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

And what's up with having an app to turn on the pump but still have to go through three menus on the pump after using the app. I'm no fan of Pilot, but I do like their app to turn on the pump.

 

Clean everythings, and parking would be my top 2, then the cell phone pump starter app. I can always do that the old way, but a parking spot, and clean everythings, thats really hard to get.

 

Their pump start on the app is useless..pilot and loves are light yrs ahead of those fools on that.

 

The reason I like this thread is I feel its very important. Not that long ago TA/Petro were really the BEST. When I started driving in early 2000's after World Trade Centers were destroyed, we always used TA or Petro. They were Great then. I would like to see that come back. Not just for me but for the entire Country. What is happening to TA/Petro is really whats happening to the USA. Going down like the Titanic. I do not want to be someone living here that doesn't at least TRY and stop that, even if its only words on this Forum.

 

I agree TA and Petro were the truck stops to stop at back in 2000s. You would go into Iron Skillet and could not get a table to sit at sometimes because so many drivers were eating in them. TA was first to put in the marble tiles in the showers and to have big walk in showers. Remember Petro had little showers with white tile and the sinks were usually bolted to wall.

 

and......... we can say the samething about this country really. Wow. Thank you for your comments. Maybe its not to late for US.

 

Love's truck stop just gave me their Diamond driver rewards for the month of August. No reason for it, I guess to test it out for a month. Unlimited (2) free showers per day and unlimited drink refills and 4 driver reward points per gallon. I had Platinum status before and it's unlimited shower and drink refills. I'll have to buy more fuel at love's this month.

TA/Petro should try something like this and they might get more drivers to stop in

 

They did. Sorta?? In the past

Had a much better shower and point program then some hunyuck came in and implemented this first gear third gear BS

If I needed to build up a few showers I would put on 50/60 gallons then restart the pump and do another
That went away as did even allowing two showers for two completely different fills and locations
I hope they figure it out but evidently they don’t need the business

 

What the absolute heck?

First things first, the generation of the cashier has no correlation to their ability to make change. This article is from 1948 and details the errors commonly made by cashiers and suggestions to minimize them. Cashiers' Errors: II. Errors Measurement and Distribution on JSTOR


Every generation seems to rip on the next with very little self awareness.

Secondly, the employee's knowledge of US History has no impact on the success of failure of almost any service business, particularly this one. What does matter is employee engagement. Give an employee clear standards and pay them a fair wage, then get out of the way and let them do their job. Pay a minimum wage (particularly one that is below the poverty line), you'll get a minimum effort and high turn over.

Next, your definition of a coworker is the same as that of a comrade. Every one is in it together, everyone is expected to pull their own weight and be responsible for themselves is accountable to each others.

And what makes you think that the store managers aren't local people? Or that they aren't invested in seeing their location prosper? The main issues that TA faces are ones controlled by corporate policies, not local employees. Do you really think the store manager likes the driver services kiosk? Or has any control over how many of their spaces are pay to park?

TA hasn't kept up with the changes in the industry. They haven't competed for the mega carrier's business while only making ham fisted attempts to compete for small carrier's and O/Os. Driver's used to play games to get shower credits - pump 50, hang up and repeat. Pilot and Loves instituted enhanced driver rewards making that unnecessary- provided the driver primarily uses one brand of truck stop. At the same time TA raised the minimum gallon threshold and limited it to one credit per day. For drivers who can choose where they fill up and aren't concerned with fleet discounts this makes it more likely for them to chose Pilot or Loves, even when they are just going to hit the scale and go.

They don't pay their mechanics enough, which makes turnover higher and drives down the quality of the shop, all the while charging 10% more than other local shops.

Finally, they are contracting out their Kitchens. Their restaurants failed because they were never updated. Even for the ones that have been renovated in the last decade, they look the same as they always have- a very 1980s feel. Compare that to McDonald's- every 10-15 years each store is renovated. New paint, new artwork, new furniture. The basic layout stays the same, the menu is the same (with a few minor changes/seasonal offerings), but it feels fresh and new.

The large, paved lots that were a signature attraction 20 years ago are now in desperate need of repaving and being laid out for 53 foot/102 wide trailers. Heck, a lot of them don't have space to pull in front of the pumps once your done fueling.

You're right about one thing - TA needs to reinvent itself, but if they try and "go back to how things were", they're doomed.