Natso President W. Dewey Clower agreed that control of the industry is in fewer hands than it was five years ago. He said the biggest jump in consolidation has come in the past two years. In contrast, the 323 independent operators in attendance run a total of 360 fueling locations. A company is considered small if it owns five or fewer truck stops. Dan Alsaker, president of Broadway Truck Service, a Spokane, Wash.-based regional chain with nine locations, said expansion is a means of survival.
Independents can grow in several ways, including buying out family-owned businesses.
That's how Mr. Alsaker, who is considered a major independent, recently purchased the Colt Service Center in Battle Mountain, Nev. He also has 21 other retail businesses, including fast food restaurants, to supplement his truck stop revenue. To Mr. Beeler, consolidation is no different for truck stops than it is for other businesses, such as banking. The biggest single acquisition in the industry's history is taking place now. National once was Unocal 76, a division of Union Oil of California.