Pilot Flying J Named 'Best Place to Work' in Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Despite weathering a tough year, Pilot Flying J has received some good news as 2013 draws to a close. The locally based travel plaza company was tapped "Best Place to Work" in Knoxville.

Readers of the Knoxville News Sentinel chose Pilot Flying J in the category of companies with more than 50 employees. The designation was part of the results of the newspaper's 2013 Readers' Choice survey.

"Passionate, hard-working team members are the foundation of any successful organization," Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam said. "We work hard to hire outstanding people, provide them with the training they need to best serve our customers and reward them for a job well done. Without the great team we have at Pilot Flying J, we would not be able to provide the superior level of fast, friendly service that our customers expect and deserve."

Pilot Flying J and its subsidiary Pilot Logistics Services, employs more than 24,000 people nationwide. More than 900 team members work at the company's headquarters in Knoxville.

"We're honored that our team members voted us as the best place to work in Knoxville," Haslam said. "It's a reflection of their commitment to our company's values and dedication to making life better for professional drivers."

The recognition comes eight months after federal officials raided Pilot Flying J's headquarters as part of an investigation into fraud in the company's fuel rebate program. Last month, U.S. District Judge James Moody in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas approved a class-action settlement to resolve the more than 20 lawsuits filed against it since the April 15 raid.

Family-owned Pilot Flying J operates more than 650 retail locations and is the largest operator of travel centers and travel plazas in North America. It appears on the Forbes 2013 list of America's largest private companies at No. 7.