipeg, Manitoba (1984)
- Grimsby (1988)
In 1992, the Open Road Chapel was formed, with its first nondenominational chapel set up at the Fifth Wheel in Milton.[8] Between 1993 and 2010, further chapels were established at Fifth Wheel's other Southern Ontario locations, which laid the base for expansion to other sites across Canada.[9]
In 1993, the chain's business model was converted to that of a franchising operation.[10]
The Fifth Wheel faced competition from the TravelCenters of America and Flying J chains. The chain closed in September 2015.[11][12] Rumours that Irving Oil was behind the closure could not be confirmed.[13]
References
edit- ^ Downs, Roy (December 28, 1977). "Action movie filmed in Milton". The Canadian Champion. Milton. p. B8.
- ^ a b c Hauprich-Nielsen, Ann (March 5, 1975). "This truck stop has EVERYthing!" (PDF). The Canadian Champion. Milton. p. B1.
- ^ Hauprich-Nielsen, Ann (March 5, 1975). "Two former drivers own truck stop" (PDF). The Canadian Champion. Milton. p. B1.
- ^ Downs, Roy (November 22, 1978). "Fifth Wheel opens No. 3, plans two more in 1979" (PDF). The Canadian Champion. Milton. p. 6.
- ^ "Fifth Wheel opened in New Brunswick" (PDF). The Canadian Champion. Milton. November 7, 1984. p. RE2.
- ^ "Grimsby truck stop moves on for housing". CHCH. Hamilton. September 17, 2015.
- ^ "Venerable Cornwall truck stop to close all but the fuel centre". Seaway News. Cornwall. December 9, 2013.
- ^ Scrivener, Leslie (January 14, 2007). "Highway to heaven". The Toronto Star.
- ^ "Open Road Chapels: History". openroadchapels.ca. 2016.
- ^ "Canadian trade-mark data: Registration number TMA480438". Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
- ^ O'Meara, Jennifer (September 17, 2015). "Bowmanville 5th Wheel to close". Clarington This Week.
- ^ "Fermeture de plusieurs Fifth Wheel Truck Stop en Ontario" [Several Fifth Wheel Truck Stops closing in Ontario]. Truck Stop Québec (in French). September 27, 2015.
- ^ "What's up with the Fifth Wheels? And is there an Irving connection?". Truck News. Toronto. January 21, 2014.
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