Love’s: Restraint in new travel centers/truck parking in ’24, but larger growth plans
Coming off a year in which it made several significant acquisitions even as its growth in new travel centers slowed somewhat, Love’s has an aggressive plan for 2024 that might include new growth in its factoring business.
In a news conference earlier this week, Love’s President Shane Wharton said the company’s plans to open about 20 to 25 new locations in 2024, which will result in about 1,500 to 2,000 new truck parking spots. Wharton said that number means the company is closing in on 50,000 parking spots through its network of 640 locations in 42 states.
Wharton said the most significant acquisition the company made in 2023 was its purchase of TVC Pro-Driver. In the October prepared statement announcing the acquisition, TVC Pro-Driver was described as a CDL “protection subscription service … assisting individual drivers and fleets in reducing or dismissing fines, preventing downtime for court and protecting compliance safety and accountability (CSA) scores.”
“Obviously, if they don’t have a CDL they don’t have a job,” Wharton said. He described a situation where TVC would get involved: a driver gets a ticket in the Chicago area, But he’s based near Los Angeles. TVC has a network of attorneys ACROSS the country set up to handle that issue.
“It may be hard for the driver to physically to get to Chicago, so TVC can handle that for them, and help manage the amount of points that ends up on their CDL record,” Wharton said.
One area where Love’s did not make an acquisition in 2023 was in its factoring arm, Love’s Financial.
“We wanted to but we just didn’t see the right opportunities,” Wharton said of sitting pat with its existing factoring business.
But Wharton suggested that growth in factoring is still on the Love’s agenda. “We’re thinking we may see the right opportunities this year,” he said.
Echoing what so many others in the factoring industry have said, Wharton described the business as “fragmented.” If Love’s is going to stay and grow in the business, Wharton said, “we want to be the best in class and we want it to be large so that we can offer a good value proposition to our customers. We intend to grow that business and be one of the top players.”
While most of Love’s growth in its network of stores has been organic, it did make a niche-driven acquisition in April when it bought EZ GO from Carey Johnson Oil Co. It was a niche purchase because EZ GO has six travel stops on Oklahoma turnpikes and five on the Kansas Turnpike, as well as other convenience stores in Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Source: freightwaves.com
