Two Flatbed Haulers Choose Ky. Truck Stop As ‘Prime Location’ to House Terminals
Two small flatbed carriers are using the same Pendleton, Kentucky, truck stop as the location for their respective terminals. Drivers like being there, so why not put terminals there, too, the management teams have reasoned.
McJolin Transport and Total Package Express of Cincinnati rent space from the Pilot Travel Center on Kentucky 153, just northwest of Interstate 71.
“This space used to be a barber shop, but it was empty,” said John McGuire, the owner of McJolin Transport, which represents J.P. Graham Transport in the Pendleton space.
McGuire said he started with a two-month lease in 2014 and kept it up because “it’s a prime location for what I do.”
He manages about 50 owner-operators for Graham Transport. Where once there stood barber chairs, his son Brian does dispatching and they have an administrative assistant. His wife also works for McJolin Transport but at a different location.
The agency company’s on-site rival is Total Package, which arrived at the Pilot in Pendleton in 2013 and has a similar operation. Total Package management declined to comment for this story.
Offices for owner-operator companies at truck stops used to be a somewhat common arrangement, especially in the Midwest, McGuire and others said, but in recent years the option has fallen out of practice. Large carriers can either build their own facilities or invest heavily in technology that lessens the need for in-person contact with drivers.
Representatives of other large travel center chains said they were not aware of their companies currently renting space to trucking companies.
“Given that the industry often cites a truck parking shortage, by not offering this we avoid having large amounts of spaces unavailable for our customers,” said Tom Liutkus, a vice president at TravelCenters of America and Petro Stopping Centers.
A spokesman for Pilot Flying J, which owns Pilot Travel Centers, said in a statement: “We rent space from time to time for dispatch offices to trucking companies with the understanding no recruiting can happen at the travel center. This is only when we have empty office for rent in the travel center.”
McGuire said he has a friendly business relationship with Total Package employees despite being competitors and that, for smaller companies, it’s helpful to offer drivers an array of services, but it can be difficult to build the facilities to operate them. Hence their use of the truck stop.
“I dispatch my trucks from here, and when drivers come through, they can buy fuel, come into the office and get a paycheck. This setup is much more convenient for drivers,” McGuire said.
The truck stop has food, showers, a maintenance shop that does basic repairs and inspections, a convenience store and a television room. McJolin Transport can offer those facilities to its drivers but isn’t responsible for the services. The agent just pays rent to Pilot.
McGuire said he likes the location, personally, because he lives close by, so his commute is easy.
“I’d like to keep the arrangement going,” he said. “It’s a convenience for me, and it’s centrally located for my customers.”
