Truck stop operator Love’s is giving its staff a raise and a bonus as it remains open during the coronavirus pandemic.
Late Friday, the Oklahoma City-based chain said all hourly store employees will get a $100 bonus on March 30. They’re also getting a $2-per-hour pay increase and will be getting free meals while they are working.
The pay increases run through May 1, according to a prepared statement from the company. At that time, Love’s will evaluate whether to continue them.
In a move similar to what Landstar has done for its business capacity owners (BCOs), Love’s says that any employee who tests positive for COVID-19 or is quarantined by a doctor will get pay for up to 80 hours of missed time. Assuming a 40-hour workweek, that’s two weeks — the same duration of sick pay that Landstar is paying out.
Salaried managers who get paid a bonus will be getting that bonus regardless of performance, Love’s said. Those bonuses will be paid a month earlier than normal.
The company also said it is hiring across the country “at its more than 510 stores in 41 states.”
“Unprecedented times means unprecedented measures and that’s what Love’s is doing as a company,” Shane Wharton, Love’s president, said in the statement. “The fantastic work of our store teams deserves to be rewarded.”The move by Love’s was announced the same day that Travel Centers of America said its diesel sales had been well above average. TA, unlike Love’s, is publicly traded and the announcement sent the stock soaring. On a day when the overall NASDAQ was down 3.79%, TA Petro, which trades on NASDAQ, was up 22.26%. However, in the past month, it is still down 9.07%. From its highest level in the past month, it’s down 54.75%, according to Barchart.
TA stock, March 20, per Yahoo Finance