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Pilot, Flying J wrap up merger
June 30, 2010
| by: Truckers News Staff
Pilot Travel Centers LLC and Flying J Inc. announced June 30 the completion of the merger of the two companies, creating a network of more than 550 interstate travel centers and travel plazas. The combination becomes effective July 1.
The new company, to be called Pilot Flying J, operates in 43 states and six Canadian provinces and employs more than 20,000 people. It is one of the top 10 privately held companies in the United States.
“We are now one great company, two great brands,” said Pilot Flying J President and CEO Jimmy Haslam. “Our new organization is a combination of two of the best-known brands in the travel center industry, both with strong family histories and shared values.
In July 2009, Pilot and Flying J announced a preliminary agreement to merge their travel center operations.
Customers will see the Pilot and Flying J brands on signage at the interstate facilities. Pilot has begun to accept the TCH card, and Flying J has begun to accept Comdata cards. This change gives the trucking community many more options of where to fuel that are not dependent on the card they carry.
Other plans call for enhanced restaurant offerings with national brands in all locations. Brand additions to Flying J locations in the new network include Denny’s, Subway and Pizza Hut. In addition, there will be upgrades to drivers’ lounges, new gasoline and diesel pumps, enhanced showers and remodeled restrooms at many locations.
Pilot Flying J is selling 26 locations to Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores as required by the Federal Trade Commission as a condition for the merger. For a list of the affected locations and additional information about the merger, visit www.pilotflyingj.com.
Also, ConocoPhillips completed selling its 50 percent partnership interest in the CFJ Properties-Flying J truck stops to Pilot for $626 million.
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- Randall-Reilly™
- ©2010 Truckers News Magazine | Trucking News
This is one of the sadest thing that could have happened to a truckstop!!! I bought 99% of my fuel at Flying J and enjoyed the people that worked there. It is too bad that pilot had to RUIN another great truckstop!!! None of my trucks will be allowed at a low class pilot. I will go back to the small truckstops that appreciate my business.
The absolute worst thing Pilot could do now is to replace Flying J Wi-Fi with Pilot brand Wi-Fi. The best thing they could do is destroy all Pilot Wi-Fi sites and replace them with Flying J wifi infrastructure.
At least with FJ you can always depend on great service. With Pilot? Slow, complicated hookup if you can get it to connect at all.
Overall I expect the entire Pilot Travel Center network to fail. They’ve expanded and assumed too much debt in the last few years to survive and thrive. This is what befell Flying J as well, their massive expansion to a full nationwide network of truck stops.
I hope that Flying J will improve the number of ppl at the fuel desk now that they have merged and maybe the pilot ppl will get the showers clean!!
Sorry about the unliked merger of the two companies…I’m new at working with the Trucking Industry..My Brother-In-Law has been driving for 20 years and tells us all the time “If you’ve got it, a truck brought it.” And he’s right..I just started working with a company called KleenOil and they have some fine additives and filtration systems. Bro-In-Law is getting set up on one of our Filtration systems, that just about eliminates oil changing…I understand that’s about $300 a shot….If anybody is interested in talking about one call me at 770-214-0018 or Email me..Tks, Tom
Get the fuel cards straightened out.As it is right now,most flying j cards are no good now.The new cards should have been issued to the drivers before the old cards were cut off. You left alot of drivers just hanging.And when you call to inquire about a new card,not one person knows what is going on.That’s a heck of a way to run a company.
I used to buy almost all of my fuel from Flying J and have one of their Tabbank Mastercards. I am an independent owner operator and I deliver the truck that you drive. I bought $45,000 of fuel from Flying J last year. This year I have switched to Loves. They now take my mastercard and give me the cash price. Saves me about 2 cents over PilotFlyingJ. I will not buy fuel from Pilot. They treat me like I am a 5th class citizen. They don’t need my business. By buying Flying J Pilot certainly screwed up a fair to good truck stop. The same thing they did to the Williams Truck stops.