To help the nation’s truck stop and travel center operators better understand fleets, drivers and their needs, NATSO Services launched a survey of company drivers, leased drivers, independent owner/operators and fleet owner drivers in 2022. For the 2023 edition, NATSO Services asked professional drivers how often they fuel, rest and shop at travel centers during their work week, what brings them inside and their expectations around wait times, employee interaction, and food and loyalty preferences. The survey revealed incredible opportunities to increase wallet share of existing customers, bring more buying customers inside and convert customer traffic into sales.
To help operators understand the data and what it means for the industry, the NATSO Foundation created the Opportunities Abound at Travel Centers to Serve Professional Drivers and Grow Wallet Share Toolkit.
Christine Schoessler, COO of NATSO and Amy Toner, Executive Director of the NATSO Foundation, recently discuss the survey results on the foundation’s podcast.
Key findings include:
- The cleanliness of the showers and restrooms came out as the most important determining factor in where professional drivers stop.
- Loyalty programs can be a powerful tool for attracting and retaining customers and spurring sales. More than half of drivers—55%—said that loyalty programs influenced their decision to make non-fuel purchases.
- Not surprisingly, the survey found that check-out delays significantly affect purchasing. Most drivers—58%—said they would only wait in line for one to five minutes and 3% expect no wait. 10% said they’ll leave even if there are just two people in line.
- 36% of fueling customers said they’d go inside for reliable food from a national brand they recognize and 21% said they’d go inside for out-of-the-ordinary food offerings.
Visit https://www.natso.com/driversurvey for more on the new toolkit from the NATSO Foundation.
Opportunities at Travel Centers to Grow Wallet Share Webinar. NATSO is also hosting a webinar on Thursday, November 16th, at 2 p.m. ET, focusing on findings from our recent driver survey. During this webinar, NATSO COO Christine Schoessler and Darren Schulte, NATSO’s vice president, membership, will explore simple ways to capitalize on your customers' behaviors based on our extensive professional driver survey with a panel of travel centers. Register for Opportunities at Travel Centers to Grow Wallet Share Webinar here.
// The Truck Stops Here Podcast is a NATSO Foundation program. The NATSO Foundation is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, Inc. The NATSO Foundation provides programs and products aimed at strengthening travel plazas’ ability to meet the needs of the traveling public through improved operational performance and business planning. Visit www.natsofoundation.org for more information. (Donate to the NATSO Foundation here.)
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It is a disruptive time in the fuel business, but NATSO Foundation’s The Truck Stops Here podcast is packed with critical analysis on what to expect as well as ideas to propel your travel center business into the future. You'll hear from experts on and off the NATSO staff and directly from NATSO members on what techniques they use to excel. Pull up, grab the fuel nozzle and get ready to fuel up with NATSO Foundation's newest educational offering!
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