| Type | Privately held limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | truck stop, convenience store, petroleum, restaurant |
| Founded | September 1, 2001 as Pilot Travel Centers, LLC July 1, 2010 as Pilot Flying J |
| Headquarters | Knoxville, Tennessee, USA |
| Number of locations | 550+ |
| Parent | Pilot Corporation, FJ Management Inc., CVC Capital Partners |
| Website | PilotFlyingJ.com |
Pilot Flying J is a chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee where Pilot Corporation, the majority owner, is based. The company is owned by Pilot, FJ Management Inc., and CVC Capital Partners. The company operates truck stops under the Pilot Travel Centers and Flying J brands.
Contents |
Pilot Flying J was founded as Pilot Travel Centers on September 1, 2001 in a joint venture between Pilot Corporation and Marathon Petroleum Company. Immediately all Pilot Truck Stops were converted into Pilot Travel Centers. At its inception, the number of stops was around 60; however, that was to be short-lived.
In the next few years, Pilot Travel Centers experienced significant growth. Marathon converted many Speedway truck stops, wholly owned by Marathon, over to the Pilot Travel Center moniker starting in mid-2002. Midway through 2003, another major expansion occurred with the purchase of the Williams Truck Stop chain. The Marathon-Pilot joint venture successfully increased the Pilot Travel Center name recognition throughout the United States, as the number of stops more than quadrupled.
In 2008, Pilot bought out Marathon's interest in the business and entered into a new partnership arrangement with CVC Capital Partners, an international private equity firm.[1] Pilot also has partnerships with Road Ranger and Town Pump.
In July 2009, Pilot agreed to purchase Flying J's travel centers, as a part of Flying J's efforts to remove itself from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[2] The deal was finalized July 1, 2010, and the combined company took the name Pilot Flying J.[3]
As part of the deal, both the Pilot and Flying J chains will keep their identities intact, while both chains started accepting the COMDATA and Flying J's in-house TCH fuel cards. In addition, Flying J received cash and equity in the new combined chain. Flying J's oil & refining operations as well as its banking & insurance division will remain separate from the new company,[4] and was subsequently renamed FJ Management Inc.[5]
To settle antitrust concerns with the Federal Trade Commission, Pilot sold 20 Pilot Travel Centers locations and six Flying J locations to Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores on June 30, 2010.[6] The merger left the combined company with over 550 locations in 43 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces.
Currently, Pilot Flying J is the largest purveyor of over-the-road diesel fuel in the United States. Pilot Flying J also is known as the largest Travel Center chain in the country with over 550 locations under the Pilot and Flying J brands. Pilot Flying J is also the third largest franchisor of quick service restaurants in the nation, offering one to three different concepts at each location, and is also the largest franchisee of Subway in the world with over 200 locations. Unlike many travel centers and truck stops, the majority of locations with the Pilot Travel Centers brand do not utilize full-service dining. However, the Flying J brand does utilize full-service dining with Denny's, as do a small handful of Pilot-branded locations.
Pilot Flying J's main restaurants include Arby's, Chester's Chicken, Dairy Queen, Denny's, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, T.J. Cinnamons, and Wendy's, with one location deals with several other restaurants.
Pilot Flying J's main competitors include TravelCenters of America, Love's Travel Stops, Stuckey's, Roady's Truck Stops, and T/A-owned Petro Stopping Centers.
Amenities featured at most Pilot Flying J locations include:[7]
Wingfoot Truck Care Centers are operated by Wingfoot Commercial Tire Systems (a subsidiary of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company), claim "our garages are the best in the industry and our service is fast, friendly, and clean." Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Truck Care Centers offer:[8]
The Pilot Flying J company, in a joint venture with Victory 500 marketing, publishes Challenge magazine, a magazine aimed at professional truckers and sold exclusively at Pilot Flying J travel centers and by subscription.[9]