SWTO 2.0: 7-Eleven’s private fleet transforms fuel services

SWTO was ready. Well before two major hurricanes struck Florida’s Gulf Coast only two weeks apart, Archie Wood, director of transport operations at SWTO—the private fleet for 7-Eleven and its integrated fuel supplier, SEI Fuels—and his crew sprang to action, shifting equipment away from flood-prone areas, staging trucks near strategic fuel terminals, and securing personnel from outside markets.

The bulk hauler still had more than a dozen drivers from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas assisting emergency response efforts in Florida and beyond long after Helene and Milton departed.

“It’s one thing to be available and support our customers, but when we can see the impact at the street level, it’s rewarding,” Wood said. “We’ve had numerous patrons and first responders come up to our drivers to express their appreciation and thank them for continuing to work amid tough conditions. Many of our drivers were initially evacuated, and then returned to find their homes damaged, but they still reported to work and made fuel deliveries, so we could meet the community’s needs.”

Wood’s team is delivering the same steadfast level of support for 7-Eleven.

SWTO’s dedicated fleet of trucks and tank trailers compliments the fuel retailer’s collection of common carriers as it grows through acquisitions, including Speedway in 2021 and 204 Sunoco stores in 2024, and the expansion of its 7FLEET diesel network, providing invaluable in-house capacity and insight that continues to evolve as the company founded in 1963 as Wilco Transportation transitions to “SWTO 2.0.”

“Ultimately, our success depends upon how well we can service our customers,” said William Eckard, 7-Eleven senior director of fuels transportation. “By leveraging our third-party carriers and SWTO, we were able to resupply fuel to our stations within days [of those storms], rather than weeks. Operating a proprietary fleet also gives us unique insight into the transportation industry, revealing both opportunities and challenges that led us to adopt a more commercially driven fuels transportation strategy.

“This knowledge allows us to identify market opportunities while better understanding the issues our partners face every day—and well positions us to strengthen these critical third-party relationships.”

Fuel supply optimization

SWTO started as the fuel delivery fleet for A.T. Williams Oil Company. It morphed into WilcoHess, and later Hess Oil, before then-Marathon Petroleum Company subsidiary Speedway acquired Hess Corp.’s assets in 2014 and renamed the fleet Speedway Transport Operations (SWTO). The Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based trucking operation turned into SWTO after 7-Eleven purchased Speedway.

The company now runs more than 200 trucks and 230 trailers spread across 10 states in the Southeast U.S., with 450 drivers serving 1,400-plus 7-Eleven, Speedway, and Stripes convenience stores. After delivering 1.3 billion gallons of fuel three years ago, SWTO is on pace to deliver 2 billion gallons of fuel—or roughly one load every three minutes—while traveling over 22 million miles in 2024.

“Customer service is a top priority, and our view is: Who prioritizes our stores, and keeps them supplied, more than we do?” Wood said. “Operating a more agile private fleet also provides greater flexibility, allowing our internal customer to capture market advantages and quickly adjust for supply disruptions.

“It’s a valuable component in an integrated fuel supply system.”

SWTO domiciles trucks near gasoline and diesel loading racks to maximize productivity and minimize empty miles. One of Wood’s top goals is to optimize availability in historically strained or vulnerable markets. “We work very closely with SEI,” he said. “If you look at our overall value proposition, we provide a cost-competitive carrier alternative, which requires us to manage our cost structure as our common carriers do; and we facilitate a fully integrated model by deploying our resources to best support the fuel supply team.

“And value creation goes beyond trucking logistics, meaning our true value is on the fuel supply side, more than on the transport side. But the logistics component remains a critical element of an integrated fuel supply chain. Without our professional drivers, our products wouldn’t make it to market.”

Industry associations are enhancing SWTO’s value. The company recently secured U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2024 SmartWay High Performer status and was one of the Women in Trucking Association’s “Top Companies for Women to Work For in Transportation” last year. “Our participation in efforts geared specifically toward supporting a diverse workforce through associations such as Women in Trucking is paramount,” said Sarah Burns, SWTO transport scheduling and planning manager, who also was part of the Truckload Carriers Association’s first Elevate leadership class.

