Who Are We | Waspy's Truck Stop

Visit Waspy’s Truck Stop

Lawrence “Waspy” Handlos, a native of a Willey farm, knew a truck stop in Templeton, Iowa was needed for the 5,000 vehicles passing by daily on Highway 141. Now, Waspy’s Truck Stop, a full-service truck stop, stands on 10 acres at the corner of County Road N-18 and 305th Street, an area just 1/2 mile north of Highway 141.

Waspy’s now has a second location just south of Audubon on Highway 71 between I-80 and Highway 30. This location features Blue Grass Inn & Suites, a convenience store, fuel options, and more!

Waspy's Truck Stop Owners Doris and Lawrence Handlos
Doris and Lawrence “Waspy” Handlos

The Handlos Family

The Handlos family was more than excited on the opening day of Waspy’s Truck Stop, Wednesday, May 24th, 2017.

Longtime Audubon-area farmer Lawrence “Waspy” Handlos and his wife, Doris, are the sole owners of Waspy’s Truck Stop.

The Truck Stop was developed by Lawrence and Doris’s son, Brian Handlos.

While the Templeton location is the first Waspy’s Truck Stop, a second location opened in August 2018 in Audubon, Iowa. The Audubon location includes The Feed Mill Restaurant, Blue Grass Inn & Suites, a convenience store, fuel options, and more

You may be wondering, how did Lawrence get the nickname “Waspy”? He got the nickname from his father, John, a German immigrant who settled in the Carroll, Iowa area.

He gave Lawrence that nickname as a child because it is tied to another German name that his father liked, Sebastian. “Waspy” has stuck with Lawrence ever since and is now the unique, memorable brand name of a well-known truck stop.