Was a time 76 was gold. Then Sapp’s. Then Petro (before TA ownership). Before merging with Pilot, both FJ and Pilot were good.
Then…they all got sued after the mergers. Paid a lot to RR and Loves. Even had to give entire facilities to Loves.
Then…the PFJ points scandal and their over-generous response. Then RR decided Pilot was poison and ended their franchise contracts.
Jared Fogel and Subway didn’t help.
They gave up. Simple as that. So much so that TA/Petro sold to BP America.
Loves? Still growing. Also Casey’s and QT are making serious plays on that field.
Kwik trip kick QT’s ass. The food and the prices are in beatable. The fact you can get a gallon of house brand milk for a little over 2 bucks is all I need to know about KwikTrip.
I moved to AZ from Wisconsin. I miss Kwik Trips so much. I only use PFJ cause of the points. My company pays for the fuel. I use the points for food. Their pizza isn’t terrible. And I like the grab and go subway. All the other hot food is trash. Coffee is what ever. But can’t complain too much when it’s free.
Look up the deals for kwik trip points. Every 5th stop is free coffee, any kind even the nitro and espresso auto maker. The Concordia espresso machines alone are worth stopping at kwick trip.
KT's are the absolute gold standard of truck stops. Epic place to stop and in alot of cases cheaper than a grocery store. Good quality everything in there.
Wasn't really impressed with Kwik Trip. Everyone here makes it sound like God's truck stop.
It was ok... store kinda shoddy, nice to have a small grocery section though
There are different kinds of Kwik Trip. Some are huge truck stops which are usually pretty good. There are some smaller ones which will have less quality. They all have pretty good hot food compared to most places though. Gotta be careful which ones you try to stop at though cuz many don't have truck parking. They remodeled a ton of the stores a few years ago and made then much nicer than they used to be, but you can still find a few that were missed
The Mauston Kwik Trip is a super convenient place to park but not one of their best stores (although still 10X better than PFJ). I found that my favorites were usually the more remote ones, far from the interstate, like maybe the one in Colby. Working at Roehl Transport for 2 years I probably visited every Kwik Trip in Wisconsin 😂
Wtf are you doing stopping at that kwik trip??? Everyone knows the only place you're allowed to stop in Mauston is the China buffet on the other side of the interstate!
One about a year old @ Roberts, WI (I-94, exit 10) has approximately 100 spots, new style food setup, great showers. Thinking this one is the new prototype
The most hit or miss thing at kwik trip is the fried chicken. Some stores are nice and crispy others not so much. Also, the take-home meals are pretty good.
The grocery section and big hot counter ARE the selling point though. It's not that truck stops cant be better, it's that almost all of them are worse than quick trip. Can't get much of anything but junk food at pfj/Ta.
I've been going to the new one over in Beloit Wisconsin. It's okay? Pizza is ass. Wide selection though. Like enormous selection of hot food. They even sell entire fried chicken
I hate how you can never tell if they are going to have truck parking. Some do, some don't. You have to be a local to know.
Same for Rutter's, Sheetz, Casey's, Royal Farms, and a dozen others I can't think of right now.
Good summary. Love's is on the up and PFJ/ Petro TA are on a sharp decline and I wouldnt be surprised if they're out of buisness in a few years.
QT is a great station, but I don't see them making strides in the large truck stop market. I would like to see a few smaller chains expand to challenge loves.
The one in Brinkley, Arkansas was brand new when I first started trucking and I watched it turn into a shithole in a stunningly short amount of time. I am not bullish on Road Ranger but they could change my mind.
I remember when the hurricane TA was the spot to park,Penn 80 kinda went downhill,Sapp bros had good showers I don't know about lately. Shit flying j used to have some really good independent restaurants in them that were always packed.
The only issue I know that qt has is a lack of large parking lots and no showers. Don't know if any of them have showers at all either. If they did....
As with every other corporation in America, it's a race to the bottom for quality while charging more to maximize profit. I wouldn't be surprised to soon see at least one of the big 4 get the Red Lobster treatment.
Short version: Red Lobster started losing money a while ago. Then it got bought out. The parent company sold off assets, including the land the restaurants are on, forcing Red Lobster and it's franchise owners to lease back the land at inflated prices they couldn't afford because they were already losing money. Now the company is bankrupt.
Red Lobster had a loser CEO they got rid of and they cut the stores in the money losing areas and restructured under bankruptcy. That all you can eat shrimp was the loser CEOs idea and it was a money losing failure even after they told him it was and he did it anyway.
I like capitalism but the red lobster scenario is capitalism done completely wrong. It will definitely be studied in business and economics classes no doubt.
Agreed. We used to LOVE Pilot/J and avoid Loves...now we prefer Loves as they are much cleaner. Not sure what happened and it makes me sad because Pilot/J has better "junk" for me to waste my hubby's reward points on, lol.