SWTO Version 2.0

SWTO continues to elevate its status by expanding both organically and inorganically, leveraging lessons learned during the Great Recession and Covid-19 pandemic, and pursuing its strategic plan to bolster customer service, employee satisfaction, and profitability by reimagining the organization’s mission.

The Sunoco transaction included SWTO’s first fleet acquisition, which added 20 trucks in a new market (West Texas), and introduced Gravitate’s artificial intelligence-powered software to logistics coordinators. Gravitate’s integrated supply optimization and dispatch solution is better suited for SWTO’s cohesive approach to fuel supply and transportation than its current transportation management system (TMS), Wood said, unlocking “maximum value capture” with an intuitive user interface. “The launch went smoothly, and Gravitate’s transaction speed and accurate demand forecasting have impressed our transport scheduling and planning team,” Burns agreed.

Leaders expect the TMS to advance the 2.0 initiative launched after SWTO’s divestiture from Marathon, which oversaw SWTO’s fuel supply before Speedway joined 7-Eleven. “We needed to reconceptualize SWTO to prepare for the combination with SEI,” Wood explained. “It was a paradigm shift from support organization to standalone, commercially viable trucking operation.” The intent is to create customer value by providing efficient and reliable services that make SWTO the preferred fleet for 7-Eleven’s family of brands, the employer of choice for professional drivers, and the safest carrier on the road.

Components include establishing a trucking-specific support structure, measuring business performance and comparing it to market alternatives, developing a brand-boosting Employee Value Proposition (EVP), and creating a collaborative “Fleet Safety Center of Excellence” that algins SWTO’s safety policies, procedures, and standards with driver training, technologies, and functional disciplines. “Our strategic vision demands an emphasis on safety,” said Ronnie McCoy, SWTO fleet safety, compliance, and training manager. “Being the safest carrier on the road helps protect our drivers and the motoring public, and directly ties into providing the highest level of service for our customers.”

The expansion of 7-Eleven’s 7FLEET trucker services complements the 2.0 strategy.

“The driver demographic is shifting,” stated Marissa Schneider, 7-Eleven commercial fleet director. “Increasingly, drivers are attracted to fueling at the stores they grew up with because they feel cleaner, safer, and have familiar offerings. Our national presence, combined with our brand awareness, positions us to compete for their business. They need to be able to depend on our sites for reliable fleet and truck payment acceptance, along with competitive pricing and parking availability.”

Employer of choice

SWTO’s EVP is the cornerstone in its 2.0 blueprint. A modified version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it starts with essentials like compensation, benefits, and equipment and moves up through integral safety and security, engagement, recognition, and career-path elements. “Our EVP has allowed us to build out, improve, and educate our drivers on our employment offering,” Wood clarified.

“We believe it gives us a competitive edge in a tight labor market.”

The approach is paying off, helping SWTO “significantly” decrease driver turnover and improve morale, Wood added; and the new “Hourly PLU

The approach is paying off, helping SWTO “significantly” decrease driver turnover and improve morale, Wood added; and the new “Hourly PLU$” pay program, designed to simplify and modernize compensation, is a powerful recruiting tool. The hybrid system combines hourly, per-delivery, and per-mile rates, providing drivers a predictable paycheck and an opportunity to improve pay through productivity. “Almost every driver hired by driver referral in the past three years is still active, proving our incentive plans support recruiting and retention efforts,” said Krystal Copher, SWTO human resources supervisor.

rdquo; pay program, designed to simplify and modernize compensation, is a powerful recruiting tool. The hybrid system combines hourly, per-delivery, and per-mile rates, providing drivers a predictable paycheck and an opportunity to improve pay through productivity. “Almost every driver hired by driver referral in the past three years is still active, proving our incentive plans support recruiting and retention efforts,” said Krystal Copher, SWTO human resources supervisor.

