Tesla Megachargers 

Heavy-duty electric vehicles, like electric semi-trucks, can only be an alternative to traditional diesel-powered vehicles if there is a dependable infrastructure of charging stations along the routes they use every day.

That's where the innovative collaboration between Pilot and Tesla comes in. Together, we will create a charging network along major freight corridors, helping make heavy-duty EVs a viable option. By building reliable, high-powered Tesla Megachargers along the nation's busiest highways and routes with expected EV demand, the collaboration accelerates the path toward widespread EV trucking adoption.

Strategic Charging Along Major Freight Corridors 

The first Tesla Megacharger sites are expected to open in summer 2026. The initial locations will be at select Pilot travel center locations along I-5, I-10 and several other key corridors across California, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, where the need for heavy-duty charging is highest.

By placing chargers where fleets already operate, the collaboration ensures that charging fits seamlessly into existing routes and driver schedules.

High-power Charging Built for Heavy-duty Trucks

Pilot travel centers equipped with Tesla Megachargers will host four to eight high-power charging stalls powered by Tesla's V4 cabinet technology. These chargers deliver up to 1.2 megawatts of power per stall. This level of power is essential for long-haul electric trucking.

According to Tesla, one of their electric Semi trucks can regain most of its typical 500-mile range in about 30 minutes. That matches the length of a normal mandated rest break for professional drivers. That means fleets can charge while drivers rest, without sacrificing valuable time on the road.

Supporting Tesla Today and More EV Trucks Tomorrow 

While the initial network is designed for the Tesla Semi truck, both Tesla and Pilot have signaled an exciting future where other heavy-duty truck EV manufacturers can plug in, too. These sites will help support a broader shift toward decarbonization in the transportation industry.

Pilot is Shaping the Future of Energy 

This collaboration also aligns with Pilot's long-term vision to expand its energy offerings for fleets and travelers. Across North America, Pilot is expanding access to electrification solutions and lower-carbon fueling alternatives including renewable diesel and biodiesel.

As demand for lower-carbon and alternative fuels grows, Pilot is meeting customers wherever they are on their energy journey, whether they're already running electric or just beginning to explore alternative fuel solutions. It's all part of our effort to help shape the future of energy.

The agreement represents a significant expansion of the relationship between the two companies and marks a pivotal moment for the Voyix Commerce Platform as it accelerates adoption across the convenience and fuel retail sector. Pilot aims to be the leading energy and experience provider people rely on to fuel their journeys. NCR Voyix’s underlying technology will help Pilot better serve its more than 1.2 million guests a day. The AI‑enabled transformation of this technology into a modern microservices architecture, along with Voyix’s global experience in mission‑critical retail operations, will help accelerate Pilot’s guest-obsessed approach to creating exceptional experiences at its travel centers nationwide.

Creating a seamless, standardized platform is a foundation for core store operations, enabling consistent software delivery across locations, greater operational resilience and the ability to activate new capabilities. As needs evolve, Pilot can introduce improvements faster, strengthen edge security and reduce operational friction for team members.

“At a time when technology is moving at an unparalleled pace, we are excited to be leveraging this innovative platform to transform our point-of-sale operating environment for the future, while simplifying and modernizing our tech stack,” said Andy Lupo, chief technology officer at Pilot. “For a network of our size, the job is to keep stores running smoothly while making meaningful improvements fast, and NCR Voyix provides another way for us to serve our guests better every day by reimagining the store experience and innovating for the future.”

“Pilot operates across North America as a recognized leader in the convenience fuel retail market,” said Nick East, chief product officer at NCR Voyix. “Leveraging AI, we have been able to bring our extensive library of proven convenience fuel retail technology to a modern microservices architecture with game‑changing results. We’re proud to continue to support Pilot as they transform their point-of-sale system and fuel technology and accelerate new possibilities for their business and their guests.”

As part of the engagement, Pilot will deploy Voyix POS and Fuel on the Voyix Commerce Platform. This will unlock greater flexibility, resilience, security and observability across the estate, and a streamlined path for continuous improvement in both store performance and the guest experience.

INNOVATE.22 was our second hackathon competition (the first being in 2019) and had a whole new meaning since the pandemic to bring people together in person from across the company – designers, engineers, coders, project managers, data analysts, marketing, guest services, digital products, and more – to help ideate new business opportunities while giving back to the local community.

Twelve teams had 30 hours to come up with real business solutions across a wide range of topics, from employee onboarding to EV installation. Each team competed on behalf of a nonprofit of their choice, with Pilot Company donating $10,000 to the four winners’ organizations.

“INNOVATE is all about collaboration, team building, and really just getting to know one another,” said John Mardini, senior manager of enterprise architecture and compute strategy at Pilot Company. “It’s incredible that Pilot allows us to spend two or three days to play with technology, meet new people, and ultimately invests in us while also giving back to the community.”

 

Here are the winners from this year’s competition:

Team 1: The Badgers

Charity: STEM for her

Project: Pay by Badge at PFJ Stores and PJ Fresh Café

“My first INNOVATE was a great experience,” said Nick Yeo, a data strategist for Pilot. “I really enjoyed getting to meet new people and hear about all the different work that’s going on at Pilot and different areas the business is interested in developing.”