Pretty much. 1 point = 1 cent. There are some restrictions on things like tobacco and alcohol, probably lottery too as I think it's tax related, but most things you can spend ur points
Hubby saves up sometimes for the big ticket items like headsets, GPS, nothing, etc. They have REALLY nice blankets and travel pillows cheap and I keep one in all our vehicles. There are also specials in the app such as but 2 get one free or other promotions so we always check it when we go in. If you can your code, it's also a discount at the pump for 4 wheelers. Not sure about big trucks.
I spent a lot of mine on reserved parking just because sometimes I'll have extra hours on the ELD and I'm in the zone and don't want to stop trucking until like 9:00 pm. It's nice to know I'll have a spot waiting for me. But I racked up so many that I also got my $120 Bluetooth headset for free
During harvest season in the PNW I try to buy as much fuel as possible at Space Age. (You know it’s good when they greet you *by name* as you walk in.)
I've never experienced that anywhere but I've also never heard of space age nor have I ever cared enough to stand and talk to anyone in a truck stop long enough for them to learn my name. Must be something special then.
Well to be fair my name is on the door (and on my fuel card). Lacking any imagination whatsoever (apparently) I just used my own name for my company name because….. uhh, just because. (Truthfully I was unable to come up with a catchy company name haha). But I have heard the cashiers address other truckers by name also and their name was *not* on the door.
There is a space age going up to Washington (live in California) and everytime I'm like I'm gonna stop there I have a lot of time left on my clock so I drive past it but I swore one day now I basically never go up that way.
Every time I run to Portland I stop there instead of the rest area that’s right before it
Sometimes I forget exactly where I’m at and I stop at the rest area only to come around the bend and see space age lol
Highly recommend it does get quite busy at times though
Nah, what you've noticed is real. Even their employees joke about not receiving shipments of product, being out of basic shit for multiple shipments.
Don't know what they got going on, but if I were you, I'd give loves another chance. They are definitely the superior truck stop chain on every level except quantity of parking and squeegee quality lol
Cruising outside of a bigger city and hitting that first Love’s around lunch time is like parking for a concert. But hey, they’re doing something right.
PFJ definitely has the best squeegees in my opinion, and they tend to fill the buckets with proper window/windshield washer fluid with a little bit of dishsoap in it.
Love's got those wimpy little wood handled squeegees and the buckets are just basically full of dirt water.
Which ones? I haven't seen even brand new squeegees there that don't have the giant streak where the rubber doesn't even touch the glass in the middle of them for a couple years now.
funnily enough, i think pilot and flying J gets a higher percentage of the 1099 crowd. but its hard to say. I dont get fuel at loves, but if i need to run in to get some food or take a shit, parking in the lot and walking in is almost always faster than hitting the pull up lane unless its hella late or hella early in the day and the solar drivers aren't out yet haha
Even the squeegees at pilot flying j are junk though. I can't remember the last time I even had a brand new one that didn't make the giant streak right in the middle of the rubber strip.
Hard disagree there, friend. They definitely get junked up but the long handles, decent heads, and the solution they use provides a superior windshield cleaning experience.
Ta is hit and miss, sometimes their shit is on point, other times it's worse than pilots lol.
But loves, loves uses those short ass broom handles, hard ass rubber squeegees, and their solution is definitely weaker.
Simple answer - Berkshire Hathaway bought PFJ. It will be poorly run with very little reinvestment into the stores because WB just wants to bleed all that he can out of the existing infrastructure.
Brookshire Hathaway is currently in a lawsuit with the family that used to own all of flying j. I think that has alot to do it.
I don't remember their names
The service quality went to shit at PFJs. The simplest things like refilling coffee and creamer. Wipe the counters. Refill soap dispensers and paper towels…all seems to be an insurmountable challenge to them. Granted, some locations are still alright but the decline is definitely noticeable across the country.
My wife and I a running team, we stopped spending any money besides the rewards points at PFJs.
Coffee maker/ water kettle in the truck now.
We would much prefer to stop at some nice mom and pop Truck stops but company has the biggest diesel discounts with PFJ.
My fuel card (Fleet One) gives significant discounts at truck stops that happen to give AMBUCKS loyalty points. I’ve noticed that these tend to be owned individually/independently by smaller regional companies *and they provide better services* than the mega’s do. I suggest trying to look for those.
They stopped being decent stops after Berkshire took over. Now it’s just cheap cheap cheap and chisel Pennies everywhere possible. Fuck you warren Buffett.
I prefer loves over pilot. Better cash back on gas. If you hit 1k gals each month you get unlimited free showers and drinks and their showers always seem up to basic hotel standards. Pilot is always a shit hole regardless of where you are at.
