Truck Stops
Posted on Jan 25, 2009 - 5:44pm by Everitt Mickey in Trucking
Some time back Flying J petitioned for bankruptcy protection.
Some time back I saw a closed down Truck Stop. Quite a few times actually.
Truck Stops going out of business.
Imagine that.
I would have thought owning a TruckStop was the same as having a license to print money. Consider it. Their clientèle are Big Trucks. Big Trucks, being big, can’t go just anywhere. They’re kinda forced to go to either shippers, customers, or TruckStops. No where else, much, is big enough to hold them. It’s worse the bigger the trucks get. That being the case then TruckStops have a captive audience. TruckStops can charge outrageous prices for shoddy merchandise and lousy food and pitiful accommodations and get away with it. . Some big names in the business have gotten rich on the concept.
They’ve been doing it for years and making money hand over fist. How then are they now loosing money?
Perhaps it’s worth noting that the original owners have been bought out? Perhaps its worth noting that today’s travel plaza’s are managed by over-educated college kids and owned by holding companies from foreign countries? Some of them.
Some time back I was talking to the manager of a Flying J. He said that they were NOT truck stops. He said they were Travel Plaza’s.
Too good to be just a truck stop. My impression was that he thought truckstops would be better if he didn’t have to deal with trucks.
At several many “truckstops” that I’ve been to there have been modifications to the traffic patterns. No longer do the trucks do what is “natural” for trucks…..no…..NOW we have to swing wider….swing sharper….or swing tighter. Just because the “truckstop” decided to put in a drive thru burger lane, or something else equally silly. Naturally that takes up space….naturally the space comes from what used to be used by trucks.
Just today I was in a truckstop….er….Travel Plaza and there was ONE cashier handling everything. Fuel, showers, travel store sales….one cashier. Naturally there was a line. A long line.
At that very same Travel Plaza there wasn’t room enough on the counter to set a six-pack of…..soda. It was all covered up with “impulse buy” items.
I’m an over the road truck driver. I’ve been doing this longer than some of the truck stop managers have been dressing themselves without help from mommy. I’ve been to a more than few truckstops. I’ve seen the truckstop “industry” change….for the worse.
Back when I started when I pulled up to the fuel island I was met by a minimum of one attendant and usually several. One guy got my truck info while the others did everything else. They fueled the truck, washed the windows, checked the air in the tires, checked the oil and wiped the dirt off the headlights.
Normally it was “in and out” in twenty or thirty minutes.
Today’s automation makes it take longer. Usually MUCH longer. I’ve got so I no longer stop at a truck stop during the day….it takes so long. It’s one stop at night and that’s it.
By putting in a burger lane drive thru, and gas pumps for cars are they making enough money to offset the money I WON”T be spending because it’s got to be too much of a hassle to stop?
By hiring minimum wage fuel desk help…and not enough of them….are they saving enough money to compensate for what I DON”T spend cause it’s too much of a hassel to stop?
By taking out the full service restaurants, by eliminating the full service shops and by limiting their hours of service……..
You get the idea?
Why else are so many truckstops going out of business?
What business ARE they in?
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Everitt – glad to see you posting! And right on with this article!! They don’t stop to think about the drivers going into their *travel plazas* to eat, buy groceries, necessities, shop, etc. either. Do they really thing a family of say four will stop and shop for laundry detergent and fabric softner in their *plaza* not to mention actually use their laundry facilities?
People need to learn not to bite the hand that feeds them because sooner or later they will starve!
I think if Wal-mart would put in showers then all of these chain travel centers could just go away and quit ripping us off. For them to be whining about not making money, maybe they should take a look at themselves and apply a little common sense to their operations. Truckers are their bread and butter, if they cared about us, we would take care of them. But, when they rip us off, I for one do not return. I would rather give my money to wal-mart. At least I can get a good deal on the stuff I buy there. These travel-centers are only in the business of ripping us off. Lets stop giving them our money and see what happens.
you have to consider the source of trucker business when you evaluate the entire system.. yes we did see a big change for the worse in the industry and yes the economy is stumbling,but if truck stops don`t control their operating costs,more and more of them will be underwater very soon..