"Fuel Lane Status" - E Knoxville Pilot - Any Comments?

I noticed at the Pilot, east of Knoxville (Off Strawberry Plains Pkwy) has a digital sign above each lane that seems to indicate how long the truck at the fuel island has been there, or "Open" if the pump lane is open.

This seems like an interesting concept but I just wonder if

• it works accurately
• it is used to track down dead-beats who park at the fuel island or are obstructed by someone in front of them, and action is taken to get them to move
• it actually helps reduce dead-beat frequency. ("Dead-beat" for the purpose of this discussion is anyone who spends an in-ordinate amount of time inside the store or otherwise not actively engaged in the fueling process, and causes unnecessary delay for any/all trucks behind them)

I noticed the count-up timer seems to start when the pump is started, but I'm unsure what has to happen to stop the timer. I also noticed empty lanes say "Open", and other lanes stated "04:10, 08:35", etc that had trucks fueling at them

But I also noticed one truck parked at the pump and it's sign said "28:00" and still counting up. Sure enough there was no activity at/in the truck that I could see. I fueled next to this truck, after fueling, I noticed the truck still there (no activity) and checked, and the timer was still going. At the time, they were not overly busy, and no trucks were waiting, so I did not consider this one dead-beat to be a deal.

So, I'm wondering if Pilot has taken the second step of getting time abusers to move? Is there a beeper inside that begins to beep when a truck exceeds a certain time threshold? Is there a display showing the status of the pumps? Does anybody care?

Anyway, I was wondering if those who fuel there regularly have any opinions on this new setup? How long have they been doing this there? Are they testing this at any other truck stops? Do they implement this costly system inside to keep dead-beats out or do they rely on drivers to "report the dead-beats"?

 

Well, it gives incoming drivers a heads up about where the problem trucks may be [assuming the system is somewhat truthful and accurate] then they can have meaningful information to report to the fuel desk during peak periods when backups are a serious problem. Then, if management does not do anything, we can wonder why they went to the expense of implementing this system and call them out on it.

I applaud PFJ for implementing this pilot program. I just hope they follow through at the fuel desk level.