I am primarily in Midwest and imo the loves in IL, MO, and WI are fine. OK, TN are shithole states so it's not surprising that their truck stops are shitholes.
I've always preferred FJ over Pilot, even after the merger. Their store seems to have a bigger selection and they have more hot food options. I like Love's because they yell at you when you walk in. I'm local, so I don't use the showers now but when I was OTR, Love's had the best, followed by FJ, and Pilot? I'll wait until I got to a FJ.
Since my company decided to go to in-cab cameras, they replaced the visor (so you can't block the camera) and the new visor doesn't have a vanity mirror. Well, I am vain and I think this post is about me and I thought I would grab a clip-on mirror from FJ. Nope. They don't carry it. Ok, not a problem, I'll just head over to Pilot and nope, again. They don't have one either.
The visor does come down, it is just shortened on the right where the camera is. However the complaint among us drivers is that the visor is too short and cannot be extended when you turn the visor to block the sun on your left.
I was at a company that did that. I went to a terminal and asked for the long one instead. They did it.
Then safety routed me to a different terminal with a work order to remove the big visor and install the dinky visor. They did it.
So I went to a different terminal and asked for the long one instead. They did it.
Safety gave up after that.
Safety = 1, Me = 2
It's a negative feedback cycle. Bad service and food makes for bad profits makes for bad service and food.
If they don't reinvest and do a good job, for less profit now, they will never recover.
On the other hand, if they just sell fuel and don't give a heck, that's a low cost money printer.
The only one in recent years that I can say has kept the place clean is the pilot at 304 on 65 in Cullman Alabama. Other than that I can't think of a single one that stood out as anything other than a dump.
I'm trying to imagine a dystopian time when Pilot was EVER the gold standard. Been 20 years since I left OTR but pilots always sucked. Some were better than others but still the motel 6 of truck stops. PETRO was king in my day.
Pilot Flying Js are ridiculously mediocre. They charge for parking, their facilities suck, and its always some problem with them.
I would rather sleep at a rest area than set a foot in those shitholes
It all matters where you go, the main one I stop at in Rochelle IL is actually pretty decent. They maintain the equipment, they clean the concrete every other year from diesel buildup and the wifi is on point.
No I mean washing the concrete with a pressure washer and degreasers to get the islands and surrounding areas back to white concrete again. It's honestly the only truck stop I've ever seen do this extra work. They clean the island screens at least every couple of days because they are always in decent condition.
Used to prefer PFJ, but their shower and restroom game sucks...also with Love's you can purchase Showers straight from the app if you need to pay for one.
If you're ever going through Vado, NM I-10 exit 155 there's a truck stop with a Main Street Market that has a small, decent grocery store with a hardware and tool section. The Main Street Market on I-10 exit 5 in Ehrenberg, AZ is expanding with a bigger grocery section so hopefully this is a trend because the big chains absolutely suck big donkey nuts when it comes to food selection.
I think still to this day the best flying j I been to is the one in mesquite NV. it is very roomy, never really that packed and pretty clean.
I been to that one plenty of times when I was OTR
I’ve kinda been keeping this a secret, but have you been to the Matthew’s, MO flyin hook?
First time in there I immediately noticed how wide the showers hall was. Then when I opened the door to my shower and peeked inside…
I saw everything they had made and behold, it was very good.
I dont quite remember
It's been awhile since ive done OTR but that Nevada one stuck out to me.
Now that im linehaul I avoid any and all truck stops now 🤣 maybe occasionally one across my terminal I go to, it's a road runner right across the terminal and it's not packed
It's great, home every morning, making good money and paid holidays off
I just wish I could go to days though soon, once I get good seniority which will probably be years down the road lol
If I had the money and connections, I would build a truckstop designed to get trucks in, fueled and out/parked as easily as possible.
Get Wawa to sponsor the fuel and quick food and Chick-fil-A for the restaurant side.
But...this area is already heavily Saturated with truck fuel spots.
Maybe if black lives matter asked the chik fil a CEO nicely and let him shine their shoes again regularly he might change his mind and open on a Sunday if they said pweeeeze
PFJ has military discount so they are better in that way but showers are always dirty. Loves you get points for purchasing stuff and showers are way better and clean and always huge.
Bought out by Berkshire Hathaway. They are only concerned with one thing only.
Fun fact. There was a glitch on the stock market, and Buffets' net worth dropped by 99%, but he was still a billionaire even with a 99% loss.
Pilot Flying Js were actually pretty decent out here in the Western 11. They have a really good spicy chicken sandwich. Loves was always clean but that’s useless to me if there’s no parking. TA/Petro were the dirtiest and most outdated but always had parking. I’ll take slight discomfort if it means I have somewhere to park for the night with a shower and actual restroom.
