The Sad Destruction of Flying J by Pilot- catering to cars

For some reason i highly doubt pilot owns a refinery. PROVE IT. Darn near all fuel comes in the same pipe to the same terminals, and is all the same until its loaded in a tanker truck, where its mixed with additives....


If they were catering to 4 wheelers as you put it, why are they getting rid of the souvenirs?

 

Well, I just slogged through this whole thread.

A couple of observations:
1) Skibum posted the link earlier in the thread. Pilot Flying J FAQs explains that the lounges in Flying Js aren't going away, but getting facelifts. All y'all cranking about the death of the driver's lounge are jumping to unfounded conclusions.

2) It seems like some of you fine people want special treatment because you're a truck driver. This "get the 4-wheelers out of here" stuff is just a front for "I'm grumpy and hate being around people". A screaming toddler in a restaurant? People in line to make purchases? Come on. Where in the world can you go and not have people around? If you want your own special quiet place, buy an inverter, a fridge, a hotpot and a crockpot and make your own food in the truck! I do this, and I constantly park in out of the way spots with oodles of peace & quiet all to myself.

3) Flying J declared Bankruptcy! Shed a tear for this great institution that lavished attention and amenities on truckers...and clearly had issues running a profitable operation. For all of the conservative "help yourself" folks on this board, it sure would be a heck of a double standard to have trouble with a failed business being absorbed into a more competitive and successful corporation.

4) I've never understood the Flying J love affair. Going back to the "attention and amenities" thing just above: all of the "amenities" in all of the J's I've ever been in look, feel, and smell like they've been used to sort livestock. The shower system, while innovative in its time, certainly, is generally outdated and shows its age...not to mention that the showers themselves, by and large, are beaten and bedraggled. All of this points back to the heavy-handed, poorly house-broken drivers drooling over how awesome Flying J is, and subsequently disrespecting the material investment the company made in providing nice things. And don't dare blame it on the motoring public. They don't come back into the Pro Driver's area unless the C-store bathrooms are closed, and then they high-tail it out, because 9 times out of 10 a bunch of nasty looking people are draped over the chairs alternately staring at the TV, shoveling down food, or relentlessly kvetching about how badly their lives suck.

5) Parking. Lots of it. Lots of really, really poorly laid out, tightly packed parking. I can think of about 3 Flying Js off the top of my head that have pleasant parking lot layouts...Where, alternately, a whole boatload of newer Pilots and Loves have wide spots with plenty of set-up space. Sure, that makes for less total parking, but I don't particularly want to have to blind-side into a 9 foot wide spot after 10 hours of work.

6) Service with a smile. Let's just stop and think this through. "Pilot's are unfriendly and terrible" "Flying Js are happy and piss rainbows!" Come on, folks. We're working (most of us) in huge geographic regions populated by all stripes of people, and each individual stop is staffed by a different crew. Some places are pleasant, some are not, and some depend on who's getting a divorce in a week or who's mother just died. Lumping the chains into big, monolithic units based on individual encounters with individual people is flat stupid.


Summary: Grow a little patience and quit crying over milk that hasn't even been poured into the glass yet, let alone had the chance to be spilled. Long & short: Flying J is broke and bought out by the big dog on the block. The big dog has pretty frankly laid out what they're going to change and what they won't.

Look at it this way: The J's could have all closed and had their parking lots blocked off with k-rails. Where would the parking crisis (especially on the coasts) be then?

Again, it seems to me like a lot of this anger comes straight from the sense of entitlement that a lot of drivers have about being "special" and deserving special treatment because of it. That kind of snotty crap only hurts our image with the general public. 4 wheelers, as a rule, keep out of our parking and keep out of our spaces (when they're clearly designated). It's a rough industry and a rough life. You can mix and match three options:
1) Cry about it
2) Make choices about how you'll operate differently to improve your own life
3) Just straight up accept that you work in a world that doesn't see you, care about you, or cater to you...and take satisfaction in a job well done.

I pick 2&3. I'm fed, showered, on time for delivery, didn't kill anybody today or do any physical damage to my vehicle or anybody else's...and my wife and son still love me. It's not up to PilotFlyingJTAPetroLoves to make me proud of the work I do and the life I lead.

 

To those that dont think those drievrs lounges will slowly dissapear out of these J's....just hide and wait. They might be re modeled and be around for a bit but they will slowly dissapear. Look at all of the previous truck stops across the country that Pilot has taken over throughout the years and you can count on your hands how many still have those lounges in place.

 

we need truck stops that are actually truck stops not just convenience stores with big parking lots.

 

I do not think they will, however, it makes no difference to me since I do not sit in them anyway.

 

Here, here. But I think it would have been better for the bankruptcy court to allow or mandate the closure of all Flying J's. This would surely have been better than eating at a Denny's whom cooks to order.

 

Personally don't care about drivers lounges, never seem one I wanted to sit down in. Best thing to do with any truckstop is get what you need and get down the road.

Here again, maybe nothing is better than something. The J was bankrupt, next step is lock the door. Maybe for you all that think you need them, a thank you to Pilot for not just letting them close all together.

Quit whinning already.