Some Truckstop And Travel Centers Continue To Have Success With Food Delivery Options
Article created for the May digital issues of 
Food delivery surged during the pandemic, and several truckstop and travel plazas continue to have success with food delivery options.
Brian Couch, owner of , said demand has slowed down since COVID, but has remained steady once everything opened up. “Breakfast items by far outsell everything else,” he said, adding that he works with and . “One might be higher than the other one week then switch the next. The overall sales are steady though.”
works with Uber, Door Dash, and . “We really got into it at the beginning of the pandemic. We wanted to keep as many people as we could working,” said Damon Borden, operations manager at Broadway Flying J Travel Plazas.
found that 86% of consumers order takeout or pickup as much or more than they did last year, while 83% order delivery as much or more than they did last year.
As pandemic restrictions wane, dining in is also seeing a resurgence. Door Dash reported that 74% of consumers dining inside a restaurant as much as or more than they did last year.
The found that 63% of adults feel restaurants are an essential part of their lifestyle. That statistic includes 75% of millennials and 70% of Gen Z adults, indicating that restaurants will grow more vital in years to come.
Technology has aided in food delivery capabilities. NRA reported that just a few years ago, restaurants couldn’t have managed the level of off-premises demand that occurred during the pandemic. However, technological advances are becoming table stakes, and more than eight in 10 operators participating in NRA’s State of the Industry Report said the use of technology in a restaurant provides a competitive advantage.
For those ordering delivery or take out, 24% use a logistics platform, such as UberEats of DoorDash, 23% go to a restaurant’s website or app, 20% search for restaurants using an online search engine, and 10% go to a preferred restaurant directly, NRA reported.When ordering delivery or takeout, 92% of consumers said they often or occasionally try new menu items. The remaining 8% said they never try a new menu item.
Couch sees the food delivery as advertising. “Last year was a record year for us in the kitchen and this year is up over that,” he said.
// This article was created for Stop Watch magazine, the magazine of the 黑料社区Foundation. The 黑料社区Foundation is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, Inc. The 黑料社区Foundation provides programs and products aimed at strengthening travel plazas’ ability to meet the needs of the traveling public through improved operational performance and business planning. Visit for more information. (Donate to the 黑料社区Foundation here.)
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