Truck stops or Travel Centers are unique business undertakings. Travel Centers of America (TA) have designated plans for what works in their travel center models concerning offerings, site size of about 23 acres and other useful tips for developers of truck stops.
Logistics
Truck routes are well-defined in the 50 states. There are numerous gas stations, truck stops and travel centers.
How to know if a new truck stop will be profitable is based on its location, which must be logistically sound. Driver hours on the road limitations, clustering of truck stops, Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs), Full Service Restaurants (FSR), showers, game rooms and even bars are popular revenue generators.
Nevertheless, a successful truck stop is in an area that trucks need to stop to fuel or rest. Truck parking, truck scales and truck washes are popular elements that are useful to truck drivers and cause them to stop. Rewards programs and credit offerings for purchases are also important.
But, still, its about logistics. Where are they going, and where do they come from? How many hours on the road? It is a short-haul route or a long-haul route? Many questions to answer when conducting a truck stop feasibility study.
Traffic Counts
This factor is important, yet our experience is that even truck stops with low traffic counts can do well, if they are logistically located. Over reliance on taking a percentage of traffic counts is common practice in those who create truck stop feasibility studies.
Store Size
Typically recent projects have indicated 7,500 to 12,500 square feet in store size.
Truck Stop Feasibility Study Importance
The truck stop feasibility study is unique because most operators do not have contracts with end users like a commercial real estate project. Yet, recently savvy truck stop developers have been leasing space in their stores in lieu of owner-operator situations.
As part of the truck stop feasibility study, revenues from fuel sales although important, are really a demand driver for in-store sales where profit margins are greater than per gallon profits which range from $0.23 to $0.40 per gallon sold.
Estimating in-store sales, QSR and FSR sales, and other sources of income is often based on a per gallon sold ratio. We have seen in-store sales range from $0.80 to $1.40 per gallon sold.
Identifying, quantifying and estimating in-store sales is critical for the truck stop feasibility study, because these items as mentioned are often a ratio of gallons sold. Food court concept became popular after a developer created an eight QSR project in Baker California, and they spread this concept to their Salton City location and then their Madera, California location.
We apply the information we have learned from owners by having their actual financial statements when creating a financial pro forma. There are many sources of comparison to understand the industry financial ratios - but brand of fuel, brands of QSR's and FSR's tend to provide a wide variance in profit margins.
All of this guess work must be drilled down to a reliable pro forma. Adding a new truck stop along a route often enhances drive experience, yet does is compliment the market or reduce capture for everyone else?
These questions are the primary reasons for a truck stop feasibility study to be carried out by a qualified and experienced feasibility study consultant.
Lender Requirements
The SBA Feasibility Study may be used for financing. Moreover, the USDA feasibility study can also be used as both the SBA and USDA consider loan guarantees for truck stops. Thus, consider engaging Feasibility-Study.com when you are in need of a truck stop feasibility study.
Publisher Details: Truck Stop Feasibility Study: SBA Feasibility Study Consultants: USDA Feasibility Study Consultants: Feasibility-Study.comhttps://www.feasibility-study.com/
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