Internal recognition includes the “Driven by Excellence” program, which uses performance measurements to identify and recognize top performers, and the “Gold Oval Club” established in 2023 with 11 inaugural members. Six more entered the club this year. “Most ‘million-mile’ programs skip a year if a driver is involved in a preventable crash,” McCoy said. “At SWTO, our professional drivers must achieve 10 consecutive years without a preventable crash. Recognition dinners, social media posts, trophies, special blazers, and Gold Oval patches for their uniforms, are some of the ways we celebrate these remarkable professionals and ensure they receive the recognition they deserve.”

SWTO’s “fleetSMART” safety training includes Smith System computer-based lessons and DriverDirect classroom courses led by certified trainers, Luma’s learning management system, monthly safety meetings, regulatory compliance education, and company-specific instruction on programs, policies, and procedures. “We’re unwavering in our commitment to upholding the highest safety standards, regardless of external pressures or industry practices,” said Roger De Guimerá III, SWTO fleet operations manager for four states. “Our goal is for every employee to perform their duties safely and return home to their families every day.”

Nicky Yelverton, SWTO fleet operations manager for North Carolina and Virginia, concurred, insisting its “the leadership and operations teams’ responsibility” to make sure everyone safely completes every shift.

Equipment safety

That also requires them to provide the safest equipment on the road.

“Equipment is very important,” Wood affirmed. “Aside from the image aspect, drivers want equipment they know is safe, reliable, and comfortable.”

SWTO’s mixed fleet of daycab tractors includes Mack Anthems, Peterbilt 579s, and Freightliner Cascadias acquired in the Sunoco deal. “We still prefer a limited number of platforms with similar specs, but to keep trade cycles where we need them, we’ve reduced our dependency on a single provider,” Wood said. All Macks and Peterbilts have automated transmissions; air disc brakes; remote diagnostic capabilities; Bendix Wingman Fusion 2.0 packages with front and side warning systems, emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and electronic stability; cameras; and Michelin X tires.

Four-compartment, 9,200-gallon DOT 407 Heil trailers feature Betts emergency valves, Dixon FloTech overfill systems, and Hendrickson air-ride suspensions with Intraax lift axles and Tiremaxx tire inflation. Newer models also boast Tank Ai intelligent trailer technology, including Drōv-powered temperature, weight, and wheel-end sensors; rear-, side-, and load-facing cameras; and automated tire inflation and deflation; as well as LightGuard safety lighting and LoadGuard theft alerts.

SWTO recently corrected trade cycles caused by supply chain disruptions in 2021 and 2022 to reduce “higher-than-normal” maintenance costs. The company aims to replace trailers every 15 years and tractors every five years to cycle out older units before warranties expire. “The success of our maintenance program relies on the overall execution by everyone here, and the results show every day in the equipment we have available,” said Mark Lowe, SWTO fleet maintenance and reliability manager.

Continuous improvement

Their important work is ongoing.

SWTO recently opened a fifth service center in Tampa, Florida, to boost uptime and employee satisfaction. “We currently provide in-house maintenance on about 45% of our units,” Lowe said. “By ‘insourcing’ more of our fleet maintenance, we can minimize the lag time from third-party vendors, deliver improved quality controls that allow for better equipment utilization, and increase driver morale.”

Leaders also continue to build out their SWTO 2.0 EVP with new driver ambassador and development programs, communications platforms, and community engagement efforts, while expanding the 7FLEET network, and the fleet’s involvement in industry associations like the National Private Truck Council and National Tank Truck Carriers, which recently appointed Wood to its Safety & Security Council as Southern region chair. His NTTC goals include developing a safety benchmark and best practices, enhancing training initiatives—and leading SWTO to a North American safety championship.

“The SWTO team continues to exceed my high expectations for their impact on 7-Eleven and SEI Fuels,” said Sean Duffy, 7-Eleven executive vice president for fuels. “I am very proud of and grateful for all the truck drivers, diesel technicians, and logistics coordinators on the team, and what they do for our stores every day.”