If you’re a big rig driver hauling it down I-79 and are hankering for a burger, stop by this Fordyce Sonic Drive-In and you can order from your truck, no problem.
Arkansas’s Governor has put the kibosh on dine-in restaurants throughout the state, with the drive-through and takeout orders as an exception. But, for truckers looking for a hearty meal, this locks them out of most fast-food places and diners. However, this Sonic Drive-in restaurant in Fordyce, Ark not only welcomes truckers with open arms, they’ve got a drive-through specifically built for big rigs to que and take orders from.
Check out their ingenious solution that’s going viral below.
And it’s not only trucks, some local school buses stop by, too.
In the photo we can see that this Sonic has a specially built drive-thru menu built tall enough for truckers to read off of. The menu board looks to be height adjustable, ready to raise and lower for different trucks heights. In addition, there’s a sturdy all-weather concrete platform for Sonic employees to take payments and bring food to the big rig drivers in.
It’s hard to make out on Google Maps but presumably that large patch of dirt that satellites flew over in 2016 is the location of this Sonic Drive-in. There’s probably an extra lane outside the perimeter of the restaurant that can handle a couple of trucks and their loads.
A stone’s throw from this Sonic there’s a McDonalds, Subway, and a travel center, but none of those places have the accomodations to handle a drive-through order from a big rig.
Believe it or not, this platform has been in use for almost two years now, first constructed, tested, and given the green light in 2018.
“They were looking at (Route) 79 and noticed the incredible number of 18 wheelers going by,” said Travis Larison, an area supervising partner for Sonic. “They got to talking and decided to put in a drive-thru for big trucks.”
Landline’s write up explains that on average 500 trucks frequent this location a month, that’s about 16 a day. Presumably, there are days where you get over 16 trucks, possibly a handful at a time. Can you imagine how long a line that must make?
For the more than dozen truckers that go here daily, it’s a relief to know they have a place to go for some yummy food where their big rig is not an inconvenience.
Check out this trucker on Instagram, happy to have found this Sonic when his stomach was grumbling.
Kudos to you, Fordyce Sonic, for taking the initiative years ago to build a drive-through for our men and women on the road. You didn’t know this would be a needed modification down the road, but you built it anyway.
