Bye Bye Petro

[mystictrans]

Well it is official, T/A has purchased Petro in a deal for some 700 million dollars.Now dont get me wrong I do somtimes use the T/A's When needed for feul but it seems they are among the worst truckstops
out there. Most have gone down hill for lack of maintenece.
And they are the highest frice on feul of any of the major chains, even with our FedEx discount it is still cheaper to feul almost anywhere else(like petro0 who also give us discounts or rebates!

 

[nightcreacher]

Petro will remain Petro,and TA will be TA,dont get upset,and by the way,Petro fuel cost more than TA fuel,even with our dicounts,but I do get better fuel mileage with Petro fuel

 

[LDB]

We get varying discounts at T/A so some of them are far less expensive than other brands and some are no savings compared to other brands. I can't tell any difference in mpg based on where I buy fuel. I use the T/A online pricing through our website combined with dieselboss.com and the state fuel tax chart to figure out the best place to buy fuel.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[nightcreacher]

leo my worst mpg is loves,and j they are about the same,best is petro,followed by ta,pilot is between loves and ta.

 

[Turtle]

I usually buy fuel at the J, cause they give me free showers.

Being in a cargo van I'll never buy 50+ gallons in one whack. It's more like 20 or so, 25 max (26 gallon tank). Unlike the others, at the Flying J the gallons keep on adding up, 15 here, 20 there, 20 more down the road, and every 25 gallons purchased I get half a free shower.

I don't fuel off Comdata because of the transaction fees. Only buying 20-25 gallons at a time, the few cents per gallon discount I'd get at the Petro, Loves, TA, doesn't offset the transaction fee for using the card, much less getting a few pennies saved here and there on fuel and then having to lay out nine bucks for a shower. Twenty gallons, save 5 cents per, that's just a buck. I just do a single direct deposit from my Comdata account to my bank once a week, then run off the debit card. Besides, I can fuel at the car or RV islands and not have to deal with the pricing at the truck pumps, while still using my Flying J Frequent Fueler Card. Most places, Comdata isn't accepted at the auto diesel pumps.

I get the 45% at POD, and I just leave it there on Comdata. Then the settlement goes onto the card on Friday, and that's when I usually initiate the direct deposit. The deposit happens the next day (Saturday), but my bank is retarded and won't let me have access to it until Tuesday, not until the computers have done their thing overnight on Monday night. Apparently, their computers have banker's hours, too.

Once in a while, if I'm near a branch of my bank, I'll go ahead and do a Comcheck, cash it at the bank, then before they even give me the cash I'll hand them a deposit slip and deposit the cash. If I deposit the check, it's Tuesday, of I cash it and then deposit the cash, it's immediate. I know, retarded. Reeeeeejuhns.

So, I just try to make sure that I have a minimum of $750 in the truck operating account which will cover up to 5000 miles at $3 a gallon, which is the absolute most I'll likely ever drive in a week. And even on Friday when I do the direct deposit, I'll usually leave a couple hundred on the card, just in case I need it over the weekend.

This system works well for me. One of the benefits of not buying fuel on Comdata is that I have a better record of what the trucks spends, on everything. Whether I'm paying myself or buying fuel, there's a banking transaction record of it out of the truck account, which is also tracked in Quicken. I can quickly find out how much was spent on what, and when.

 

[dhalltoyo]

Flying J for me too.

Shower is worth $6.50 to a van operator.

That translates into a 7.7 cent reduction per gallon of fuel with every 50 gallons purchased.

I have written to Loves, Pilot, TA, Hess, Petro, etc. and asked them to match the shower credit program at Flying J to help the van drivers. You would think they could see the increased sales by doing so.

I would encourage other van drivers to send them an email or letter as well. Maybe if enough voices are heard, the other fuel operators will listen.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I too have communicated with the J about the van market.
I'd like to see that half shower credit also translate into a $3.50 cash + 1/2 credit= one shower... cause the credits are only good for 10 days.
But then again they just stopped the promotion for an .89 coffee in the restaurant for showing your FF card.

 

[csands007]

If you fill up at pilot and keep the reciept and get 50 gallons with in a 5 day span and have a CDL they changed the rules
Here is a email I got

Thank you for taking time to email me with your concern. Effective July
6, 2007, our shower policy was amended to benefit drivers such as
yourself. If you have a CDL license and hold on to your receipts, when
fuel purchases total 50 or more gallons in 5 days, you can take
advantage of the free shower. I'm very happy to pass along that
information to you. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
Edna Stephens
Customer Service Supervisor


Chuck

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Could you forward a copy of that to me??? I pm'd you

 

[Turtle]

Thanks for that information, Chuck. Great news, indeed.

OVM, "I'd like to see that half shower credit also translate into a $3.50 cash + 1/2 credit= one shower"

It does. Well, actually, it's $3.25 cash + 1/2 credit= one shower. Usually I have enough credits on there at any given time for a couple of free showers, but every now and then when I haven't been near any Flying J's for a while, I'll only have half a shower credit and they'll just charge me the $3.25 difference.

Also, and it's something that I generally forget all about, with every full shower credit (a.k.a. 50 gallons purchased) comes a free cup for a fountain drink. Just ask the cashier for the cup. They cashier can also tell you how many showers and cups you still have on the card, and when they expire.

 

[LDB]

Unless something has changed, you get the 1/2 shower credit for 25 gallons at the J. I've gotten it once or twice since I started in this business. I don't know how it works for vans. It would be nearly impossible to put 25 in a Sprinter I'd think although the Detroit vans should take that pretty easily I think. If I know I'm going to have to pay for a shower, which is very rare, I'll stop at the J and for $6.50 get 2 towels instead of 1 towel for $9 at all the rest. I have a nice collection of J cups in my pantry too, from when they don't have Dr. Pepper at that location. Sometimes when I need a break I stop at one and if they have what I like I use the cup then.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[highway star]

You can get the 1/2 shower credit with 20 gallons. Also, you can check what you have available on your card at the shower terminal by touching "available coupons".

 

[arkjarhead]

they used to use coupons for buying different things like stuff in the store and showers.

 

[terryandrene]

Concur with Highwaystar. Don't know about the big truck pumps, but the auto and R/v pumps yield a 1/2 shower + a 1/2 beverage for each 20 gallons or more for each purchase of gas or diesel. If you link your co-driver's card to yours, you'll get equal credits on that card also. You also get a penny per gallon each month toward food or catalog or wi-fi credit. Old people also get a 10% discount in the restaurants.