The Truck Stops Here

At the start of the year, NATSO announced a significant visual transformation with the introduction of a new logo and brand elements. These changes, a result of the dynamic shifts in the industry landscape, are part of NATSO's ongoing commitment to meeting the evolving needs of its members.

Under the leadership of NATSO's Vice President, Branding and Marketing, Andrew Evans, NATSO undertook a comprehensive visual refresh, including a modernized logo and brand colors. Evans joins the podcast to break down this important transformation for listeners.

"We're excited to unveil our new logo as part of our ongoing efforts to solidify our brand voice and distinguish ourselves within the industry," shared Evans.

With special guest:

Andrew Evans, Vice President, Branding and Marketing, NATSO

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

New Year's resolutions often include goals that realign your focus and ideas that allow you to dream big. Darren Schulte, NATSO's vice president, membership, joined the podcast to advise on what should be on every truck stop and travel operator's back-to-basic goals list. He also shared resolutions ideas on food offerings and technology and ended with a bang, sharing his idea on a significant innovative change for this year.

With special guest:

Darren Schulte, Vice President, Membership, NATSO

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

NATSO Connect 2024 Title Sponsor Cyclum Renewables provides sustainable green energy solutions to the transportation industry by fueling commercial trucking through a nationwide network of renewable truck stops and travel plazas. Their truck stops are sustainably designed, focused on enhanced customer experience, and can dispense multiple renewable fuels. Shaun Lee, director of field operations at Cyclum Renewables, walked listeners through their innovative business model and Ben Khatirine, owner of 3B's Truck & Auto Plaza, shared about their partnership with Cyclum Renewables.

Visit https://gocyclum.net to learn more about Cyclum Renewables.

With special guests:

Shaun Lee, Director of Field Operations, Cyclum Renewables and Ben Khatirine, Owner, 3B's Truck & Auto Plaza

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

Sprint Mart opened a new 16,000-square-foot travel center in Vance, Alabama this year. Herb Hargraves, Sprint Mart's chief operating officer, joined the podcast to share the great things happening at the new Sprint Mart. It boasts a 150-seat diner, a huge bakery, its proprietary grab-and-go fried chicken and catfish program Chix and 15 cooler doors. Its forecourt includes 12 gasoline pumps and five diesel lanes.

"The enormous footprint of the store is what really makes it stand out. We used an arch concept in the front of the stores that makes it look like you're walking into a megalithic building and the excessively high ceilings that we have in there. And the major cooler presence stands out, too. We have fifteen cooler doors... for non-alcoholic beverages. Fifteen cooler doors are the most amount of cooler doors I've ever seen at a convenience store for non-alcoholic items. It made it so that we could really be diverse in what we're offering the consumer," said Hargraves.

Listen and learn more about how this new travel center stands out.

With special guest:

Herb Hargraves, Chief Operating Officer for Sprint Mart

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

NATSO Connect 2024 is scheduled to be held at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts in Orlando, Florida. NATSO Connect takes place from February 18 to 22, bringing together industry professionals, experts, and innovators for an unparalleled networking and learning experience.

Pamela Hayes, vice president, business development at NATSO, and Andrew Evans, vice president, marketing and branding at NATSO, hopped on the podcast to share all the important details about this year's event.

The education selected by the NATSO Foundation this year provides information and analysis that truck stops and travel centers need to grow wallet share and meet customer fuel demands.

"A rapidly evolving fueling landscape coupled with technological advancements and changing customer habits is presenting fuel retailers with an opportunity to reimagine their operations," said Amy Toner, executive director of the NATSO Foundation and The Truck Stops Here podcast host. "The engaging and thought-provoking sessions planned for NATSO Connect 2024 will position travel centers for the future."

Educational highlights scheduled for this year's event include:

• Travel Center New Builds and Remodels Pre-Event Workshop
• The Great Ideas! Workshop for Independent Operators
• Sessions dedicated to growing wallet share
• Insights into building the travel center of the future
• A technology forum focused on technology at the fuel island
• Travel center speed networking
• In-depth updates on key regulatory and legislative issues
• An immersive retail tour of two best-in-class travel center locations

Visit www.natsoconnect.com for more on the event.

With special guests:

Pamela Hayes, vice president, business development, NATSO and Andrew Evans, vice president, marketing and branding, NATSO

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

Food offerings are a key differentiator, setting truck stops and travel centers apart from the competition and enticing drivers inside. More importantly, sales in food or snacks are significant profit drivers. A new study from NATSO Services found untapped potential for growing food and beverage sales from drivers who are already stopping.

Most drivers taking the survey—81%—said they'd gone inside a travel center but left without purchasing food or beverages in the past month. Gaining even incremental sales from this group could result in significant gains.

Jessica Williams, founder and CEO of Food Forward Thinking, joins the podcast to walk listeners through menu planning for travel centers.

She offers advice on: What is usually missing at a travel center that drivers seek? What should travel centers think about when planning their food offerings? What food trends are "trending" right now?

With special guest:

Jessica Williams, Founder and CEO of Food Forward Thinking

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

In this sponsored episode with Digit7 CEO Chithrai Mani, we explore the digital retail innovations available from Digit7. Discover how autonomous checkout at stores can increase sales and loyalty and how AI technology makes the shopping experience interactive. Learn about computer vision, next-generation frictionless self-checkout machines and even drone inventory. Tune in to hear from Digit7 how these new technologies can help you grow your travel center business.

With special guest:

Chithrai Mani, CEO, Digit7

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

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. 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.

Christine Schoessler, COO of NATSO and Amy Toner, Executive Director of the NATSO Foundation, discuss the survey results. Visit https://www.natso.com/driversurvey for more on the new toolkit from the NATSO Foundation.

With special guest:

Christine Schoessler, COO, NATSO

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

The past few years have been fraught with challenges for retailers, including travel centers, from supply chain disruptions to shifting customer demands to ongoing labor shortages. Technology is playing a vital role in helping companies meet those challenges head-on.

Bethany Allee, head of marketing and education at PDI Technologies, joined the NATSO Foundation's podcast to talk about convenience and fuel technology. Together with NATSO Foundation Executive Director Amy Toner, they explore inventory technology, automation, loyalty and much more.

The podcast took a short summer break and is back with this very exciting guest.

With special guest:

Bethany Allee, Head of Marketing and Education, PDI Technologies

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation

Earlier in the year, Darren Schulte, vice president, membership at NATSO and Amy Toner, executive director of the NATSO Foundation, presented on trucking trends on truckstops at M-PACT.

Schulte and Toner brought their trends information to the podcast, answering:

• What factor is most important when professional drivers choose a place to stop?;
• What trends are we seeing in food for professional drivers?;
• There is a lot of "new" technology that is impacting the professional driver experience at a truckstop. How does all this technology impact the professional driver customer?; and more!

With special guest:

Darren Schulte, Vice President, Membership, NATSO

Hosted by:

Amy Toner, Executive Director, NATSO Foundation