Flying J Declares Bankrupcy!

[BigDiesel]

Why stop in LaGrande if you can go to Troutdale and eat at Shari's? Best coffee ever and the food is way better than any Flying J.

My office and yard is a few miles from Troutdale.... Sharis is better than the Hook, but as highschoolers Sharis was the hangout after the parties...

I take it you have not had a Pot Roast Sandwich from the la grande hook ???

[Musicman]

My office and yard is a few miles from Troutdale.... Sharis is better than the Hook, but as highschoolers Sharis was the hangout after the parties...

I take it you have not had a Pot Roast Sandwich from the la grande hook ???

I've eaten there a couple of times, but I have not sampled the pot roast sandwich. I really am not a fan of eating at any of the J's, and only do so to use up our coupons that cost as much as $2k for a $5 coupon. We do love Shari's though, especially their high octane coffee.

[BigDiesel]

I've eaten there a couple of times, but I have not sampled the pot roast sandwich. I really am not a fan of eating at any of the J's, and only do so to use up our coupons that cost as much as $2k for a $5 coupon. We do love Shari's though, especially their high octane coffee.

The la grande J is a franchise. The restaurant is old school mom and pop place, many locals eat there cause the food is good.

[Musicman]

The la grande J is a franchise. The restaurant is old school mom and pop place, many locals eat there cause the food is good.

I know it's a franchise... it's pretty obvious, and the food I've had there has generally been better than standard Hook grub.

[heavyhaulerss]

don't have to wait for 5 motore homes to get outa the way.


I myself have never waited for a motor home in the truck diesel island.

[Musicman]

don't have to wait for 5 motore homes to get outa the way. I myself have never waited for a motor home in the truck diesel island.

I wondered about that myself, but was afraid to ask.

[GMAN]

Flying J doesn't seem to care about the trucking business. Some of that could be coming from so much of the vandalism I see at many of their stores. I have seen their service continue to decline over the last decade. There was a time when they seemed to really care about our business. Now they mostly seem to want the RV business. With the economic slump that may change, especially with the reorganization.

[GMAN]

don't have to wait for 5 motore homes to get outa the way.


I myself have never waited for a motor home in the truck diesel island.

I have had to wait before, but it has been awhile.

[kanodogg]

the best food is by far many mom and pops types. Uncle pete's and shenandoah are two that come to mind right off the top of my head

oh yeah, def the mom and pops are best.. there's a restaurant in az at i-10 mp 94 i believe, tonopah that serves up great steaks.

[Musicman]

There are still a handful of Flying J's that will take Comdata. These are franchise stores mostly in the Northwest. I don't believe any of the corporate stores take Comdata. There are several fuel cards that may be used at Flying J, such as T-Check and EFS. Fleetone is not taken at Flying J, at least at the corporate stores. As I recall, Flying J stopped taking Comdata because they were charging both Flying J and the carrier's a fee each time it was used.

To settle the question regarding Flying J and Comdata's falling out, below is an excerpt from an article on Flying J's history:

"The company, which had begun marketing to national trucking fleets in the early 1990s, was also getting into the credit business, promoting its own fuel transaction card, a position that led to a conflict with Comdata, one of the leading credit transaction processors for the trucking industry. When Comdata and Flying J began negotiating to renew their contract, Comdata pressured Flying J to stop promoting its own card. Flying J refused, announcing that its travel centers would no longer accept Comdata's Comcheck card, and began encouraging customers to switch to its own or other third party cards; the break was complete when Comdata announced that it would no longer process transactions made at Flying J travel centers. With Comdata remaining a major supplier of credit transactions to the nation's trucking industry, the effect of the break on Flying J remained to be seen. Nonetheless, Adams told The Tennessean, "We're comfortable about life without Comdata." Indeed, Flying J's reputation among its customers in both the trucking industry and the general motoring public appeared solid."

The link to the full article is here: Flying J Inc. -- Company History

Below is an excerpt from the ruling on one of the appeals resulting from Flying J's litigation:


"This appeal is the latest episode in a lengthy antitrust suit brought by Plaintiffs Flying J, Inc., TCH, L.L.C., CFJ Properties, TON Services, Inc., and CFJ (collectively "Flying J") against Defendant Comdata Network, Inc. ("Comdata"). The underlying lawsuit, filed in 1996, arose out of Comdata's alleged monopolization of two product markets related to the U.S. truck stop industry. In May 2001, after nearly five years of discovery and pretrial motions, the parties entered into a settlement agreement. Comdata agreed to pay $49 million in damages and grant Flying J two licenses intended to open the markets at issue. Conflict soon resumed, however, when the parties could not agree about the meaning of one of the two licenses. Aggrieved by what it interpreted as Comdata's refusal to honor one of the licenses, Flying J filed a motion to enforce the settlement agreement in May 2002. The district court determined that Comdata had breached the settlement agreement and ordered Comdata to implement the license as interpreted by Flying J. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a), we REVERSE. In so doing, we emphasize that it is not our task to determine what would best remedy the underlying antitrust violation, but solely to interpret the agreement reached between the parties, in light of its plain language and the intent of the parties."

