Invest your own money, let compound effect be your leverage, and avoid debt like the plague.
- Manlobbi
Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
No. of Recommendations: 2
Anyone have any clue what's up with Pilot? The numbers - to put it kindly - were dismal. I know Greg made some changes to management a while back, but it just seems like they're really struggling for whatever reason.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Anyone have any clue what's up with Pilot?
We often drive through Quartzsite, AZ on our way from home to San Diego and back. We always stop there for gas and to grab a bite. There's a Love's travel stop and a nearby Pilot stop, both with food on offer. Pilot is usually nearly empty, while Love's is usually jammed, despite the latter having ten pumping stations.
Based on this anecdotal info, when I read that BRK had acquired Pilot, I was somewhat dismayed, perhaps for good reason.
Tom
No. of Recommendations: 5
Pilot, fwiw, showed off the EV charging at the annual meeting. I was told, “All 950 stops across the country will have chargers by end-2026”. IDK how many of you have used public chargers, but it’s quite an irksome experience. Every single one of the chargers that I’ve used have been in parking lots, like a bank or a pharmacy, strip mall etc. Being rained or snowed on the head while trying to use a phone flashlight to transact with the charging session is ridiculous. It is truly taking back basic task of refueling by about a 100 years, it feels like.
Pilot is putting the chargers under a roof. That is a breakthrough for me in the charging world. I know where I will stop the next time I may need a charge. Understand that the showers and lounge are great too.
No. of Recommendations: 8
I road trip a lot and stop at Pilot, Love's, Maverick and Buc-ees on these trips.
Buc-ees is the clear winner and I will go to one if at all feasible. Maverick, Pilot and Love's are all pretty similar and I like Maverick just a bit better than Love's or Pilot. Other than a few of the oldest Love's that are pretty dismal, they are all good places to stop, pee, get gas and get coffee.
(Buc-ees can best be described at a nano-Disneyland and they are absolute licenses to print money. Always jammed and the money just flows in. The founders are getting on in age and I'd love it if Berkshire bought them in a private transaction.)
No. of Recommendations: 1
There are a couple of large billboards a bit south of Little Rock, AR on I30.
First one says: BUC-EES AHEAD
Second one says: BUC-EES 179 MILES
edit: Oh Oh Oh Oh!!!! They are building a Buc-ees in Benton, AR. That's close to me. YAY!!!
Opening Sept 2026
No. of Recommendations: 3
I’m on the road quite a bit and always try to stop at Pilots for gas and a snack. Many of them have been modernized over the past few years, and I usually find the restrooms to be fine. My wife also gives the restrooms a thumbs up, and she’s way more picky than I am.
Buccees is the clear winner on restrooms, but I hate fighting the crazy crowds at those places. It’s a zoo in there.
No. of Recommendations: 5
Buccees is the clear winner on restrooms, but I hate fighting the crazy crowds at those places. It’s a zoo in there.
Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded! 😉
All respect to Yogi Berra.
No. of Recommendations: 13
Anyone have any clue what's up with Pilot? The numbers - to put it kindly - were dismal. I know Greg made some changes to management a while back, but it just seems like they're really struggling for whatever reason.
There's never just one cockroach. Buffett usually has a pretty good feel about whether management is honest or not, but with the Haslams, his integrity vision seems to have encountered a blind spot, and it shouldn't be surprising if there are more nasty surprises.
dtb
No. of Recommendations: 7
