Bottom line
- Total investment $12.4M including a $140K franchise fee.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated AVOID with a risk score of 82/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).
- 46 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3 — higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Petro Stopping Centers unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
1%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate travel centers and truck stops offering fuel (diesel, gasoline, propane), quick-service restaurants (QSR), convenience retail, and ancillary services (maintenance, showers, parking). Revenue streams include fuel sales (subject to per-gallon royalties), food service (2% royalty), and non-QSR retail (4.5% royalty on sales up to $600K/month).
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 15 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Petro Stopping Centers presents extreme risk due to going concern status, extensive litigation exposure (Deepwater Horizon, environmental, antitrust), missing financial disclosure, and unclear whether unit growth reflects genuine demand or distressed expansion.
Score breakdown · what drove the 82 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status indicates potential insolvency despite 63.6% unit growth (suggests acquisition/restructuring, not organic health)
- 02HIGHMassive litigation exposure: Deepwater Horizon (hundreds of lawsuits), UST environmental liability, MTBE contamination, antitrust/price manipulation, and False Claims Act settlement create ongoing financial and reputational risk
- 03MINORNo Average Revenue or Net Income disclosure in FDD prevents validation of $12.4M investment viability or ROI projections
- 04MINORComplex tiered royalty structure (4.5%/2% on QSR + per-gallon fuel fees) creates revenue leakage; fuel margins are notoriously thin in this sector
- 05HIGHHigh unit growth (63.6% YoY) during going concern status suggests distressed franchisee recruitment rather than system strength
- 06MINOREnvironmental liability exposure (USTs, MTBE) creates potential franchisee indemnification risk if parent company defaults
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
17 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Petro Stopping Centers · FDD (2026) PDF