travel plazas

8 questions on truck stop issues with NATSO CEO Lisa Mullings

NATSO's Lisa Mullings and family

Lisa Mullings uniquely understands truckstop and travel plaza owners. After selling the family home in 2014, Mullings and her family traveled 40,000 miles in a 30-foot Airstream trailer, meeting hundreds of NATSO members along the way.

“In addition to talking to our members, we got to talk to a lot of professional drivers as well,” Mullings told FreightWaves in an interview. “We have a much bigger appreciation for how hard it is for drivers on the highway. Car drivers don’t realize how difficult...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/8-questions-on-truck-stop-issues-with-natso-ceo-lisa-mullings

TravelCenters of America closing restaurants on COVID uptick; Q2 misses expectations

Truck moving through TA travel center parking lot

After reopening some of its restaurants in May, TravelCenters of America (TA) (NASDAQ: TA) is in the process of closing restaurants again due to the “recent increase in COVID-19 infections in several states,” it reported in its second-quarter 2020 earnings press release.

On Wednesday, the operator of more than 260 travel plazas and truck stops in the U.S. and Canada reported adjusted earnings per share of 59 cents, almost four times the year-ago result. However, the company came in light of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/travelcenters-of-america-closing-restaurants-on-covid-uptick-q2-misses-expectations

Pilot names new CEO to succeed Haslam

CEO succession at Pilot Co.

The family-owned Pilot Co. gets its first outside CEO in January when Shameek Konar succeeds Jimmy Haslam in operating the nation’s largest network of travel plazas and truck stops.

Konar joined Pilot in 2017 to grow its energy business. He is currently chief strategy officer. Konar will ease into the new role over the next six months. Jimmy Haslam will become chairman of the board, which he joined at age 20 in 1975 when annual sales were around $50 million. 

Pilot today is ranked No.10 on...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/pilot-names-new-ceo-to-succeed-haslam

TravelCenters of America reprices shares lower, but stock falls again

TravelCenters of America at night

TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ: TA) cut the price of its public offering of new shares by more than a third to $14, but its stock price fell again Wednesday, closing below the new asking price.

TA shares closed Wednesday at $13.59, down $1.81 or 11.75% on the NASDAQ.

Westlake, Ohio-based TA planned to sell $75 million worth of shares of new stock at $21.88, the closing price last Friday. But shares cratered on Monday, falling nearly 22%.  

The operator of 263 travel plazas and truck stops in 44...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/travelcenters-of-america-reprices-shares-lower-but-stock-falls-again

As truck stop restaurants reopen, will drivers pull up a seat?

TravelCentes of America Dining Room

As the human and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic mounts, America is adapting to   changes at dine-in restaurants, including travel plazas dotting the nation’s highways.

“You’d never in the regular course of business, without something like COVID, shut down your restaurants and then try to reopen them in a different way,” said Jon Pertchik, CEO of TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ: TA). “It’s given us an opportunity, if you want to look for a silver lining, to really test ourselves.”

With...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/as-truck-stop-restaurants-reopen-will-drivers-pull-up-a-seat