Does anyone else despise Pilot Travelcenters?

[MSinger]

1997 Dodge Ram 3500 with 12' cube. Dock high with jackstands. 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel.



When I first started in this business in 1995 there were two places I would always look to fuel at....1) Flying J 2) Pilot. But I tell you over the last 4 to 5 years things have really changed at Pilot. I feel like they gouge us drivers at every turn. Look around. If they are not right across the street from a Flying J they are 15-20 cents higher on diesel. Even the ones that are across from Flying J are 2-3 cents higher. I pay all of my fuel and OTR expenses with my Discover card. Pilot charges me another 3 cents per gallon for that but Flying J doesn't. For instance I drove by the southside Indpls truckstops tonight at 465 exit 4. Flying J diesel was $1.91 Pilot was $1.93 but would have been $1.96 with my Discover card. It's even worse out on I-70 west at Exit 23/Brazil. There is a Pilot, a Road Ranger and an AmBest at this exit. The Pilot is always at least 7 cents higher per gallon than the other two. But it is always busy. I do not understand this unless there are a bunch of company drivers over there who don't have to pay for their own fuel and don't care how much it costs. I first noticed the down hill slide when they took over some of the Speedway/SuperAmerica truckstops. When they were Speedway's it was cash/credit same price at least for Discover, MC, Visa. Not sure about Comdata, wright express etc.
I would rather go to a TA or Petro where you know they are going to be a few cents higher than the J than I would to get gouged at Pilot.
Am I nuts or does anyone else have the same feeling about it?

 

[Broompilot]

I agree 100% and have been meaning to post regarding this see Layover Lounge have begun kinda a post about good truck stops. The posotives about pilot, coffee is almost always good, stores are well stocked but pricey, and showers I have never found one to be terrible a couple just O.K. but most are very good.

The fuel baffles me, I cannot say enough about how many times I have paid .10 more go two more exits and than say to my self 190 gallons at .10 is nineteen dollars that was two decent meals including tip. I use Pilot for fuel less and less now, and save more and more. As for the J, there Visa card program is great, and I get better mpg from there diesel than Pilot why? Cannot answer it just do, would like to know if others do also. But before I got my J card I to was being charged more for using a Visa card, maybee American X is different but this has been my expierence. I either pay cash now for my fuel as recommended by people on this site, or keep $1,500. on my J and get all of there free meal coupons once a month. Thanks Doc Rushing. Cannot put a dollar amount of the savings but would have to guess around $20.00 a week plus the coupons, plus showers. I pay cash at all other stations but Flying J and use there debit card, but only for truck fuel or supplies.

I almost always look for a J now or Wilco if I need more than 50 gallons, but will put 50 gallons in anywhere if I am need of a shower. Except NY than I will pay the $8.00. Wilco does not charge higher for Visa use debit or credit. Wilco is always priced fairly vs Pilot.

Further more Pilots restaurants are almost always fast food, I personally hate fast food. Would love to see tons of responses on this thread, agree or not.

 

[Glen Rice]

You unfortunately are one of the few individuals who do not get a break on fuel prices. Most large carriers have negotiated discount fuel prices at the big truck stop chains. Most of the chains such as Pilot give a 3 to 5 cent discount when using a comdata card. You are being surcharged for using your Discover card for sure. You may want to check with your carrier to see if they participate in any fuel discounts. The T/A's have a program called cost plus and those discounts can be huge. Good luck on your search for the best fuel prices.

 

[bigjimhp]

Basically, what Pilot is doing making the lil guy pay for big boys discount. I keep a sixty gallon reserve( burn 120), to avoid Pilot's. I will stop for coffee, always nice and hot. I think the two on I-71(Kentucky) are about the most glaring examples of gouging. The prices there will be higher than the pilot's in the buckeye!!!

 

[RichM]

FDXCC has a program with Pilot that rebates .5 cents per gallon if you buy fuel with the ComCard. Then the Pilot program gives another 1 cent per gallon reward on thier card which can be used instanly. However unless a Pilot has immeadiate competition they always charge more, so I look for an exit that has at least 2 truck stops there.
Lately some of the Flying J's are getting real bad,that one in Griffin GA is a pigsty and the original one in Gary IN is a real dump.

Out west I use Loves alot and have never had a problem with them but as BP says ,fast food gets old real quick. Rip Griffins have always been good but I understand that they have merged into the TA chain, along with the Bosselman's in Nebraska that have become Pilots.

 

[merkurfan]

They just build a new Loves on I90 right before the tollway near the WI/IL boarder. It is great, did my 10 there last night and that is saying something because I *hate* truck stops. The main reason I pulled in is there 200 dollar 2000 watt inverter. I needed one, might as well get a big one (to bad it's 275 with a 75 rebate..) The paint was still drying on the walls. Of course it was clean, and the customer service was out of sight. I just hope it stays that way. I have run in to a lot of Loves in the south as well. I have one of their rewards card. I guess the showers never expire because I still have 2 coming from fuel I bought in December.

 

[ATeam]

It seems every time I get to believing in one truck stop chain over another, something happens to change my mind. A new feature may be developed, a string of dirty bathrooms may be encountered, etc. Even visiting the same truck stop in the same city a series of times produces variable results. The fuel may be a bit higher or lower than across the street or across town. Rather than get locked into loyalty to a particular truck stop brand, we just take it a day at a time and go with the flow.

 

[Dreamer]

If anyone runs down Rte 23 from Columbus, on your way to 35, there is a Pilot in Circleville that seems to be pretty nice. I know some of the people who work there, and it seems to 'usually' be in nice condition and clean. Their 'fast food' is a Pizza Hut, made up of employees from the Circleville area. I may be a bit biased there because I was in management in Pizza Hut in that area during college. The food there is fresh and tasty, and on par with any 'regular' sit down Pizza Hut. The lot and interior are maintained by full time cleaning staff, even having a guy on a golf cart making rounds of the lot.