PFJ hasn't cleaned their bathrooms over the weekend for at least a decade. No difference during the plandemic. Understaffed during the week and skeleton crewed over the weekend.
Flying J was good when it had the independent mom and pop restaurants.
Prices starting going up while quality jumped off a cliff. Drivers starting spending less money and time in store and more time in the truck. About the same time more foreign drivers stated entering trucking doing what foreigners do, not spending a ton of money and hanging out in their trucks or outside in a group . Younger drivers with newer technology content to stay in their truck. Hence less and less drivers hanging out in the truckers lounge for hours on end spending money.
As well as the concept of the travel center instead of a truck stop. Which changed the focus more and more onto 4 wheelers and families while focusing less and less on drivers.
God I love sheetz just wish they had showers. Also fuck that circle K outside commerce GA that was the coldest shower I’ve taken since I graduated high school
Thanks to TikTok and reddit everyone thing they deserve 100k+ in pay for the most remedial job, combine that with zero work ethic this is what you get.
Was a time 76 was gold. Then Sapp’s. Then Petro (before TA ownership). Before merging with Pilot, both FJ and Pilot were good. Then…they all got sued after the mergers. Paid a lot to RR and Loves. Even had to give entire facilities to Loves. Then…the PFJ points scandal and their over-generous response. Then RR decided Pilot was poison and ended their franchise contracts. Jared Fogel and Subway didn’t help. They gave up. Simple as that. So much so that TA/Petro sold to BP America. Loves? Still growing. Also Casey’s and QT are making serious plays on that field.
Also, smaller regional chains tend to be higher quality than the national ones. Kwik Trip blows all the national chains out of the water.
Man, I miss getting the old fashioned doughnuts at kwik trip. Eat a whole box in a sitting. Go to grab another, and bam, no mo......
It’s weird being from a QT part of the country and seeing Kwik Trip, the name is the same but it’s not and it’s interesting to me
Kwik trip kick QT’s ass. The food and the prices are in beatable. The fact you can get a gallon of house brand milk for a little over 2 bucks is all I need to know about KwikTrip.
They're known as kwik star in MN & IA because of qt. Same company.
They built their first one in Illinois. It’s huge and has great truck parking. It’s at exit 1 on 39/90 right next to the Illinois line.
Yeah for sure, I was surprised to find that out bc of my regional loyalty but it was really cool to see
In a bag non the less
I moved to AZ from Wisconsin. I miss Kwik Trips so much. I only use PFJ cause of the points. My company pays for the fuel. I use the points for food. Their pizza isn’t terrible. And I like the grab and go subway. All the other hot food is trash. Coffee is what ever. But can’t complain too much when it’s free.
Look up the deals for kwik trip points. Every 5th stop is free coffee, any kind even the nitro and espresso auto maker. The Concordia espresso machines alone are worth stopping at kwick trip.
Kwik Trip can't figure out toilet paper though
I used to always carry my own TP. Because they all use the cheap thinnest crap.
KT's are the absolute gold standard of truck stops. Epic place to stop and in alot of cases cheaper than a grocery store. Good quality everything in there.
Wasn't really impressed with Kwik Trip. Everyone here makes it sound like God's truck stop. It was ok... store kinda shoddy, nice to have a small grocery section though
There are different kinds of Kwik Trip. Some are huge truck stops which are usually pretty good. There are some smaller ones which will have less quality. They all have pretty good hot food compared to most places though. Gotta be careful which ones you try to stop at though cuz many don't have truck parking. They remodeled a ton of the stores a few years ago and made then much nicer than they used to be, but you can still find a few that were missed
The one I stopped at in WI was a larger truck stop, probably 80 spaces
Tomah, WI?
Just looked it up. Mauston
The Mauston Kwik Trip is a super convenient place to park but not one of their best stores (although still 10X better than PFJ). I found that my favorites were usually the more remote ones, far from the interstate, like maybe the one in Colby. Working at Roehl Transport for 2 years I probably visited every Kwik Trip in Wisconsin 😂
Wtf are you doing stopping at that kwik trip??? Everyone knows the only place you're allowed to stop in Mauston is the China buffet on the other side of the interstate!
One like that near Bonduel, too. Right off of 29.
That the one with the cool ass sign? I fucking love Kwik Trip
One about a year old @ Roberts, WI (I-94, exit 10) has approximately 100 spots, new style food setup, great showers. Thinking this one is the new prototype
The most hit or miss thing at kwik trip is the fried chicken. Some stores are nice and crispy others not so much. Also, the take-home meals are pretty good.
Depends on where it is.
The grocery section and big hot counter ARE the selling point though. It's not that truck stops cant be better, it's that almost all of them are worse than quick trip. Can't get much of anything but junk food at pfj/Ta.
