I have no use for truck stops other then fuel,,flat tires,,showers.
I told her can I have more chicken than that? She looked at me puzzled and confused. I told her I only see 4 pieces of chicken in there. If thats all I'm getting, I don't want it. She puts 2 more pieces in and looked at me like I was trying to rob them or something. Then I after that, she asked if I wanted a drink with that. Then I was confused. I said, does the drink not come with the price of $6.99? All the other Magic Dragons I've been to always gave me the drink for that price.
... every 10 minutes they were on the innercom pushing the mega millions. Something about how for only $1 you could be the next millionaire.
.... after having purchased 60 gallons of fuel, got my free night's stay here at the hotel TA....
If you don't buy fuel, you're paying $13/night to stay in the lot. Staying at the J on the other side of the highway is out of the question, as it's full....because it's free.
When getting out to fuel, a guy asks if I want my truck washed (he's holding one of the TA's windshield suqeegees in his hand).
After reading a few of the posters here, wife and I just agreed to avoid truckstops like the plague. They are for fuel, showers, and the occasional restroom....
I use the J for fuel and showers, no food. I only see one difference now compared to before bankrupcy. The lines at the registers seem to be longer.....
After reading all of these, I can't help thinking of the owner's perspective.
After searching I was unable to find the percentage of profit at the retailer's level, on a gallon of diesel, other than it is 'whisker thin'. I found an example which stated the retailer's 'profit' on a $4 gallon of gasoline is $0.02 (that's 2 cents). The retailer's profit is at the bottom of the chain, with the wholesale cost, and taxes taking up almost all of the price. Out of that 'profit' the retailer could then deduct his operating expenses such as rent, payroll, foodcost, maintenance, etc. Add to that, whatever price the retailer buys the fuel at, and even tho his profit margin is already slim, if prices fluctuate downward, it comes directly from his 'profit'. The wholesalers and government get paid no matter what.
The retailers have these offerings.. overnight parking, all-you-can-eat buffets and restaurants, retail goods, showers, laundry, office & internet services, etc. I've got to tell you, from a Canadian perspective, we were actually in awe of all the services these places provide for you guys. Great way to try to get the truckers to stay awhile and spend money while they're waiting, on the things which may have a more impressive profit margin. Most of us are in business to be profitable, correct?
But the truckers are suffering, there are less of them to begin with, they're conserving their fuel like never before, they're packing their fridges with food from Walmart, they're buying enough fuel to take advantage of free showers, they're shopping around for the cheapest places to fuel, some might gorge themselves at the all-you-can-eat buffets, maybe even pocket some for the road (joking ok?). Typically, all-you-can-eat places make up the difference of what they lose on the big eaters, by also serving elderly, kids and women. Probably not so much with the truckstops.
The retailers are also making less money. They have to make changes to get their businesses back into profitability in order to keep their doors open. So they cut back staff, a huge expenditure, the remaining staff are trained to be more careful with food costs, and to promote sales of other goods. They have to start enforcing their right to only provide the free part of their services to their customers.
And then we complain.. service is slower.. we get smaller portions.. not as much is included as before even tho it's the same price.. the place is dirtier than usual because staffing is reduced.. the parking lot has pot holes.. staff is crabby.. we're being harrassed by the unmonitored homeless begging for cash.. we're being harrassed by the retailer aggressively trying to sell additional services..
The big rig truckers who may be buying lots of fuel are finding the parking spaces taken, maybe by some who have not even purchased fuel, nor spent any money in their establishment. And so they start to question why they are spending their fuel money there.
I don't believe the intent for these owners of truckstops was simply to provide for truckers a place to sleep, a place to prepare their already-purchased groceries, free bathrooms and waste stations. The intent was to provide additional services
to their customers, with the goal of hopefully earning more revenues, and making it a win-win situation for everyone.
Now.. don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing anyone here, I'm just trying to open your eyes to the other side of the story. They're struggling as much as we are. We need to pay for their services, just as we expect to get paid for ours.
