Travel Centers of America is failing and will declare bankruptcy within five years.

Discussion in 'Truck Stops' started by Deadwood, Dec 17, 2020.

  1. TokyoJoe

    TokyoJoe Road Train Member

    1,077
    3,664
    Feb 10, 2015
    0
    When they charge you 12 bucks for 2 eggs, toast and 2 paper thin pieces of brittle "bacon" and 3 dollars more for coffee they probably shouldn't be surprised that you found somewhere else to eat breakfast next time and forever after.

    Closed for breakfast now? What a ####ing surprise!!!
     
    Blue jeans, bthomann, bzinger and 6 others Thank this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Studebaker Hawk

    Studebaker Hawk Road Train Member

    2,883
    9,111
    Oct 18, 2010
    NW Indiana
    0
    I have been retired for almost exactly a year. this morning I made myself some eggs(from a nearby farm), a little 3 oz. patty of hamburger(you know steak and eggs), toast made from bread out of my bread machine, which costs $1.00 a loaf. Oh yes, and coffee, I grind the beans just before brewing. I might have $2.00 in the entire breakfast including the gas to cook it and wash the pans. Priceless.
    And as I was eating said breakfast reading the comments above the best move I have ever made was getting out. When I started in 1976, there were so many good independent truck stops and diners with truck parking, I looked forward to patronizing them, although it cost more that cooking at home, the added value was worth it. That has not been the case for at least 10 or more years. It took my stark change in lifestyle to realize exactly how bad it is out there.
    There are some local independent restaurants around here to rival the diners of the past, and they are well patronized by the locals. No truck parking of course. So it is the trucking industry and how it is structured that has killed the "full service" truckstop with a good restaurant, service, plenty of parking etc.
    That newly structured industry has killed almost everything else that used to make it a job worth having.
     
    bzinger, jason6541, DoubleO7 and 9 others Thank this.
  4. Infosaur

    Infosaur Road Train Member

    It would be nice if small mom & pop restaurants made arrangements for trucks. Once you see a place with a truck parked behind it you think, “hey, I’ll check that out next time.”

    and I love finding new spots.

    as a company that sometimes delivers to restaurants, (kitchen equipment, furniture, fixtures, countertops, etc.) I’ve gotten pretty good at getting in lots I don’t belong in. More than a few times it’s been very obvious the architect implicitly designed a lot to keep trucks out, but when I tell the GC they need to unload from the street they don’t care how many curbs and shrubs I hit.

    61DD6298-CC1F-4ACB-888B-745EE1252194.jpeg

    Coffee in a cup? Who’s got time for that?! I’m hopped up on these crunchy go go pills!
     
    RubyEagle and Deadwood Thank this.
  5. Infosaur

    Infosaur Road Train Member

    Translation: we lost $20 million in value and we STILL don’t have a clue.

    Are these guy being held accountable?
    Where’s the board? The shareholders?

    Maybe WallStreetBets can buy them?
    These guys couldn’t run a lemonade stand.
     
    mjd4277, Blue jeans, bthomann and 4 others Thank this.
  6. Opus

    Opus Road Train Member

    16,119
    90,137
    Dec 18, 2011
    South GA
    0
    And we can't figure out how to make money on food......smh
     
    mjd4277, Jaebo74 and bzinger Thank this.
  7. Deadwood

    Deadwood Heavy Load Member

    745
    2,153
    Dec 24, 2016
    0
    TravelCenters of America is a giant, confusing bundle of incestuous companies with conflicts of interest owned by Adam Portnoy. His net worth is in the hundreds of millions.

    The Seeking Alpha investment community doesn't like the way Portnoy does business because they see the structure of the RMR Group (owner of TA) as unnecessarily complex and opaque. The best explanation I could find about TA's relationship to RMR is in an article here:

    https://seekingalpha.com/article/4320971-new-travelcenters-ceo-is-not-reason-to-buy-stock#comments

    The New York Times did a story on the Portnoy family eight years ago because they were being sued. The Portnoy family's reputation is one of having a "heads we win, tails you lose" method of investment management. It's attached here:

    Legal Battle Lifts Profile of a Quiet Empire (Published 2013)
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2021
  8. jason6541

    jason6541 Road Train Member

    2,425
    5,356
    Mar 5, 2012
    Omaha, NE
    0
    Stopped tonight in CB, IA at T/A for a service. I have the oil and filters for my truck. Usually do services myself.
    Set up a scheduled time thru the app. Arrived to be treated with a service writer who was new. 3 grease monkeys standing around arguing about who was doing what. So after 5 min made up my mind to just come home tonight and service my truck, trailer and apu myself and T/A shop in CB can go #### off. Never again
    Just wanted a day off and figured $100. 00 to drain oil and grease wasn’t to bad. But #### them.
     
  9. jason6541

    jason6541 Road Train Member

    2,425
    5,356
    Mar 5, 2012
    Omaha, NE
    0
    yep, if you look at the time table that is about when the fast food #### started and Loves took off. Oh how I miss the 8.10,15 rule. But motor coaches still operate under the old rules
     
  10. gentleroger

    gentleroger Road Train Member

    6,581
    17,195
    Jun 1, 2010
    0
    Maybe start with not making the name of your chain restaurant a pun of a motor oil company. For years I thought they were a quick lube joint and never gave them a second glance.

    Cute, punny names are great for one off neighborhood restaurants, not so much for a chain restaurant looking to aggressively expand.
     
    bzinger and jason6541 Thank this.
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.