The Truck Stops Here

Do you ever wonder why your travel center's retail/food conversion rates from the diesel fueling lanes are so low, even though a very large percentage of professional divers come into your store to either get a receipt or to use the restrooms? According to host Darren Schulte, vice president, membership at NATSO, it is because there is nothing welcoming on the back of your building. In this episod...

Operational changes brought on by Covid-19 are changing the way companies do business, today as well as in the future. Many of those changes can be found in the way locations utilize their parking lot. NATSO's podcast, The Truck Stops Here, sat down with Darren Schulte, NATSO's vice president of membership, to learn more about how truckstop and travel center operators can make the most of their sp...

Among all the chaos and the work of just trying to make it through each day, we hope that many truckstops and travel centers are planning for the day that the world reopens. COVID-19 has brought many changes to our communities and our customers, and many of them will continue as the world adjusts to a new normal. Hosts Amy Toner and Darren Schulte examine what might become the new norm, looking at...

On April 30, NATSO's podcast The Truck Stops Here sat down with David Fialkov, NATSO's Vice President, Government Relations, Legislative and Regulatory Counsel to walk through the small business relief available at the federal level right now. David has been working tirelessly to make sure truckstops and travel centers are adequately represented on Capitol Hill during this pandemic. From what truc...

In pre-coronavirus pandemic times, the Truck Stops Here sat down with Michael Lawshe to talk about design trends in the truckstop and travel center industry. Michael is the president and CEO of Paragon Solutions, a c-store and retail industry design and consulting firm based in Ft. Worth, Texas. Paragon Solutions is a NATSO Chairman's Circle member and a big supporter of NATSO and the industry. Ho...

At NATSO, we are always scanning for the trends impacting the truckstop industry and as someone with a deep history in the industry who visits hundreds of truckstops a year, podcast guest Darren Schulte is certainly an expert. In this episode, Schulte takes listeners on a deep dive into trucking trends and food trends impacting the industry. From the impact of ELDS to the length of haul, Schulte w...

At NATSO, we are always scanning for the trends impacting the industry. To take a look at how the industry marketplace is changing, we interviewed NATSO's own Darren Schulte. With not only a deep history in the industry, but also the knowledge gathered from visiting hundreds of truckstops a year, Schulte is the industry expert in marketplace changes. Hosted by: Amy Toner, Vice President, Publishin...

Credit cards are now being issued with a small chip (called the EMV chip), and business owners across the country have had to update their point-of-sale systems to accommodate chip cards. The first point-of-sale requirements took effect in 2015, but another deadline is on the horizon. Fuel retailers have until Oct. 1, 2020, to install EMV chip-card readers at automated fuel dispensers. Podcast gue...

Fuel buying may sound simple given that those within the fueling industry only have two choices: branded or unbranded. Yet the reality is that there are layers of complexity within each of those two options, and truckstop and travel center operators need to understand the fundamentals to make the right decisions that can improve your bottom line by thousands of dollars monthly. NATSO's Don Quinn b...

In this episode, retail industry expert and NATSO Connect speaker Patrik Jacob of Koru-Development digs into how those within the truckstop and travel center industry can benefit from the fundamental changes taking place in retail. We cover the major trends that will affect the truckstop industry long term, how to survive the decade of disruption in retail, and why the success factors of the past...

The use of biodiesel is on the rise, but truckstop and travel center operators often wonder about how to introduce the fuel to drivers. NATSO sat down with Jeff Hove, vice president for Alternative Fuels Council, to get answers to frequently asked questions. Hosted by: Amy Toner, Vice President, Publishing and Digital Content, NATSO and Darren Schulte, Vice President, Membership, NATSO

One thing we are continuing to stress with NATSO members is that retail locations, truckstops included, need to be experiential. Oasis Travel Center, located in Robertsdale, Alabama, has experiential items in spades. In this episode of The Truck Stops Here, we have the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dale Elks, General Manager about their unique truckstop. Hosted by: Amy Toner, Vice President, P...

Pull up, grab the fuel nozzle and get ready to fuel up on trends and strategies to grow your travel center business in The Truck Stops Here, brought to you by NATSO.