Mindy Long is a journalist and editor specializing in the logistics, transportation and fueling industries. She has been writing professionally for more than 25 years and launched her freelance business in 2008. Prior to going freelance, she served as editor of Stop Watch, a staff reporter at Transport Topics, and a Washington correspondent for WCAX-TV in Burlington, Vermont. Her work appears in a variety of media outlets.
Alltown Fresh, a Global Partners brand, offers a revolutionary convenience marketplace and throughout the northeast, with 16 locations throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York. Foodservice is a top priority, and locations offer a full-service kitchen, self-serve coffee station and local marketplace.
The NATSO Foundation sat down with Mark Cosenza, senior vice president of Global Partners, to learn more about the brand’s offerings.
Tiger Truck Stop–the last stop on I-10 before heading into the Louisiana capital of Baton Rouge–is as welcoming as the rich Louisiana culture.
“Our focus is to provide superior customer service in a welcoming atmosphere for travelers of all kinds,” said James Jarreau, co-owner of Tiger Truck Stop. “In addition to regular convenience store products, we bring a little Louisiana to travelers.”
They do that through their c-store and restaurant offerings. Customers can pick up Louisiana Cajun spices and specialty foods, including boudin, Alligator sausage and Louisiana gumbo. The restaurant is open 24/7 and serves daily plate lunches.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is changing the retail, convenience and fueling industries, helping operators optimize sales and inventory, streamline operations, reduce costs and improve the customer experience.
“The benefit of AI is it can help make decisions without having any human emotion involved, which is really important in retail,” said Darren Schulte, NATSO’s vice president of membership.
Inventory Management
Schulte said several NATSO members are using AI to help them manage their inventory, determine their product mix and help create planograms. “From a planogram standpoint, they can ask which to place on certain facings and how to get the most productivity out of them,” he explained.
When Quyntyn Johnson, president of operations at LV Petroleum, joined the company in 2022, it had one travel center, zero quick-service restaurants, four convenience stores and 115 employees. As of October 2024, the company has 22 travel centers, 43 quick-service restaurants, 40 convenience stores and nearly 2,000 employees.
“We’ve done more acquisitions than we have done ground-up builds, but now we’re hitting our peak where our ground-up builds and our acquisitions are merging together,” Johnson said.
The demographics among professional drivers continue to shift, and knowing who is behind the wheel can help truck stop and travel center operators ensure they have the products and services that will appeal to today’s truck drivers.
The NATSO Foundation sat down with Salim Youssefzadeh, CEO of WattEV to learn more about the company and his vision.
Greenlane—a $650 million joint venture funded by NextEra, BlackRock and Daimler—is planning to develop electric vehicle charging infrastructure for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. The charging sites will also serve battery-electric passenger car and light-duty fleet customers and are being designed to provide hydrogen refueling for commercial vehicles in the future.
This week Greenlane announced that it broke ground to develop its first commercial EV charging corridor along Interstate 15. The initial locations will be in Colton, Barstow and Baker, California. Over the next year, more locations will be added along the corridor, extending beyond Southern Nevada and to San Pedro in California.
The fuel industry relies on a global market, making it vulnerable to geopolitical risks that can significantly impact the availability, pricing, and distribution of fuel. Current unrest in the Middle East and Russia, coupled with unknowns in Venezuela, all have implications for the fuel market.
“Political risk issues this year will also include the political risk issues of public policy. One of those that deserves mention is if a new presidential administration comes in,” said Greg Priddy, a senior fellow for the Middle East at the Center for the National Interest and expert on political risk and global energy markets. “Will you have changes in U.S. regulatory structure that mean the U.S. produces more or less going forward?”
Priddy, who will be speaking at NATSO’s Fast Forward Focus, said the market can feel the effects of supply getting cut off, which can lead to oil price fluctuations and supply shortages, or supply increasing suddenly.
WattEV is taking a multi-pronged approach to help advance the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles, offering truck-as-a-service equipment and developing electric truck charging infrastructure. The company has received millions of dollars in grants to build out charging infrastructure and has joined NATSO to learn more about the industry. NATSO’s Christine Schoessler, chief operating officer, and Darren Schulte, vice president of membership, along with several NATSO travel center members, recently traveled to WattEV’s headquarters in California to connect with the company’s leadership.
RaceTrac is focused on connecting with professional drivers as it grows its travel center program, and the company recently announced its plans to celebrate drivers throughout September in honor of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, which runs Sept. 15-21.
“It’s been a special focus for us since we’ve launched this travel center program. Historically, we talk about it as Truck Driver Appreciation Week for RaceTrac,” Nick LaFalce, RaceTrac’s marketing manager said. “We like to expand that and call it truck driver appreciation month.”
Equipment manufacturers are rolling out low and zero-emission solutions that will help reduce carbon emissions and are investing in several technologies to meet future regulatory and customer requirements.
“We believe three technologies are needed to reach net zero: Battery electric, fuel cell electric and the combustion engine running on renewable fuels,” said Roger Alm, president of Volvo Trucks. While speaking during ACT Expo, Alm said Volvo Trucks will only produce zero-emission trucks beginning in 2040.