 

Team 3: Tell me how you really feel

Charity: Navy Marine Corps Relief Society

Project: Guest Feedback on MyRewards+ app

“It was actually a pretty grueling two days. We had a team that was PACKED with incredible skill, talent, and passion! Every single individual wanted to be there and wanted to bring their best to help build a valuable solution. So, as you can imagine, there was a ton of excitement, energy, nervousness, tension, frustration, exasperation, confusion…but somehow, when you put a team together with a shared purpose and goal, you’re able to turn all of those emotions into determination, collaboration, and, ultimately, celebration! The greatest value we got from this experience was committing together to create something valuable for our Team and Guests, and successfully delivering on that commitment.” – Evan Lindauer, manager of compliance and risk for Pilot Company

 

Team 6: Feedback Fuel

Charity: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Project: Real-time store feedback

Our team was a great mix of developers, project managers, Team Member services, data analysts, and marketers; everyone was really passionate about working on Real-time store feedback. We had some fun debates, some great ideating, and overall came away with a winning idea. – Sheeva Hoders, Director of brand marketing

 

Team 12: It’s not a camera…

Charity: Truckers Against Trafficking

Project: Call for Service Using Cameras

“My favorite part of INNOVATE was meeting and working with people I’d typically never cross paths with here at Pilot. It’s been fun to see my new friends from INNOVATE walking the halls of my building!” – Jade Morton, assistant brand marketing manager for Pilot Company.

WHAT’S NEXT AFTER INNOVATE?

This event isn’t just a fun moment – it’s something we look to incorporate in our business moving forward. In fact, our team will soon take some of these projects to key stakeholders and vote on which ones to implement in our business.

INNOVATE.19, for example, kickstarted our internal PILOTCo app, which tremendously helped us communicate to our team members during the pandemic as we went remote. We’re excited to see what new innovations become realities for our stores and team members thanks to this year’s successful competition.

If you want to be a part of the action happening here at Pilot, check out our latest IT opportunities at our corporate offices.

Introducing IntelliTire

Coming soon to a travel center near you is an advanced tire monitoring and service network by Bridgestone called IntelliTire. This incredible technology is proven to reduce tire-related downtime by 40% or more for commercial truck and bus fleets.

Phase one of this fleet tire monitoring and service network is currently rolling out, and installations are taking place at 200 Pilot and Flying J travel centers throughout the summer.

What is Bridgestone’s IntelliTire?

IntelliTire is an advanced tire monitoring service offered by Bridgestone that provides real-time data on tire pressure monitoring, temperature, speed and more to detect and avoid potential incidents causing downtime while on the road. Before you ask, yes, it will work with other tires and tire manufacturers. Almost all of them!

IntelliTire offers a yard-based and real-time solution for commercial truck and bus fleets. Both solutions utilize durable tire sensors installed directly onto each tire’s valve stem. The yard-based version, which you can find at Pilot and Flying J travel centers across the country, utilizes a router to capture sensor data.

The insights derived from this data can be accessed by fleets via the IntelliTire app, allowing fleets to take immediate action when a critical tire issue appears. Fleet owners and managers can even set up custom alerts to only be notified by email, text message, or both if critical problems arise.

How does the new fleet tire monitoring and services network work?

The partnership between Bridgestone and Pilot Company leverages Bridgestone Fleet Care mobility solutions and Pilot and Flying J travel centers to provide more convenient, frequent and actionable tire intelligence. Routers are currently being installed in the fuel canopies of select Pilot and Flying J locations and are linked to the Bridgestone tire pressure monitoring solution, IntelliTire. When a driver pulls into the travel center, the routers will transmit real-time tire data from trucks and buses to fleet managers in two minutes or less and will not take any additional time away from drivers.

If a tire issue has been detected, fleets who are subscribed to Bridgestone’s service event management application, REACH, can view suggested nearby service centers and schedule a replacement or repair. With IntelliTire and REACH, you can locate a service dealer and reduce lost time under one digital platform, all before the driver finishes refueling!

Our goal is to provide the best experience possible for our guests and drivers; this is another way we can help increase the safety and efficiency of the professional drivers that keep North America moving. To learn more about the many features and benefits of this new partnership or to sign up for this service or visit https://bridgestonemobilitysolutions.lpages.co/pfj/.

We are looking for more top talent to join our growing IT team at our Knoxville, TN campus and our newly added Atlanta center of excellence.  We just celebrated the opening of this new space which has room for more than 100 team members. The Atlanta campus will be an expansion of our headquarters in Knoxville and will provide yet another location for teams to collaborate and innovate.

Our new office is located just north of Atlanta in Roswell, Georgia. It’ll house experts in fields like data science and engineering, data governance, and digital products that are essential to a growing technology department. To celebrate the opening of our new space, we had a ribbon-cutting ceremony with representatives from our IT leadership team and the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, a leader in the region’s business growth and talent development.

Pilot has a long-standing commitment to giving back to local communities. We were honored to present a check for $5,000 to TechBridge, a non-profit organization focused on breaking the cycle of generational poverty through innovative technology. The Atlanta team was excited to learn more from TechBridge about the amazing work they do to support non-profits through technology and how they can get involved.

“With Pilot’s major investments in technology, we must provide a workplace where our teams can come together to collaborate and be a part of a team dedicated to a better experience for the millions of people we interact with daily. We are taking care of our guests and professional drivers through innovation at the pump, in the store, and in the energy future. With more office space to add talented team members, we are excited to see the difference technology can make to all the communities we serve across North America.” – Mike Rodgers, Chief Technology Officer

We even helped David Dawson, Director of Data and Platform Integration, fulfill his ribbon-cutting dream by having a separate ceremony with the giant scissors!

Thank you to everyone who traveled to celebrate the grand opening with us. We look forward to seeing our team grow and work together to help our company and the people we serve thrive. Check out all of our available positions and apply today:  https://jobs.pilotflyingj.com/jobs.