The Future of Truck Parking (Shortage Issue) & HomeTime

Ooh, corporate accounts! Get your poop bag patrols together!

 

I would be more inclined towards quarterly or yearly memberships over nightly charges. As was pointed out earlier a little grocer on premises would be nice , or build near a store and provide some sort of transport to and from. The rv crowd may show some interest in this venture as they to have parking availability problems, keep the r.v.'s in designated areas away from the trucks.

 

It's going to need to be top notch. I am a little bit of a foodie that relies on quality food to get work done. Always has been this way.

If you pay the staff good money to be motivated with a clear mission to cook well for all those strangers who need of it, and they do a good job guess what. You have a repeat customer.

To wit, I went into the old Texaco at Duncannon near the US 15 and US 322 which was by the River prior to running 7 mountains and pressed for time. I ordered a simple spagetti meal because anyone can slap it together and have the plate on the table quickly.

What I got that night was not anywhere near a proper spaghetti. I made a scene about it. They replaced it and took everything off the bill. I would not be back. This was way back in the early 90's when there were plenty of other truckstops including some dutch cooking to be had here and there along that road.

I don't know if you are familiar with the Dutch Country centered on the Lancaster area and route 30 etc. The food in that area is beyond good when done right.

I would not mind paying close to 50 a day if the food is good and everything else in order. If I had to make a temporary home there as I am in the habit of doing. You are looking at potentially 5 days and nights worth of commerce from me alone when waiting in between loads. That was a long time ago in the old days.

The kind of trucking I would be doing if I was to return to the road involves a million dollar value cargo of medicine, some narcotic and so on. You probably will not see me in there too long if ever for a meal meaning I will stop in get fuel and need some means of internet based smart phone ordering to get together a meal to GO or three because you simply do not sit with those kinds of loads.

If you surveyed the recent trends (The last 20 years or so) migrating from the traditional sit down full service truckstops to the truly crappy subway, taco bell (Which is NOT even mexican food. Don't ever think about this. Go to the border with Mexico and learn what mexican food IS before you try to serve something like that in your outfit...) and such fast food. I presume you are well beyond this concept.

Our Loves in Searcy has a Hardees which isnt half bad. Only because the individual franchise owner that runs this one and several others do a good job for what it is. But it is still fast food and you really shouldnt try to make a living on that trash. (No offense. it's nice for the occasional carnivore pushed for time but it's NOT something worthy of a high class outfit you are planning.)

What to be done then? Well. We owned a tavern part of our life and on our menu was a hand made 2/3 pound burger based on lean sirloin ground. Not cheap ground, but top dollar sirlion ground lean. Toss in the usual toppings and so on until the Customer has a burger to be happy for properly cooked to order along with the necessary trimmings and such.

I think the buns were custom seasame seed variety of the thick flaky kind, but Sysco were the source vendor for that particular item if we did not go into the Commissary first to get it. (Even though we are a commercial business serving food, we did and will buy at military bases our personal food which is kept under counter so to speak for the family and friends when needed.)

Anyway that is one thought for you. Several actually. I recall doing large amounts of physical labor in addition to some pretty sharp driving over very long times. The food of good quality gave me the ability to punch above my weight class so to speak and be able to get through the problems of such work.

 

Dude, there is so much wrong with this idea, it ain't funny.

I won't sugar coat it.

I'm not impressed with the numbers, I know what's what and there is a lot you and your staff need to learn (I assume you have a staff to do the leg work).

1 - did you do a feasibility study for this idea?

2 - did you take in account that the improvements to existing systems (i.e. truck stops/travel centers) will be more welcomed than a "trucker's spa"?

3 - have you or any one of your staff actually gone to a truck stop/travel center as a visitor to use the service, not as a VIP with a bullsh** tour?

4 - you do realize that we don't operate trucks as people use RVs, they are tools for a business.

5 - do you understand this business and the needs of the average trucker?

I could go on but here is the thing, we don't need something like this.

What we need are those people whose names were mentioned to reinvest their profits into making their facilities better and lower the prices. We have been screwed by truck stops/travel centers from gouging at the pumps to people having bad attitude to having the truck stop owners acting as if they are doing us a favor.

They can start with the idea of good customer service at the counters, lower the prices not to rob us then work all the around to improving the site for better and safer parking.

I will also say that those two names you mentioned are hated in this industry, Buffet is insignificant to us because he is too far removed.

 

Very interesting idea. My interest in it revolve around security for myself and my truck and trailer. Cleanliness of the area, is it tidy? Is it clean? Is it well lite with controls(painted parking areas and drive thru lanes) for trucks to park efficiently without them parking all over the place(this increases the risks of accidents in the lots).

Gated entrance with mobile security(be carefull of the gates because some truck drivers can’t understand what they are and drive into them) for the lot and to act as guides/helpers etc. In case of problems Getting into the lot is the most important issue. Using a pass code or card but something easy and that works all the time. I do not want to get stuck at the gate trying to get in. Must be able to call someone to let me in if there is a problem.

Showers with a lounge/rest area/recreation area. With perhaps reasonable pricing vending machines or a restaurant but they are expensive to man and operate in addition to quality control issues. Food/grocery sales at Walmart suits me fine. Would want an outside area to sit in like a rest for the summer time. I can’t stay in the truck all the time.

The parking lot would need to be paved definitely. Why? Because I like a nice clean truck and I like to walk and drive on paved ground not mud. I do not like to track it into my truck. It irritates me it really does. Especially when I have to go cross country in mud or gravel roads.

Repairs: far too many drivers consider parking areas etc as mobile repair shops and in the middle of the night like to do truck repairs when I want to sleep. Minor repairs such as wiring etc does not bug me but oil changes, tire repairs and brake work does. Emergency repairs are ok but not the repairs that could have been done at a speedco.

Minor services such as an air compressor for tire inflation, windshield cleaning and most importantly FREE or included WiFi for the lot. If I am parked I want free or dirt cheap wifi.

 

As I tried to hint to him on the first few posts....

I dont think hes as good as he claims to be, else he would not be approaching this "$200MM" venture using this angle

 

Pricing and location. Near major metro areas 50 to 75 miles away. North east, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami. Southwest such as south California, near Vegas, Phoenix area and of course Deep South and Texas major metro areas.

Pricing. A key question. With elogs I need flexibility to be able to park and to be able to stay or go. I would need to be able to drop the trailer if I wanted to take the truck in for repairs.
I would be looking at around 25 dollars per nite as good. Maybe a monthly charge as a membership fee when your network is better developed. Near major metro areas near New York Los Angeles I would pay a premium.
The network effect would be critical to your project.

That was the main reason that the company that installed the air conditioning units etc in truck stops failed. You would need to take a close look at the reasons it failed to ensure you do not make the same mistakes they did.

 

Will there be topless dancers? If so, I'm in.

 

Another group with special needs are oversized and heavy loads. They would like this concept as well I would think.

 

Well this idea has come up on other forums and in real estate before. There is this idea that we need parking but we are over-saturated now with both trucks and drivers.

We need those people who run those truck stops to be more respectful of their customers, not treat us as captive buyers.

Take fuel as an example, there has been this BS myth that they only make a very thin margin but crap I have a good business acquaintance who works for Pilot and he said there is more than the normal gas station profit in each gallon that they could cut 15% of the price and still make a good profit. This is contrasted by the fact that the mom and pops have lower fuel prices, crap for that matter I fueled up at Speedway and paid 35 cents lower than the T/A was selling fuel in Dexter down the road.