Are Love's slowly taking control of the truck stop industry?

The Flying Pilot corporation is expanding, but instead of building new, they either buy out an existing smaller place, or do their deal with leasing the fuel side of a smaller chain leaving the c-store under the control of original chain (like Rump Ranger, er...I mean Road Ranger). The one way they update their older stores is have a couple convenient accidental fires a year like the Indy J or the Salinas KS J last year.

 

They are not truck stops.
They are travel plazas, where they and care for the 4 wheelers, truckers get your fuel get out.

 

You may refer to them as travel plazas, pardon me for being in the business for 40+ years and using the common terminology of my era.
And I have stayed in many "travel plazas" since that change occurred and have never been asked to "get your fuel get out". I don't know how you conduct yourself to get that reaction from them. I am glad they are there and so do thousands of drivers who stay in them every night, mostly for free.

 

I don't buy my fuel from pfj , loves and just enuff from petro ta for a shower if if I need it ...the independent suppliers are 10 to 20 cents a gallon cheaper and I don't have to sit behind schoolboys playing with them selves at the fuel island . .

 

If I only traded at the "independent truck stops" and did not want to pay for showers, I'd smell pretty bad after several days. They are simply too far and few between to be practical for most who run all 48. It's funny to hear many beat up on PFJ and Loves but they should be the MOST thankful these exist in the numbers they do, otherwise their precious independents would not be so precious.

 

They're building another one in Tri Cities Washington (Prosser).

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article71292097.html

Anything is going to be better than that craphole Broadway J in Pasco.


Looks to be a little far West for 395 traffic though.

 

Of course. Loves has arbys so if I see one around lunch time I'm stopping.

 

Personally I get sick of the truck stop during my 30. Never overnighted anywhere and if the company forced me to they'd be one driver short. I already told my boss if I run out of time someone is coming to pick me up or that'll be the last mile I drive for them. Otr is such a rip off. What is the average pay? $1k a week? I make that local on $18/hr with 50 hours and if I was willing to do more work or drive further than 10 miles to the yard I could make much more. I guess if you don't have a house or apartment and do it for a few years to save up money to invest then that would be alright. My dad did otr and I asked him if it was cool seeing the country. He said "I've seen every ####hole industrial area in the country. It's not like a vacation at all."

 

I second that notion. I used one for months to get $20 worth of points. Then when I went to use them it was a huge hassle and I'd lose any extra money I had on the voucher. Threw the card away. Now I just fuel where I actually want to and they loose sales.