The link the complete ruling is here: 03-4262 -- Flying J Inc. v. Comdata Network Inc. -- 04/13/2005

I seem to recall that Flying J sold out to the Arabs.

I can't find any irrefutable proof, but from everything I have been able to find, the J is not owned by Arabs.

[GMAN]

I believe the Flying J in Cour d' lene, Idaho is a franchise and accepts Comdata as do several in Washington and a couple of other areas. It has been a while since I have run much in those areas, but I seem to recall that they did accept the Comdata cards. As far as I know none of the corporate stores accept Comdata.

As far as ownership by the Arabs, someone noted it on one of the forums and had a link to the article. I can't seem to find it now, so I don't know if it is true or not. Perhaps someone knows one way or another.

[Musicman]

As far as ownership by the Arabs, someone noted it on one of the forums and had a link to the article. I can't seem to find it now, so I don't know if it is true or not. Perhaps someone knows one way or another.

GMAN, I’m agreeing with you in that I heard the same thing, I think it may have been in 2002; but I cannot remember exactly how I heard it or where I read it. I do know that I can usually find out just about anything on-line, and after spending a little time searching the ‘net I have come up with pretty much nada. I’ve found where J Adams is shown as a large stockholder and president. A 2007 article in Forbes lists J Phillip Adams as CEO and Scott D Clayson as CFO. In a more recent 2008 Forbes article Robert L Inkley is listed as CFO. Coachmen Industries’ website shows William P. Johnson, who is their chairman of the board as also being chairman of the board and CEO of Flying J. It goes on and on like this on other websites. You come up with all kinds of names for board positions over the last few years. None of them have Middle Eastern sounding names and most of them look like old white guys to me. Of course with a private company like Flying J, you never know who is in bed with whom, financially speaking that is. Some Saudi company could’ve plowed a pile of money into the company and it could be very hard to find out about it.

[GMAN]

I did read where Conoco owns a big chunk of Flying J. I think they have some joint ventures with the c-stores and fuel. Unless privately held companies want to make their investors public it is difficult to find out who exactly own them. The title of the individuals matters little because they may not have any ownership in the company.

[Orangetxguy]

I did read where Conoco owns a big chunk of Flying J. I think they have some joint ventures with the c-stores and fuel. Unless privately held companies want to make their investors public it is difficult to find out who exactly own them. The title of the individuals matters little because they may not have any ownership in the company.

Here is a link from the ConocoPhillips website, United States - Marketing

This is on that page,

Retail Marketing
ConocoPhillips owns and operates approximately 330 retail outlets under the Phillips 66®, Conoco® and 76® brands. The company-operated retail outlets are focused in 10 states, mainly in the Mid-Continent, Rocky Mountains and West Coast regions. Retail fuel volumes for 2007 were approximately 15 MMBBL.

Additionally, CFJ Properties, the company’s 50/50 joint venture with Flying J, owns and operates 110 truck travel plazas that carry Conoco®, Flying J or both brands.

In December 2006, ConocoPhillips announced its intention to divest its U.S. company-owned and company-operated retail outlets and its U.S. company-owned and dealer-operated retail outlets to new or existing wholesale marketers. ConocoPhillips sold 54 sites during 2007, and 766 company- and dealer-operated sites were classified as held for sale at Dec. 31, 2007. ConocoPhillips expects to complete disposition of most of its U.S. retail assets in 2008.

[Triple Digit Bob]

MultiService is accepted at Flying Js.

[Useless]

I saw The Flyin' Hooks troubles coming. Word has it that Rosie O'Donald, Martha Stewart, Kristie Allie, and "Mimi" from the old "Drew Carey Show", started hitting their lunch Buffet on a regular basis !!

[Musicman]

I saw The Flyin' Hooks troubles coming. Word has it that Rosie O'Donald, Martha Stewart, Kristie Allie, and "Mimi" from the old "Drew Carey Show", started hitting their lunch Buffet on a regular basis !!

You forgot Sally Struthers

[geeshock]

I believe the Flying J in Cour d' lene, Idaho is a franchise and accepts Comdata as do several in Washington and a couple of other areas. It has been a while since I have run much in those areas, but I seem to recall that they did accept the Comdata cards. As far as I know none of the corporate stores accept Comdata.

As far as ownership by the Arabs, someone noted it on one of the forums and had a link to the article. I can't seem to find it now, so I don't know if it is true or not. Perhaps someone knows one way or another.

Yes they do, they are a frachise of flying j i think, you'll notice they say boardwalk flying j on the signs

[BigDiesel]

Yes they do, they are a frachise of flying j i think, you'll notice they say boardwalk flying j on the signs

Broadway..... also in Spokane, WA and Post Falls, ID not CDA.

[Orangetxguy]

Broadway..... also in Spokane, WA and Post Falls, ID not CDA.

As are all the J's in western Montana, Broadway's.