"I started my service station with no
intention of staying in the business.
"I came to El Paso while I was in the service, met a girl and decided to stay
here. But in fact, I really had no idea what I was going to do. However, after I stayed
with the service station for a few years, I had the chance to go with a truck stop on the
old highway, and that’s where my education actually began.
"Then in 1965, Chevron built a truck terminal for us on the interstate,
and I got a lot of experience working with drivers there
over the next ten years. The most important thing I learned
was that no one was giving the drivers the respect they
deserved."
What kind of respect was that?
"No one understood their needs. What were their concerns? None knew. Or cared.
Truckers were being treated like second class citizens.
"Actually, what they wanted was good food. They wanted clean showers. They wanted
ample parking. They needed a place to stop where they felt that they were wanted, and
people appreciated their business.
"They wanted the kinds of things that would make them feel at
home."
Is that what you give them at Petro?
"When we opened the first Petro in 1975, we had the opportunity to put our
experience to work. We knew we had to treat the drivers differently.
"We knew how to relate with drivers and understood what their needs were. What
their concerns were. So we wanted to treat them better. We did that by treating them with
respect.
"We provide them with private showers. We provide good food, 24
hours a day. We offer TV rooms. Auto-matic teller machines.
Well-stocked travel and convenience stores. We have telephones
at the restaurant counters for drivers to check in with
their dispatchers, and make calls to loved ones at home."
Are you saying that Petro provides all of the comforts
of home?
"We have to give the driver plenty of choices; the ‘comforts,’ if we
want him or her to stop at Petro.
"Drivers are pretty particular these days. They want the best service, the best
quality of food, nice showers, all of that, and more.
"We try to supply drivers with everything they need—barber
shop, shoe shine, laundry facilities, telephones and money
machines. And everything they need for their trucks—diesel
fuel, weighing stations, truck wash, replacement tires and
PM."
Is it true more truckers are traveling with spouses and
children these days?
"That seems to be the case, particularly now that schools are out.
"You know that time spent at home is a strong desire for many truckers, so taking
their wife or husband along, and even a child or two, is becoming more popular with
drivers.
"This is another reason why we try to make Petro Plazas so friendly
to truckers and their families. We welcome them. Petro is
not ‘Truckers Only’."
Do you make passenger car drivers welcome at Petro as well?
"Professional drivers are our core customers without a doubt. However, an
important secondary part of our business is the interstate motorist, RV traveler and local
residents.
"Because the restaurants are a volume operation, and you need to maintain
business, we need the four wheel traffic to build the quality of the facilities and
maintain the size of the restaurants.
"We don’t concentrate on the four wheel traffic, but we certainly don’t
ignore it. After all, it’s the incremental sales that help us afford the money we
spend taking care of the driver.
"The number one desire and goal is that truck driver. He’s
our Number One customer. The Petro Travel Plaza is designed
for the truck driver."