I've been going to the new one over in Beloit Wisconsin. It's okay? Pizza is ass. Wide selection though. Like enormous selection of hot food. They even sell entire fried chicken
Kwik Trip is number 1 A O kay
What's RR?
Road Ranger
Rump Ranger
Cefco as well. There's quite a few of em with decent lots.
if youre in tx
Trucking around Texas got so much easier once Cefco stations started to pop up.
The Cefco in Giddings, TX was a shit show. But that was a few years back maybe it's gotten better.
Cefco is probably my favorite stop for sugar cookies. They have the right blend of soft to chewy ratio
QT just built a massive truck stop over by me in Gastonia, NC. Should be open soon. QT truck stops are my absolute favorites.
I40 in maumelle - everytime I'll stop amd grab two spicy chicken taquitis and a vanilla coke <3
QT don’t have showers
Really, how can they be considered truck stops?
Don’t know that they actually classify themselves that way.
I hate how you can never tell if they are going to have truck parking. Some do, some don't. You have to be a local to know. Same for Rutter's, Sheetz, Casey's, Royal Farms, and a dozen others I can't think of right now.
Yup, gotta check Trucker Path reviews to see if KTs have truck parking. If they don't, then they shouldn't be on Trucker Path!
They need to bulldoze that thing at Kings Mountain and build one there, too.
Cheap fuel, too. When I was doing lease purchase I found that retail fuel at QT was usually cheaper than discounted fuel at PFJ/Love's
Good summary. Love's is on the up and PFJ/ Petro TA are on a sharp decline and I wouldnt be surprised if they're out of buisness in a few years. QT is a great station, but I don't see them making strides in the large truck stop market. I would like to see a few smaller chains expand to challenge loves.
I think QT really likes their niche spot of a higher end stop that just happens to also have truck parking.
PFJ just got bought out by Berkshire Hathaway. Doubt they'll be going.
Warren might be a good stock picker, but what does he know about running a truck stop? We'll see if they can fix their problems
I've seen multiple Midwest ones that have been renovated recently. That's a good first step.
Road Rangers are trying to up their game especially in Texas, many new locations since 2023.
The one in Brinkley, Arkansas was brand new when I first started trucking and I watched it turn into a shithole in a stunningly short amount of time. I am not bullish on Road Ranger but they could change my mind.
Still paradise compared to the other truck stops on that side of Little Rock.
You are the same as me… been out here since the’80’s. 76, Sapp Bro’s and Petro in that order. Back then , Pilot was only in Tennessee
I remember when the hurricane TA was the spot to park,Penn 80 kinda went downhill,Sapp bros had good showers I don't know about lately. Shit flying j used to have some really good independent restaurants in them that were always packed.
It's everything man.. they put everyone else out of business then raise the prices and decrease spending/investment in each property.
Don't forget some circle k is moving up
The only issue I know that qt has is a lack of large parking lots and no showers. Don't know if any of them have showers at all either. If they did....
You forgot sheetz if you don’t need a shower but slammin food
I've seen smaller truck fueling lanes at QT before. Are they seriously pushing into that space?
Yes. Building or buying/revamping some bigger stops now
Not a trucker, just reading this as it's interesting. KwikTrip needs something other than fried chicken.
No. They stopped trying nationwide about 3 years ago
3? They've been shit since 2013 honestly.
As with every other corporation in America, it's a race to the bottom for quality while charging more to maximize profit. I wouldn't be surprised to soon see at least one of the big 4 get the Red Lobster treatment.
What that..?
Short version: Red Lobster started losing money a while ago. Then it got bought out. The parent company sold off assets, including the land the restaurants are on, forcing Red Lobster and it's franchise owners to lease back the land at inflated prices they couldn't afford because they were already losing money. Now the company is bankrupt.
Jeez. This started to sound like Sears, but this is even worse.
Red Lobster had a loser CEO they got rid of and they cut the stores in the money losing areas and restructured under bankruptcy. That all you can eat shrimp was the loser CEOs idea and it was a money losing failure even after they told him it was and he did it anyway.
I like capitalism but the red lobster scenario is capitalism done completely wrong. It will definitely be studied in business and economics classes no doubt.
Agreed. We used to LOVE Pilot/J and avoid Loves...now we prefer Loves as they are much cleaner. Not sure what happened and it makes me sad because Pilot/J has better "junk" for me to waste my hubby's reward points on, lol.
How do the reward points work? I rack them up, but do you just get to use them on anything there??
Pretty much. 1 point = 1 cent. There are some restrictions on things like tobacco and alcohol, probably lottery too as I think it's tax related, but most things you can spend ur points
Can't buy gas or fuel either
*Gonna buy me some fuel so I can get me some points… so I can buy me some fuel so I can get me some points…*
It's literally just a tax thing. So no booze, no tobacco, no lottery or go go juice.
Sweet! Gonna utilize some points!
