Forum Discussion
mdamerell
Apr 10, 2015Explorer
When I started driving back in 1995 there were more truck stop brands. Union 76 had some that were pretty nice and then you had Burns Brothers (both bought by T/A). Barstow BB was a 50's diner with a soda jerk and all. T/A mucked it up. Bossleman in ND use to be good. Later Pilot would buy out Flying J. The old Flying J's were known to clean and had a decent salad bar now many are Denny's or Huddle House. Then T/A went from Truck Stops of America to Travel Centers of America and fast food took over. Trying to catch business from the general public, the restaurants started switching to be recognizable brands. With the consolidation, the menus have pretty much become the same thing across the country and the local flavor is lost. Flying J made an effort to provide some RV parking and T/A followed suit to a lesser extent. Pilot likes their corporate fuel accounts and so they court the major carriers with a cost plus "dispensing fee" type account. Companies like Schneider National who burn a million gallons a day are drawn to the deal Pilot offers them. Pilot makes similar discount deals with Good Sam for their RV fuel card. The truck stops don't cater to the OTR driver like they use too. There are truck stops and fuel stops. Pilot was a fuel stop, small lots, get your fuel, grab a bag of burgers and move on. Flying J T/A and Petro were trucks stops with a nice "trucker country" but with the overhead they've all gone down hill.
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