While there is
little doubt there are those grumpy and impatient drivers coming and going
through the doors of your numerous Pilot Flying J (P&FJ) locations, the
truth is that the majority of drivers do harbor a significant level of appreciation
for what you offer and provide throughout all these nearly 600 locations across
these here wondrous United States and beyond.
While there are
plenty of other choices out there for us to take advantage of, and many are
nice, it’s difficult for someone to state honestly that those competitors offer
better than P&FJ. Coming from someone who knows better due to my considerable amount of patronage over the past ten years, I can state with confidence that
P&FJ has the best coffee on the road. Not only that, but you have an
inordinate amount of choices compared to some of your competitors, and
available through a very convenient method. I don’t mean to whine, but getting
one’s coffee through Pyrex pots simmering on some burner for whatever an
undetermined amount of time is way too 20th Century. Thank you for
offering methods far superior. Further, I appreciate your ability to offer
plenty in the java line, including an array of teas.
The methods of
obtaining a shower while on the road is just done best by P&FJ compared to
many of the others. The keypad entry into the shower and the ability to obtain
one without having to wait for an available cashier (via the rewards card
kiosk) and key attached to a drive shaft is highly convenient and very smart.
While I can say some of the showers tend to be a bit cramped (I do understand
the need for space in order to offer more showers to more drivers), there are
plenty offering more than enough room for even the beefiest of fellows.
The high
percentage of standardization is another aspect offering a great deal of
comfort to many drivers wearied from cranking out 600 miles and needing some
decompression. There’s a wonderful chance a driver can step into the Flying Jin St. Augustine, FL on Monday and then step into any Flying J anywhere within
a thousand miles and experience a very similar and easy-to-negotiate layout.
Not requiring a GPS at each and every different store but having a comfortable
similarity across the board helps quite a bit and more than many would first
assume.
While the store
and lot located in Ft. Myers, FL requires a complete mowing down and new start
from the ground up (many drivers fear pulling into this place), most locations are very well designed and quite easy to negotiate for even the inexperienced
drivers. The recent opening of the Pilot at the FL/GA border along I-95 is a
tremendous addition to the large mix and certainly one of the better stores.
The location harbors a lot deserving its own zip code and the store is a vast
improvement compared to what was at this location years ago. The renovation of
the Flying J in Ruther Glen, VA (placing one of my prior reviews out of date) along
with the welcome addition of the Golden Corral (because you can tell by looking
at most of us drivers that we just don’t get enough to eat) transformed that
location into one many look forward to finding as often as possible.
Much of the
updating that has occurred at most fuel pumps has really helped expedite the
fueling process, saving time better spent doing other things. While it would be
fair to admit this is something done rather well by most travel center chains,
it is nice to find a kiosk inside to obtain a fast receipt. To further that
point, having the ability to obtain a receipt from a prior fueling occurrence
(either through it being lost of forgotten) at any other kiosk elsewhere is
tremendously handy for those of us lured by the smell of the pizza, causing us
to forget that receipt. Well done, pizza gang, well done, indeed.
Has anyone
placed on some drawing board an idea for a truck friendly drive-thru at
locations offering well known restaurant chains? Just thinking out loud and
being amused by the idea.
Overall, if one
compares the broad availability of the myriad of P&FJ choices and the goods
and services within them to other travel center and truck stop locations, Pilot
Flying J is quite likely the best bet for most professional drivers. As a
professional driver myself, I have to rely on locations such as yours to not
just make my day easier and comfortable, but to keep it going, often because of
fuel but certainly not just that. So, I and many others would like to extend a
gesture of appreciation for your showing you take your place in the scheme of
things seriously and creating yet another promising facet in the gem that is
the American landscape. We’ll be stopping by now and again.
