Flying J will honor truck drivers balance of services at Truckstop.net: Flying J's TON Services, which offers Wi-Fi and Internet access at the company's nationwide service stops, will credit truck drivers with the balance of their Truckstop.net account services against a Flying J account. Flying J has 285 Wi-Fi hotspots currently. If you're a driver and you've paid a year in advance and you need access, this is a great combination of marketing and generosity. Flying J will see the increased revenue from gas and other services which would more than make up for any temporary loss on the Wi-Fi side.
Flying J's press release follows the jump.
Ogden, UT – December 7, 2004 -- Flying J has announced that it will support those professional drivers that have been affected by the recent suspension of service by Truckstop.net LLC, by honoring any outstanding balance of service remaining on those accounts. Current subscribers of Truckstop.net can simply connect at one of the more than 285 Flying J hotspot locations, comprising over 60,000 truck parking stalls, across the country to take advantage of this offer.
JJ Singh, Vice President over Financial and Communication Services for Flying J, made the announcement by saying, “We understand how important it is for drivers to stay connected while they are on the road. High-speed internet access has become a necessity for many drivers and owner-operators and we sympathize with those drivers that have been affected by this unfortunate situation”.
Flying J offers the lowest standard pricing for nationwide WiFi access at Truckstops and was the first provider in the industry to offer this service across the country. Unlimited monthly service is available for as little as $16.66 per month. For more information about the offer and specific terms, drivers may contact Flying J WiFi customer service at 1-800-870-9068 or visit www.tonservices.com/wifi.htm.
I was contracting as a Wi-Fi engineer with Sprint at the beginning of this project. Truckstop.net from the outset had unrealistic expectorations of outdoor 2.4Ghz RF going through trucks/walls etc. They promised their customers (Love’s, Pilot, Petro) full coverage in all truck parking areas and indoors but would not buy enough equipment resulting in poor coverage. We were made to slap together the cheapest solutions to satisfy truckstop.net and then they would complain about range and interference.
It’s interesting to note the gloating of the Flying J execs. Flying J is an aggressive competitor in every aspect of their business and the same with Wi-Fi. They made it a point to place their AP's on the same channel as our equipment in order to create interference when their locations were adjacent to a truckstop.net location. We would move our gear to a different frequency after customer complains only to find Flying J had matched our settings a couple days later. All perfectly legal, if not nice. Trucktop.net was naïve (and plain wrong) to think they could own the ISM band at their location.
Sprint also made the mistake of promising too much for too little and generally lacking in organization. It was generally a mess from start to finish.