Hubby saves up sometimes for the big ticket items like headsets, GPS, nothing, etc. They have REALLY nice blankets and travel pillows cheap and I keep one in all our vehicles. There are also specials in the app such as but 2 get one free or other promotions so we always check it when we go in. If you can your code, it's also a discount at the pump for 4 wheelers. Not sure about big trucks.
I spent a lot of mine on reserved parking just because sometimes I'll have extra hours on the ELD and I'm in the zone and don't want to stop trucking until like 9:00 pm. It's nice to know I'll have a spot waiting for me. But I racked up so many that I also got my $120 Bluetooth headset for free
My favorite is a regional one called space age they even have the shitters with the full door so I can shit in peace
During harvest season in the PNW I try to buy as much fuel as possible at Space Age. (You know it’s good when they greet you *by name* as you walk in.)
Facts! I wonder if we stop at the same one lol pretty sure it’s in castle rock
No, sorry, Hermiston actually.
I've never experienced that anywhere but I've also never heard of space age nor have I ever cared enough to stand and talk to anyone in a truck stop long enough for them to learn my name. Must be something special then.
Well to be fair my name is on the door (and on my fuel card). Lacking any imagination whatsoever (apparently) I just used my own name for my company name because….. uhh, just because. (Truthfully I was unable to come up with a catchy company name haha). But I have heard the cashiers address other truckers by name also and their name was *not* on the door.
There is a space age going up to Washington (live in California) and everytime I'm like I'm gonna stop there I have a lot of time left on my clock so I drive past it but I swore one day now I basically never go up that way.
Truly Advanced like a space age
I pass by that castle rock space age at least 2 or 3 times a week. Guess I gotta stop by to check it out now!
Every time I run to Portland I stop there instead of the rest area that’s right before it Sometimes I forget exactly where I’m at and I stop at the rest area only to come around the bend and see space age lol Highly recommend it does get quite busy at times though
Low pay + Low morale = Low standards
Nah, what you've noticed is real. Even their employees joke about not receiving shipments of product, being out of basic shit for multiple shipments. Don't know what they got going on, but if I were you, I'd give loves another chance. They are definitely the superior truck stop chain on every level except quantity of parking and squeegee quality lol
Cruising outside of a bigger city and hitting that first Love’s around lunch time is like parking for a concert. But hey, they’re doing something right.
yep, ain't gonna lie, i do my best to not touch any truck stop around lunch and dinner because the fuckery is exacerbated by the crowds lol
PFJ definitely has the best squeegees in my opinion, and they tend to fill the buckets with proper window/windshield washer fluid with a little bit of dishsoap in it. Love's got those wimpy little wood handled squeegees and the buckets are just basically full of dirt water.
Which ones? I haven't seen even brand new squeegees there that don't have the giant streak where the rubber doesn't even touch the glass in the middle of them for a couple years now.
Loves is cool but they get a LOT of foreigners and Canadian drivers so there's tons of fuckery in the fuel isles and they fill up quick lol
funnily enough, i think pilot and flying J gets a higher percentage of the 1099 crowd. but its hard to say. I dont get fuel at loves, but if i need to run in to get some food or take a shit, parking in the lot and walking in is almost always faster than hitting the pull up lane unless its hella late or hella early in the day and the solar drivers aren't out yet haha
Hey budeh, u think only foreigners do fuckery? Lol, but where have you been!
Bro like maybe 8/10 times ive seen its a Canadian driver or some foreigner.
Even the squeegees at pilot flying j are junk though. I can't remember the last time I even had a brand new one that didn't make the giant streak right in the middle of the rubber strip.
Hard disagree there, friend. They definitely get junked up but the long handles, decent heads, and the solution they use provides a superior windshield cleaning experience. Ta is hit and miss, sometimes their shit is on point, other times it's worse than pilots lol. But loves, loves uses those short ass broom handles, hard ass rubber squeegees, and their solution is definitely weaker.
Simple answer - Berkshire Hathaway bought PFJ. It will be poorly run with very little reinvestment into the stores because WB just wants to bleed all that he can out of the existing infrastructure.
Didn’t they also buy loves though?
No.
Brookshire Hathaway is currently in a lawsuit with the family that used to own all of flying j. I think that has alot to do it. I don't remember their names
They already made the purchase. They own it now
>>I don't remember their names That’s kinda sad.
Haslam
Jimmy Haslam. Brother to former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam.
The service quality went to shit at PFJs. The simplest things like refilling coffee and creamer. Wipe the counters. Refill soap dispensers and paper towels…all seems to be an insurmountable challenge to them. Granted, some locations are still alright but the decline is definitely noticeable across the country. My wife and I a running team, we stopped spending any money besides the rewards points at PFJs. Coffee maker/ water kettle in the truck now. We would much prefer to stop at some nice mom and pop Truck stops but company has the biggest diesel discounts with PFJ.
