With safe, overnight truck parking at a premium, Love’s Travel Stops continues to show its appreciation by expanding facilities to accommodate weary drivers.
“This year, we will continue to improve the amenities and services our customers have come to love and expect when they stop at our locations; new features will also be added that we think will wow them,” Love’s president Shane Wharton reportedly said. “Our customers and team members made last year a great one, and we expect the same for this year, as we continue to get customers back on the road quickly and safely.”
The household name truck and passenger vehicle stop company reportedly plans to improve truck driver working conditions by opening upwards of 40 new locations and adding 3,000 parking spaces by year’s end. The company’s recent announcement comes on the heels of Love’s successfully meeting its 2021 goal of opening 38 locations that provided more than 3,000 parking spaces.
Love’s recently opened new facilities in Newport, Tennessee, and Ripley, New York. The Tennessee location reportedly added 60 job opportunities and 70 parking spaces to Cocke County. Its New York counterpart delivered 85 jobs and 94 truck spaces to Chautauqua County. The newly-minted locations tally more than 13,000 square feet and 24/7 amenities that include eight diesel bays, dog walking parks, laundry facilities, showers, and hot meal options. Other 2022 Love’s enhancement plans of note include the following.
- Love’s plans to open more than 20 Love’s Truck Care and Speedco locations, reportedly the nation’s largest oil change and preventive maintenance network.
- Enhance the Love’s Connect mobile app.
- Introduce more healthy and hot food offerings, such as salad, sandwiches, and fresh breakfast items.
- Add items to Love’s Mobile to Go Zone.
- Increase alternative and renewable fueling locations across the U.S.
The Love’s expansions come at a time when truckers sorely need more safe parking spaces. There is an estimated 1 space for every 11 drivers on the road at any given time. In 2016, truckers reportedly spent only an average of 15 minutes searching for safe, legal parking. Drivers now spend a reported average of 56 minutes and unnecessarily lose upwards of $5,000 in annual income.
Trucking industry leaders from the American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sent a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation to highlight the critical shortage. Trucking industry leaders continue to press Congress and the White House to invest a portion of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending package on parking spaces.
Along with providing safe havens for tired drivers, Love’s donated millions of dollars to organizations that support professional truckers, homeless children, and veterans, among others.
Sources: fleetowner.com, ttnews.com, petrolplaza.com
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