The reason Flying J doesn't take Comdata is a result of a long history of legal disputes between the two parties. Basically, Comdata doesn't want to process the Flying J Fleet cards as fleet cards in the same manner that they process their own cards (and others) at non-Flying J locations. And, Flying J wants to charge Comdata more than Comdata wants to pay for installing Comdata networks at Flying J locations. This has been going on in the courts since 1996. The judge keeps ruling, generally, in Flying J's favor, but Comdata keeps interpreting the rulings on how to implement the changes in such a manner that the judge did not intend, so back to court it goes. It's very complicated and has to deal with how transactions are electronically processed on two fronts, the point-of-sale and the fleet card processing.
In 2001 Flying J was awarded $49 million in damages to be paid by Comdata in the antitrust suit. Comdata announced they would comply
(Comdata Settles Litigation with Flying J 2001), and then promptly refused to comply.
In 2005 they judge re-awarded Flying J the settlement, and clarified how Comdata was to proceed. Comdata has yet to comply.
Basic explanation can be found in the last paragraph here:
Flying J Inc. -- Company History
Full details of the decision (of which the basics are in the first paragraph) here:
Comdata Settles Litigation with Flying J 2005
If you read the entire decision, your head will just explode.
As for Flying J selling their core cashflow cash cow business, that of the truck stops, in favor of the far more risky business of oil and gas exploration and refining, it could happen, but it's unlikely, especially since the purchase of a couple of pipelines and the Bakersfield refinery that coincided with the spike in crude oil prices is what put them unto Chapter 11 in the first place.
More likely is that they put the Bakersfield refinery, along with the Big West Oil LLC subsidiary that runs it, on the market. Big West as retained Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. as their financial advisor in the sale process.
The first week of May Flying J issued a restructuring update that said, in part:
"Overall, our restructuring efforts are progressing well. The process is slow and is certainly challenging all of us to remain patient. A major accomplishment has been the completion of our business plan for the next five years. The business plan is helping our creditors better understand our business and is an essential tool for formulating strategies to emerge from bankruptcy."
It added,
"We are continuing separate processes to sell both the Longhorn Pipeline and the Bakersfield Refinery. We have contracted with investment bankers to assist in those processes. Interest in both assets has been good, but there is still much work to do. We are following the established procedures for selling assets during a bankruptcy case which takes some additional time. Nevertheless, we hope to have both of these sales finalized during the summer. We also have several parcels of excess land near some of our operating travel plazas that are for sale.... Contrary to rumors you may have heard no sales of other core assets are in the process at this time."
The update concluded with a request that employees
"be mindful of the company resources. If you see a way to be more efficient, bring it to the attention of a manager or supervisor. If 14,000 employees all help save $5 per day, it will add up to a large sum."
They are also trimming hours on foodservice in their stores, some of them, anyway. The Flying J Travel Plaza, in Emporia, Kansas, has shortened its foodservice hours because of the economy, reported by the
The Emporia Gazette. Foodservice hours at the plaza previously ran 24 hours a day. Now the restaurant will close from midnight to 5:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. The restaurant will stay open all night on Fridays and Saturdays.
The TA in Madison did the same thing, I noticed.
CVC Capital Partners acquired a 47.5% stake in Pilot Travel Centers, which enabled the sale of Marathon Petroleum's interests in Pilot Travel Centers, which owned a significant percentage of Pilot ever since Pilot Corporation merged with Marathon to form the new Pilot Travel Centers in 2001. In 2003 Pilot acquired the Williams Travel Centers. Pilot also has partnered up with the 23 travel center locations of Road Ranger, effectively turning all the Road Rangers into Pilots. The Road Ranger convenient stores are still owned by Road Ranger, but everything else is Pilot.
At all the new Pilot locations, and the ones they are upgrading, you will find Denny's restaurants.