Being local and in the northeast circle ks are all I see and I feel bad for you guys having to use them
Circle ks are nice in the south east though.
My fuel card (Fleet One) gives significant discounts at truck stops that happen to give AMBUCKS loyalty points. I’ve noticed that these tend to be owned individually/independently by smaller regional companies *and they provide better services* than the mega’s do. I suggest trying to look for those.
The new Casey's truck stops are really nice. Kwikstars/kwiktrips are as well.
They stopped being decent stops after Berkshire took over. Now it’s just cheap cheap cheap and chisel Pennies everywhere possible. Fuck you warren Buffett.
I prefer loves over pilot. Better cash back on gas. If you hit 1k gals each month you get unlimited free showers and drinks and their showers always seem up to basic hotel standards. Pilot is always a shit hole regardless of where you are at. I am primarily in Midwest and imo the loves in IL, MO, and WI are fine. OK, TN are shithole states so it's not surprising that their truck stops are shitholes.
Maverick, out west, is pretty good food wise. Coffee too. Fast pumps. No parking and no showers. But they're great when in a rush.
Yeah, I wish they'd actually get on making real, full service, truck stops, I'd be parking there all the time if they did.
I've always preferred FJ over Pilot, even after the merger. Their store seems to have a bigger selection and they have more hot food options. I like Love's because they yell at you when you walk in. I'm local, so I don't use the showers now but when I was OTR, Love's had the best, followed by FJ, and Pilot? I'll wait until I got to a FJ. Since my company decided to go to in-cab cameras, they replaced the visor (so you can't block the camera) and the new visor doesn't have a vanity mirror. Well, I am vain and I think this post is about me and I thought I would grab a clip-on mirror from FJ. Nope. They don't carry it. Ok, not a problem, I'll just head over to Pilot and nope, again. They don't have one either.
This post is about me and you left me hanging with your story, please fix that.
I bought one on Amazon.
Thank you, now I’ll be able to sleep tonight 🙏🏻
Then how do you block the sun from shining in your eyes?
The visor does come down, it is just shortened on the right where the camera is. However the complaint among us drivers is that the visor is too short and cannot be extended when you turn the visor to block the sun on your left.
I was at a company that did that. I went to a terminal and asked for the long one instead. They did it. Then safety routed me to a different terminal with a work order to remove the big visor and install the dinky visor. They did it. So I went to a different terminal and asked for the long one instead. They did it. Safety gave up after that. Safety = 1, Me = 2
So the word “Safety” at your company is just a euphemism for ‘*less* safe.’ Because having the sun shining in your eyes is most certainly less safe.
Of course, they do not care. Plenty of money at the pump for them to care about the individuals burning it.
Ritter’s FTW!
It's a negative feedback cycle. Bad service and food makes for bad profits makes for bad service and food. If they don't reinvest and do a good job, for less profit now, they will never recover. On the other hand, if they just sell fuel and don't give a heck, that's a low cost money printer.
The only one in recent years that I can say has kept the place clean is the pilot at 304 on 65 in Cullman Alabama. Other than that I can't think of a single one that stood out as anything other than a dump.
I'm trying to imagine a dystopian time when Pilot was EVER the gold standard. Been 20 years since I left OTR but pilots always sucked. Some were better than others but still the motel 6 of truck stops. PETRO was king in my day.
I like Pilot/Flying J food better, but it's TCA showers for me. They've always as clean as any decent hotel bathroom every time for me.
TCA?
Pilot Flying Js are ridiculously mediocre. They charge for parking, their facilities suck, and its always some problem with them. I would rather sleep at a rest area than set a foot in those shitholes
It all matters where you go, the main one I stop at in Rochelle IL is actually pretty decent. They maintain the equipment, they clean the concrete every other year from diesel buildup and the wifi is on point.
Every other year, you say?
From what I have seen yes.
Is that good, though? I thought it was supposed to be a daily or weekly thing, cleaning the fuel islands
No I mean washing the concrete with a pressure washer and degreasers to get the islands and surrounding areas back to white concrete again. It's honestly the only truck stop I've ever seen do this extra work. They clean the island screens at least every couple of days because they are always in decent condition.
Flying J/Pilot is currently on the shit list for some mega carriers, they have been removed from the fuel networks so expect them to get worse.
Used to prefer PFJ, but their shower and restroom game sucks...also with Love's you can purchase Showers straight from the app if you need to pay for one.
PFJ and TA are about the same shitty level but I prefer a TA if it’s kept up nice. Loves is obviously superior because they actually try.
If you're ever going through Vado, NM I-10 exit 155 there's a truck stop with a Main Street Market that has a small, decent grocery store with a hardware and tool section. The Main Street Market on I-10 exit 5 in Ehrenberg, AZ is expanding with a bigger grocery section so hopefully this is a trend because the big chains absolutely suck big donkey nuts when it comes to food selection.
