This audio is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any feedback.
Diving certificate:
- 7-Eleven is currently converting more than 100 stores to its 7Fleet diesel network. The goal is to reach 500 locations by the end of 2025, the company announced on Thursday. These locations will offer diesel fuel, diesel exhaust fluids and parking spaces for trucks.
- Meanwhile, Sheetz plans to open four new stores in August with diesel fuel, DEF, truck scales and overnight truck parking, according to an emailed announcement. One of those stores will also be Sheetz’s first store in Michigan.
- Travel centers have gained a greater presence in the c-store industry in recent years as companies like QuikTrip, RaceTrac and Wawa build larger, truck-friendly locations.
Diving insight:
Travel centers are attractive to retailers because they offer greater profit opportunities. They have larger stores and more diverse revenue streams, including more fuel—the average car holds about 50 liters, while trucks can hold over 400 liters—and space for more food and beverage outlets.
Sheetz’s four new truck-equipped stores will open in Middletown, Virginia; Warsaw and Asheville, North Carolina; and Romulus, Michigan.
The Romulus site at 33380 Wick Road will have four truck lanes and is located at Exit 197 on Interstate 94, about 23 miles southwest of Detroit.
While Sheetz did not immediately confirm how many locations have been set up for truck drivers, Sheetz’s website recently showed that DEF is available at eight locations in North Carolina, 11 in Ohio, 14 in Pennsylvania, four in Virginia and one in West Virginia.
Based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Sheetz currently operates over 740 convenience stores in six states.
7-Eleven’s 7Fleet network was created when the company bought competitor Speedway in 2022. That deal included 240 locations with diesel. Since then, North America’s largest c-store company has added diesel and other amenities at more than 100 more locations, bringing the total to nearly 400 locations in 26 states, according to the announcement. It also accepts multiple fleet payment options.
“We are excited to continue our growth as one of the largest diesel networks in the country,” said Marissa Schneider, 7-Eleven’s commercial fleet manager. “We have not only expanded our footprint with physical locations, but we also strive to offer our customers comprehensive business solutions by growing with industry partners and adding new forms of payment.”
7-Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 13,000 stores in the United States and Canada under the 7-Eleven, Speedway and Stripes brands.
Elsewhere in the industry, QuikTrip has bet on its remote travel centers, and its first two locations in Indiana are expected to be in that format. Wawa is just getting into that business, announcing in May that it is working on its first travel center, expected to open in North Carolina in 2025.
