WESTLAKE, Ohio -- TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) said that it has agreed to settle a civil antitrust litigation brought by Flying J Inc. and its affiliates that TA is defending. Simultaneously, TA announced that it will enter arrangements by which TCH LLC, an affiliate of Flying J, will process payment card transactions on the TCH electronic platform. TA will pay $5 million to Flying J and its affiliates in connection with these matters.
In February 2006, Ogden, Utah-based Flying J, a competitor of TA, and affiliates of Flying J commenced a civil antitrust litigation against TA alleging [image-nocss] that TA had conspired with others to refuse to process payment card transactions using the TCH electronic processing platform. The TCH platform is operated by TCH LLC, which is majority owned by Flying J.
This litigation continued after TA became a publicly owned company in early 2007. From the date this litigation commenced in February 2006 through today, TA and its predecessor expensed approximately $8 million in legal fees and other costs related to this litigation. As a result of the settlement announced last week, TA and the plaintiffs in the pending litigation intend to dismiss the pending litigation against TA and to exchange releases.
Simultaneously with the litigation settlement, Westlake, Ohio-based TA will enter an agreement to process payment card purchases using the TCH electronic platform. TA expects that TCH payment cards will be accepted at all TA locations, including locations branded TravelCenters of America, TA and Petro Stopping Centers, starting shortly after the settlement is approved by the court in which the antitrust litigation is currently pending.
The arrangements to process TCH payment card transactions at TA locations are being undertaken on a non-exclusive basis. TA currently anticipates that TA locations will continue to accept payment cards using electronic platforms other than TCH as they have historically.
TA travel centers are located in 41 U.S. states and in Canada.
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