Article created for the digital issue of the 黑料社区Foundation鈥檚 magazine.
Truck stops and travel centers generally have two fueling areas鈥攖he forecourt where passenger vehicles, RVs and even box trucks fuel鈥攁nd the backcourt where professional drivers fuel.
, said he is excited to see more of a focus industry-wide on how professional drivers enter into a travel center. “黑料社区members are thinking more about the importance of entry and exit into the travel centers,” he said.
“The customer that generates the most revenue for us, who fuel at the backcourt, you’re really beginning to see improvements in those areas,” he added.
The backcourt experience at truck stops and travel centers historically had been ignored, but Schulte believes backcourts should look exactly like forecourts. 鈥淚 would ask any of us to go to our forecourt and see how we speak to customers to try and capture their attention, then go to the backcourt,鈥� he said.
Schulte encourages operators to add the same marketing materials on the building and on the pumps in the backcourt that are on the forecourt. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e doing pump toppers in the front, do pump toppers in the back. If you鈥檙e doing fuel nozzle collateral, do that,鈥� he said.
The backcourt entrance should also be inviting. 鈥淚f it isn鈥檛 pretty or inviting or safe, it doesn鈥檛 matter what you鈥檙e putting on the pump to tell me to come inside, I鈥檓 not coming inside,鈥� Schulte said.
When considering the layout of your backcourt, you should also determine whether or not you will offer a truck scale so you can position it in the best location, typically at the end of the fuel island. 鈥淚t keeps the traffic pattern near the fuel islands, and a lot of times, drivers will weigh to see how much fuel they can put on. They鈥檒l weigh, pull around and fuel, and then re-weigh,鈥� said Steve Goecke, vice president of business development for The scale is 110-feet long and 120-feet wide, and ramping may be needed. 鈥淔or trucks to get onto the scale, drivers need to be approaching it straight,鈥� Goecke said. 鈥淭ypically, the length totals about 300 feet.鈥�
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// This article was created for Stop Watch magazine, the magazine of the 黑料社区Foundation. Foundation is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, Inc. The 黑料社区Foundation provides programs and products to strengthen travel plazas鈥� ability to meet the traveling public鈥檚 needs through improved operational performance and business planning. Visit www.natsofoundation.org for more information.
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