 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (truck stops) (convenience stores) |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | Schaumburg, Illinois |
Number of locations | 74 (Stores & Restaurants) |
Key people |
|
| Revenue | $1.0 billion (2012) |
Number of employees | 1,100 |
| Website | roadrangerusa |
Road Ranger is a Schaumburg, Illinois-based chain of travel centers, truck stops and convenience stores primarily found in the mid-western United States.
The first Road Ranger was opened in 1984 in Rockford, Illinois, by Northern Illinois University business graduate Daniel "Dan" Arnold. The first location was purchased with $5,000 of Arnold's savings and a loan taken out by him and his wife.
Arnold sold the company to Phillips Petroleum in 1990 to pursue other interests in real estate and banking, but eventually restarted the company in 1994. [1]
In 2008 Pilot Flying J announced it was partnering with Road Ranger and would market the diesel fuel at Road Ranger truck stop locations.
Road Ranger was owned by Daniel Arnold and co-owner Sunil Puri, founder of First Midwest Group.[ citation needed ] Arnold died on November 17, 2015. [2]
On March 19, 2015, Road Ranger completed the sale of 42 convenience store locations in Iowa, Illinois and Kentucky to GPM Investments, [3] [4] leaving its focus on travel centers, usually in partnership with Pilot at that time.
On August 27, 2018, Santiago Chile based Enex (Empresa Nacional de Energía Enex S.A.), a subsidiary of Quiñenco, announced its intention to acquire Road Ranger for US$289 million, in what is believed to be the largest private company sale in Rockford, Illinois history.
On November 30, 2018 Enex announced it had completed the Road Ranger acquisition and announced its plans to grow Road Ranger in the US by three to four locations per year.
In early 2019 Road Ranger ended its relationship across the United States with Pilot Flying J. As of February 1, 2019, Road Ranger marketed diesel fuel to trucking companies and transportation providers across the United States under the Road Ranger trade name, unaffiliated with any other company or name.
Road Ranger distributes Top Tier Detergent Gasoline in its own branded Ranger Fuels offering, although in 2010 this was not available at all locations. [5]
Road Ranger operates 42 unaffiliated travel center and convenience store locations in the states of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas and Wisconsin. [6] There are 34 associated Subway Restaurants, Wendy's, Dickey's Barbecue Pit, Church's Chicken, Chester's International, Burger King, McDonald's, and other food franchises.
Road Ranger is the founding sponsor of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign. Road Ranger donates a portion of the proceeds from fuel sales to the campaign. Road Ranger has been honored and received several community service and greater good awards in recognition of their service to the American wild horse population. [7]
In 2012 Road Ranger purchased, remodeled, and began operating the Dixie Travel Plaza. Opened in 1928, the Dixie is one of the USA's original, and oldest truck stops. [8]
A filling station, also known as petrol station or gas station (US), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline and diesel fuel.
Speedway is an American convenience store and gas station chain headquartered in Enon, Ohio, with locations primarily in the Midwest and the East Coast regions of the United States wholly owned and operated by 7-Eleven. Speedway stations are located in 32 states, up significantly from its core seven-state region in the Midwest since 2012. Prior to 2021, the company was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Marathon Petroleum Corporation. It is the largest convenience store chain in central Ohio.
A truck stop, known as a service station in the United Kingdom, and a travel center by major chains in the United States, is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made food and other services to motorists and truck drivers. Truck stops are usually located on or near a busy road.
Casey's Retail Company is a chain of convenience stores in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The company is headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines. As of April 30, 2019, Casey's had 2,146 stores in 16 states. Following 7-Eleven's purchase of Speedway, Casey's is the 3rd largest convenience store chain in the United States and the largest that is wholly American-owned. It is one of two Iowa-based Fortune 500 companies.
Kwik Shop is a chain of convenience stores and gas stations located throughout Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. They offer cold beverages, coffee, snack items, general foods, lottery tickets, and gasoline. It is owned by EG America, which is headquartered in Westborough, MA.
FJ Management Inc., formerly known as Flying J Inc., is a privately held American corporation which operates convenience stores, oil & refining, banking, and insurance businesses. Along with Pilot Corporation and Berkshire Hathaway, it is a joint-owner of Pilot Flying J, and Maverik convenience stores.
Pilot Travel Centers LLC, doing business as Pilot Flying J, is a North American chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Pilot Corporation, the majority owner, is based. The company is owned by Pilot, FJ Management, and Berkshire Hathaway. The company operates truck stops under the Pilot Travel Centers, Flying J Travel Plaza, and Mr. Fuel brands.