Dreamer

 

[pellgrn]

I am not a fan of Pilot,however my drivers like them cause they cash Comchecks for over 500$ you pay for this service of course.

 

[Big Scooter]

I drain a fuel sample from my fuel filter into a mason jar every three days to check how clean my fuel is. If there is sand, sludge or water showing, I drain a sample until it is showing clear again.(This is an old habit from flying days.)

I have found dirty fuel most often when I fuel at a Pilot or a T/A. I don't believe that they change their inline fuel system filters as often as Petro and Flying J do. I remember reading in a past post that you should never fuel while a fuel truck is delivering to any truckstop, as the contaminants are being stirred in the truckstop tanks and are being pumped into your tanks as well. I am sure that this is true.

I think that Pilot truckstops are attractive to many drivers because they give the impression of being quickstops.

Big Scooter

 

[davekc]

Basically, what Pilot is doing making the lil guy pay for big boys discount. I keep a sixty gallon reserve( burn 120), to avoid Pilot's. I will stop for coffee, always nice and hot. I think the two on I-71(Kentucky) are about the most glaring examples of gouging. The prices there will be higher than the pilot's in the buckeye!!!
listen to what they say, but watch what
they do


The above explains it all! I wouldn't and haven't given these people a dime of my money. As far as truck stop chains, they are the biggest rip-off artists to the owner operator that there is. Even with company discounts, they still are the highest out there.
Davekc
owner
20 years

 

[trhoades]

The Flying J does not take Comdata, so Pilot and TA can jack up their prices. Even if a company driver does watch the fuel prices, he is still forced into the Pilot or TA. Most large companies give their driver a comdata card and O/O with the larger companies are forced to use the Comdata for surcharge reporting. I drove for MS Carriers and then Swift when they took over MS, and that was how they handled their surcharge.

Now I have my direct deposit going to Trans Alliance Bank which is owned by Flying J. It costs me nothing to use the ATM at Flying J, and I save a penny per gallon when fueling at the J.

I boycott the Pilot as much as possible. Their prices on everything are outrageous. I understand they have a higher overhead due to truck parking and such, but so does Flying J, Loves, and Petro. I rarely use TA, also, they are bout the same as Pilot. TA has bout the worst showers, too.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I've been at Pilots where things such as fuel additives were on sale for dirt cheap, and I've been to the Flying Hook where the showers were too small to turn around in. I like the in and out of Pilot when I need a quick bite to eat, but won't fuel there. I'm leary of TA's steak since the "gray corn incident" in Connecticut.

What I'm getting at is this... every truck stop name has it's good and bad stores. Showers are not a consistant size at all TAs or Js, the breakfast buffets aren't made by good cooks at all Petros and so forth. That's why I'm making a list of the good and bad stops in my travels. It's too confusing to follow them on here, but the EO list is very helpful. Check it out.

T-hawk
"Who put the bop in the bop-shi-bop-shi-bop?"

 

[Crazynuff]

Things are getting worse . Pilot bought the two Davis Brothers truck stops on I-65 between Louisville and Bowling Green in KY. Two lower priced fuel stops just became higher priced ones . How do companies figure they are saving money getting a nickel discount at stops that charge eight or nine cents more ? I can direct deposit from ComData to my business account and use my business Visa check card at Flying J . I also buy Speedway gift cards . They discount $2 every time you recharge $50 .

 

[plumcrazy8]

My experience with pilot has been less than satisfactory over the years also. Poor mileage, long waits at the fuel desk, no restaurant, no service bays make it basically a parking lot for me. After going a lot of different ways over the years, my current approach is the Flying J PDCA Mastercard by TransAlliance Bank in combination with the ComData card. My company loads advances on my Comdata card and my pay comes on my PDCA card and I can deposit back and forth if need be. Takes a bit of getting used to but can be done, and Flying J gets most of my business now because of the PDCA card benefits such as fuel discounts, points program, business email, faxing, tel. card, showers and the very fact that it is a MasterCard. Good bye second-rate fuel stops such as Pilot! My time is too valuable.

 

[TEXAS HOKIE]

As far as truckstops go, I also do not use pilot, or for that matter, i do not use the T/A, petro, wilco or any other major truckstop, except the flying j. Here is the reason, I'm a van operator who does about 130,000 or more miles each year. Flying j is the only truckstop that gives a half credit towards a shower coupon when you buy 20 gallons or more. If my van could easly handle the minimum of 50 gallons then it might be a different story. at the end of the month, those 25 showers and 25 drinks really add up to about 200.00 a month.

As far as paying for fuel, I use a credit card that gives me a discount of 5% for any fuel purchase at any retail location. Thats 10 cents per gallon when fuel is 2.00, which is a lot better than the negotiated discounts that the major carriers have contracted for.
The down side for using a credit card is that you must pay the statement balance in order to avoid the deadly finance charge. I pay the credit card every two weeks when my funds are deposited into my Bank of America account from my comdata card.

For those using their comdata card to buy fuel, I sugest that you look at your monthly staements from comdata to see how much is being deducted from your account in transaction fees.

Just a couple of points to ponder. You still must do whats best for you.
TEXAS HOKIE

 

[RichM]

Here is an example about what I meant by competiton at exits.
Last week I was runing down I 75 to Miami.In the Ocala FL area there were 3 Pilots all selling fuel for $2.19 per gallon. About 25 miles south in Wildwood FL there was a TA,a Pilotand a Independent. Guess what the Pilot fuel was $2.14 per gallon, .05 cents less.

 

[theoldprof]

What credit card do you use for gas? :+ :+