New Truck Stop. What do YOU want?

Just because the sign says one thing doesnt mean anything. We retailers bargain with major carriers so they can get a lower cost than sign average.
Also Visa, MC, Discover, and the other major cards pings me twice for the transaction one for you sliding the card and then two for them to transfer me the money to my account. Catch is they ping me as soon as you swipe but in can takes months for money to come to me.
Another is drive-offs. yes you have to come in and give me your ID and card for me to switch my pump on if you dont use the outside pump. I have had in the past to get both a fake ID and a Fake fuel card. Neither which can be verified prior to sale of fuel which you must pump first. We usually get one a month on average.
Two is major credit cards waits months before they pay. and even longer if they feel there is a cost error.
Three prices we pay switch daily I may have to wait till your done to change that pump however I must pay the fuel company the price of the fuel at the moment it changes in the computer.
Four we pay for fuel as we pump it. which means we always have more fuel coming to us as it is pumped.

So in all honestly I see a negative return on my fuel. There has been months that have wiped our books to the red nearly because of diesl and gas. And on the good months we clear 1.5 cpg to 2.0 cpg and that is the same for most fuel stations large or small.
That is the reason wal mart will not and has refused in the past to get into heavy truck diesl. There own drivers dont even fuel up at their own stations just for that reason

 

How conveenyent!

 

Yup, this is what I've seen in the books at other fuel stops. Many cannot get it that selling fuel IS NOT profitable. However, on average I would see about 2.5 cents per gallon profit in the upper midwest. With about 4 to 5 cents per gallon profit on gasoline. For some reason it seems they do slightly better than you are up here, however, there were slightly more drive offs up here... I'd say about 2 a month on average.

Other really low profit items at fuel stops up here are cigarettes and state lotto tickets(scratch-offs). About a nickle a pack for cigs, and 3 to 4 cents profit on a lotto ticket. This also surprised me.

 

I thought I read where the State of Minnesota had a law concerning the profit that could be charged on the diesel and gas?

I had read something about Walmart and their lower profit and them being charged.

We do not have such a law down here and the price fluctuates quite dramatically and not tied to anything like filling the tanker.

 

Yeah there is a law here, however, these fuel stops all keep what they pay for fuel top secret(they all seem to bend the law a bit here) and as ItIsWritten pointed out, fuel is not payed for until it is sold.

Also, I think the law is federal. If I recall, a few fuel stops in New Jersey got in deep trouble for raising the price to $6 per gallon in the gas price panic a couple of years ago. So it goes both ways for fuel price(too high or too low)

 

The locals got into trouble here when they raised to over 6.00 per gallon during the 9-11. It was not based on what the fuel would cost as required under state law.

 

Only stations that serve the public are regulated under the Price Gouging Federal Law. Which states that I must not raise my price above a certain level for thrity days following a natural or man made national or state emergencey
However, the fuel companies that service us can raise the price to anything. they can charge me 100 dollars a gallon or a thousand dollars a gallon. There is no law that protects me. and you have to use them. because they are the fueler that is assigned to you area. I cant go out of state and buy bulk fuel. The law prohibits that in most states.
So during these emergencies, I am having to pay someone more money to stay there. Usually i bring in more people to help. Which cost more, and the. So even if I could charge 6 dollars a gallon after an emergency I will still lose.
I charge 4.50 a gallon after hurricane Ivan and still lost thousands of cost of fuel, gas, and shoplifted merchandise and drive-offs.
The public never thinks about us the company.
I may make two pennies off a soda. 4-5 off a bag of snacks. Nothing off little debbies, or snack cakes. 5 cents off a paper. In reality I need to sale most of the store every hour just to make a decent profit.
If you ever come trhough Alabama. I will be more than happy to show you the books. and you can see per gallon and per item what I make. I think it will suprise you to see wha we really dont make

 

A smoking ban. This has gotten better in recent years, but usually only when the state or county imposes one. It'd be nice to see truck stop owners step up to the plate here.

 

This seems ill-considered. Even if you get rid of the idling, there will be trucks going in and out at all hours. So the engine noise will be there regardless.

Just my two cents.

 

Well I just want to thank all of you for your ideas. We hope to serve you soon!!