By Tina Fisher Cunningham
Fisher Forde Media
Pilot Flying J to join Love's at the Summit
The Forde Files No. 151
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Tina Fisher Cunningham
Tehachapi's second major truck stop is due to open this year as seasoned traveling crews drive construction of the Pilot Flying J Travel Center toward completion.
"They are due to open in October," Tehachapi City Manager Greg Garrett told The Loop. "We have inspectors out there three times a day."
Local contractors are hired for certain jobs, Garrett said, while the corporate core team takes the lead.
The Pilot construction workers are staying in local hotels, he said, and – as it is summertime – some of them have their families with them.
"They love Tehachapi," he said. "They love the Farmer's Market. They raved about the [July 4] Hot Dog Festival and the fireworks."
The Pilot construction project includes improvements to public roads at no taxpayer expense, Garrett said. The Knoxville, Tenn.-based company will add turn pockets and widen East Tehachapi Boulevard and rebuild Steuber Road at the site. The company will light and landscape the roadway and provide maintenance.
Architectural rendering: Pilot Draft EIR
The truck stop is located at Tehachapi Summit west of where Hwy. 58 crosses over Tehachapi Boulevard and the railroad tracks, about a quarter mile from Love's Travel Stop, which opened several years ago.
"Love's has been wildly successful," Garrett said.
"The Summit area is naturally a transportation hub," he said. Truckers prefer to drive up the grade, tanks lighter, and fuel at the top.
The Pilot development will feature a Wendy's restaurant, Cinnabon and the Pilot Flying J brand sandwich bar called PJ Fresh as well as amenities for truckers and travelers – a convenience store, restrooms, showers, a drivers' lounge and game room, nine diesel bays, 16 auto fueling stations and 176 parking spaces for heavy trucks and vehicles.
Pilot Flying J has more than 750 locations in 43 states and six Canadian provinces.