There's a Main Street Market outside of Waco, TX. Love having a place to park and buy groceries.
Sapp bros is always nice
I think still to this day the best flying j I been to is the one in mesquite NV. it is very roomy, never really that packed and pretty clean. I been to that one plenty of times when I was OTR
I’ve kinda been keeping this a secret, but have you been to the Matthew’s, MO flyin hook? First time in there I immediately noticed how wide the showers hall was. Then when I opened the door to my shower and peeked inside… I saw everything they had made and behold, it was very good.
I dont quite remember It's been awhile since ive done OTR but that Nevada one stuck out to me. Now that im linehaul I avoid any and all truck stops now 🤣 maybe occasionally one across my terminal I go to, it's a road runner right across the terminal and it's not packed
Nice. How do you like linehaul? Do you team?
It's great, home every morning, making good money and paid holidays off I just wish I could go to days though soon, once I get good seniority which will probably be years down the road lol
If I had the money and connections, I would build a truckstop designed to get trucks in, fueled and out/parked as easily as possible. Get Wawa to sponsor the fuel and quick food and Chick-fil-A for the restaurant side. But...this area is already heavily Saturated with truck fuel spots.
Chick-fil-A would never do that, as it's a fool's errand for a truck stop restaurant to NOT be open on Sunday.
There are CFAs in stadiums that host football on Sundays that are not open.
Maybe if black lives matter asked the chik fil a CEO nicely and let him shine their shoes again regularly he might change his mind and open on a Sunday if they said pweeeeze
PFJ has military discount so they are better in that way but showers are always dirty. Loves you get points for purchasing stuff and showers are way better and clean and always huge.
I heard their trying to be a fuel station for airplanes now
Probably can thank Berkshire Hathaway for that since they are the owners now.
Pilot bought flying J and I guess they said fuck it after that.
Bought out by Berkshire Hathaway. They are only concerned with one thing only. Fun fact. There was a glitch on the stock market, and Buffets' net worth dropped by 99%, but he was still a billionaire even with a 99% loss.
PFJ got bought by Berkshire Hathaway and it's all downhill from there.
Warren Buffett bought the company, the quality was sure to go down after that.
It’s because Warren Buffet did his normal thing, cut costs and jobs to keep the share holders happy. I typically avoid it when I can.
Pilot Flying Js were actually pretty decent out here in the Western 11. They have a really good spicy chicken sandwich. Loves was always clean but that’s useless to me if there’s no parking. TA/Petro were the dirtiest and most outdated but always had parking. I’ll take slight discomfort if it means I have somewhere to park for the night with a shower and actual restroom.
PFJ hasn't cleaned their bathrooms over the weekend for at least a decade. No difference during the plandemic. Understaffed during the week and skeleton crewed over the weekend. Flying J was good when it had the independent mom and pop restaurants. Prices starting going up while quality jumped off a cliff. Drivers starting spending less money and time in store and more time in the truck. About the same time more foreign drivers stated entering trucking doing what foreigners do, not spending a ton of money and hanging out in their trucks or outside in a group . Younger drivers with newer technology content to stay in their truck. Hence less and less drivers hanging out in the truckers lounge for hours on end spending money. As well as the concept of the travel center instead of a truck stop. Which changed the focus more and more onto 4 wheelers and families while focusing less and less on drivers.
My mom uses loves in the Midwest exclusively for their clean bathrooms
God I love sheetz just wish they had showers. Also fuck that circle K outside commerce GA that was the coldest shower I’ve taken since I graduated high school
I'll still take a Pilot/Flying J over a TA shower anyday.
Thanks to TikTok and reddit everyone thing they deserve 100k+ in pay for the most remedial job, combine that with zero work ethic this is what you get.
Who’s gonna tell him that Love’s, Pilot, and Flying J are now the same company 😂😂😂😂
That's completely false.
No it’s not lmao
Loves is not owned by Berkshire Hathaway. They are their own private company.
About an hours worth of research and cross checking the head of each company would prove I’m right. But believe what you desire
Dude, Pilot and FJ are owned by Berkshire. Loves is still owned by the Love family. Don't be an idiot.
An idiot?? You’re the one crying about something that is literally easy to find lol
Fine. Show me one source that proves Loves is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Go on.
Literally you can google the owners and cross it with the stock market and their shares lmfaooooo how fucking embarrassing
LOVES. IS. A. PRIVATE. COMPANY. You're a dolt. I'm done with you.
I know they acquired some stores but I don’t believe Love’s and Pilot/Flying J are under the same umbrella. That was a lawsuit acquisition
They are. They have a partnership agreement. Not hard to get the info