Reinforces my point - they're partnering with whomever they can so they can grow. I would also guess that they're structuring each location as an "independent entity" that's either partially or wholly owned by the mothership - allows for some 'interesting accounting' that allows for eating ones cake and still having it to show. Again, look at Thortons. While Pilot was their main dealer for truck stops, they used to use BP, Shell, etc for their regular gas stations. This allowed for easier growth through the 2000s, which in turn led to exponential geowth in the 2010s with "Thorton" only branding, then a healthy buyout by BP in 2022.
Hey, this is a benefit for all those guys who pull up in the waiting line for fuel, then go inside to get themselves a 'sodee-water and a cheese-burger'.....
And the Pilot in Staunton VA would like you to hold both of theirs... ...Just take a look at it, if you've never had the [dis]pleasure of dealing with ^that mess. For those curious, that is literally a walkway through the woods that separate the store itself (and the car side) from the truck side. Notice the ingress/egress traffic flow, and at exactly how many places (and ways) you can get stuck waiting...and waiting...and waiting there. Pain points aplenty there...
I’m here now about to leave. It can be a fuster cluck, loves next door isn’t better. Gotta time it right. Hell the pilot down the road in raphine ain’t any better. There they just park at the fuel island, that’s normal. Added bonus people park on the left side of pumps blocking the way to leave at night. They get bonus points for dum dum dum.
I've been there a few times since I started driving in '04. I make it a point to route myself anywhere but there
