Flying J Comes To Thunder Bay
by Scott A. Sumner
Thunder Bay Business
As a proud resident of Thunder Bay I always like to talk about some of our great facilities here like the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre , Lakehead University, our airport or some impressive retail facilities like the Intercity Shopping Centre. By next summer we
should have a state of the art $20 million dollar travel plaza facility by Flying J right here in Thunder Bay just off the Thunder Bay Expressway at Oliver Road. This will be a tremendous addition for the traveling public and further show the positive growth of our rwgion in Canada.
Steve Froebe is the Construction Manager of PDG Inc. a subsidiary of Flying J Inc based in Ogden, Utah and was in Thunder Bay recently as the project began construction. “ We build Flying J Travel Plazas across United States, Canada and have some proposed projects in Europe and South America. I have personally worked on about 5 different projects in the US. We currently have about 30 facilities in Canada an are the largest supplier of diesel fuels in North America,” said Froebe. “ The Thunder Bay facility will be typical with a restaurant,
conveniance store and provide a place for the travelling public where they can rest For the truckers, our major client, we try to provide a home away from home where we provide them a shower, a place to launder their clothes, have a meal, rest and watch TV. We also provide services such as insurance and financial support. Flying J has fleet services where we sell and lease to the truckers. If the trucker needs a service we try to provide it either brokering them to someone else or provide it ourselves. We own Transatlantic Bank where we provide credit card services and our frequent fueler services.”
“ Our corporate goal is to provide services for the trucking industry such as a quality place to stop, a clean facility they are proud to stop at with lots of lighting . There are a lot of women who travel so we make sure the facility is well lit so safety is there,” noted Froebe. “ Our facilities are open 24 hours 7 days week. Jay Call was the founder of the business and hence the name Flying J. He was a very avid flyer. This business was a hobby that has become one of the
top 10 largest privately held companies in the US. It started from 1 gas station in Brigham, Utah and from there they bought and traded . Jay Call passed away 2 years ago in the plane accident in his 50’s and is no longer with us but Flying J run by Phil Adams as President.”
Flying J are expanding rapidly which is usually 8 to 15 new facilities per year. The latest downturn in the economy has changed that so they might slow down a bit but pick up to average 8 to 10 according to Froebe. “ Our project director has been here for several
years working on this project. We have a 20 plus acres site at the corner of Thunder Bay Expressway and Oliver Road where we will provide over 80 truck parking stalls where they can stay the night. Thunder Bay is a strategic location that was identified by Shell Oil in the past.
The new Flying J structure will be 10,000 square feet. They have three different major footprints they use defined by the number of showers in them. The 10,000 foot model has 4 showers, 15,000- 9 showers and one with 50 showers where there are a number of trucks on
the road.
Douglas Young is the Senior Project Manager for Dominion Construction who will construct the project. “ We had some typical issues as the property was approved and now are ready to go. We have started on Phase 1 taking down some existing old structures and starting the off site work. We have to put sewer in the street and at Burwood there is a forced main as we are going uphill and a gravity sanitary sewer on Oliver Road to connect . There is preliminary work to do to complete the site. The demolition we undertook was the old residence and barn and fencing,” stated Young. “ Phase 1 also means we will reconstruct Burwood Road from Oliver south right to the bend with a grade change to raise the road for easier truck travel. Phase 2 will be the construction of the plaza and parking lot. Some sites on the property will be reserved for future developments. Work has just got underway after some regulatory work required by the city. We will be on site by July 28th. Phase 2 requires a final schedule as we have to coordinate the building opening and parking lot.”
“ The Flying J project will take 240 days to complete. Because of the weather the parking lot can’t be completed until late May 2009 so we have to coordinate the other capital investment, the plaza itself.. Over the winter conditions we will work on the inside, noted Froebe. “ In time for the summer travel it will be available for summer vacationers. We divide our facility into two isolated areas , the trucking side and the auto RV side so we keep autos away from the big
trucks. People can eat there, have fast foods and a sit down restaurant. “
“ The site work will be a challenge because of a large area and some rock on part of their property. It is a typical installation, with the underground tanks requiring some major excavation. We pre qualified 3 or 4 contractors and are very happy with Dominion Construction. We want to do it right and make sure the facilities are well done, said Froebe. “ I believe we really try to be the Hilton of travel plazas for thetrucking industry. We really do work hard to
provide nice place for truckers. They lead a somewhat of a nomadic life away from home for days and days and they need to have a safe, clean place to stop to get refreshed and rested so that they can travel on these roads with these dangerous loads alert and well rested.
Flying J provides as much of that for them so their worries can be put away and they can focus on safety. We all know the important loads they carry. Once the trucking industry stop we are all in trouble. Not only do we provide a clean attractive facility we are very competitive and provide the best value and reward those who use our services.”
18 wheel trucks can put in 75 to 150m gallons of fuel at a stop and can spend $1000 per time. They usually try to fill up every 200 miles.Flying Js 2005 revenue was$10.9 billion. They have on the books to expand 5 more facilities in Canada in the next few years. “ Flying J povides a bonus program, competitive wages and opportunity to move up in the organization and a great path for honest clean people. You can achieve all you want to. We will hire 35 to 65 employees in Thunder Bay,” said Froebe. “ It is a fabulous area here in Thunder bay and I am
waiting to go out and do some fishing here.”