James Arthur Haslam II is an American businessman and philanthropist, best known as the founder of Pilot Corporation, which operates a chain of convenience stores and travel centers throughout the United States and Canada, and is one of the largest privately owned companies in the United States. Haslam is also a donor for the University of Tennessee, having provided tens of millions of dollars to the school over several decades. Haslam's son Jimmy is the current owner of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns and Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew, and his other son Bill is a former Governor of Tennessee.
Kwik Trip is a chain of convenience stores founded in 1965 with locations throughout Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin under the name Kwik Trip, and in Illinois and Iowa under the name Kwik Star. The company also operates stores under the name Tobacco Outlet Plus, Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery, Hearty Platter, and Stop-N-Go. Kwik Trip, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Iowa 80 is the world's largest truck stop, located along Interstate 80 off exit 284 in Walcott, Iowa. It sits on a 220-acre (89 ha) plot of land, three times larger than an average 75 acres (30 ha) truckstop, and it receives 5,000 visitors daily. Iowa 80 features a 67,000 sq ft (6,200 m2) main building, parking for 900 trucks, 15 diesel fuel pumps, and also has a dedicated pump for dispensing bulk diesel exhaust fluid. Four-hundred and fifty employees staff the megaplex.
VPS Convenience Store Group was an American convenience store chain headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina that could trace its roots to the founding of the first Village Pantry convenience store in 1966. VPS was sold in two parts in 2013 and 2015 to GPM Investments.
TravelCenters of America LLC is the largest publicly traded full-service truck stop and travel center company in the United States. The company operates full service centers, convenience stores, and restaurants under the TravelCenters of America, TA, Petro Stopping Centers, TA Express, GOASIS and Quaker Steak & Lube brands.' TravelCenters of America is headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, operates in 44 U.S. states and 1 Canadian province, and employs nearly 20,000 people, as of 2021.
A.T. Williams Oil Co. was a gas station chain based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was started by Arthur Tab Williams Jr. in 1963. In the 21st century it operated in a joint venture as WilcoHess.
The QuikTrip Corporation, more commonly known as QuikTrip (QT), is an American chain of convenience stores based in Tulsa, Oklahoma that primarily operates in the Midwestern, Southern, and Southeastern United States as well as in Arizona. QuikTrip is one of two convenience store chains based in Oklahoma.
Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, doing business as Love's, is an American family-owned chain of more than 500 truck stop and convenience stores in 41 states in the United States. The company is privately owned and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Love's ranked No. 17 on the 2019 Forbes list of America's largest private companies. Love's has two primary kinds of stores: country stores and travel stops. Country stores are fueling stations with a convenience store attached. The larger travel stops are located along highways and offer additional amenities such as food from restaurant chains such as Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Bojangles, Burger King, Chester's, Dairy Queen, Del Taco, Dunkin', Friendly's, Godfather's Pizza, Green Burrito, McDonald's, Taco John's, Subway, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Hardee’s/Carls Jr., trucking supplies, showers and RV dump stations. Love's had 25,000 employees in 2018.
The Dixie Travel Plaza, previously known as the Dixie Truck Stop and Dixie Trucker's Home, is a large trucker and travel plaza located in McLean, Illinois, on Interstate 55. It was established by J.P. Walters and John Geske in 1928 on old US Route 66 as a small sandwich stand in a truck mechanic's garage. By 1930, quickly growing demand had necessitated expansion into a full-size restaurant. The restaurant was expanded several times afterwards, and rebuilt once after a fire in 1965. Walters, Geske and the Dixie Trucker's Home have been recognized by the Route 66 Association of Illinois for their contributions—from 1926 to 1977—to the character of Route 66. They were inducted into the association's hall of fame on June 9, 1990. Dixie was previously home to the Route 66 Hall of Fame when it opened in 1990. In 2003, after Dixie changed ownership, the museum was moved to a new, larger location in Pontiac, Illinois.
Buc-ee's is a chain of country stores and gas stations with locations in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. Additional locations are currently under development in Colorado, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. Plans for an additional location in North Carolina were shelved in early 2021. The company is owned by Arch "Beaver" Aplin III and Don Wasek, and has its headquarters in Lake Jackson, Texas.
James Arthur Haslam III is an American businessman and sports executive. He is the chairman of the board of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain. He and his wife Dee own the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) and the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer (MLS). His father Jim Haslam founded the Pilot Corporation in 1958 as the Pilot Oil Corporation.
GPM Investments LLC (GPM) is a convenience store owner and operator based in Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 2003, it originally operated the Fas Mart and Shore Stop brands of convenience stores, and decided to expand.
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