I felt trapped - Maintenance Pilot Flying J Employee Review

1.0
6 Mar 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It's a job. At least you get paid. Sometimes you get a food discount.

Cons

Took the job because I needed money and was willing to do crap work to get by. This was a crap job. I was hired to clean showers and be a janitor. But, I was expected to clean sometimes 100 plus showers per shift as well as clean all four huge bathrooms, mop the whole store, sweep, clean and stock the coffee bar, pull all trash outside and inside, as well as wash all dirty towels. I was on a shift by myself most days and doing ALL of it was next to impossible. I'm a woman and was told not to worry about cleaning the men's room (we had no closed for cleaning signs so men would walk in and use the bathroom while I was trying to clean), but if I didn't clean them they wouldn't get done and a crap toilet looks bad on me. So, I did what I could. When I asked for a closed for maintenance sign, I was told it was against Flying J protocol because they aren't allowed to close restrooms...how the hell are you supposed to clean it then?! They won't even put up a sign to remind people not to flush tampons down the toilet. You know how many times I had to mop up crap water in the women's room? A lot. That's a health hazard. People step in it and walk all through the store making crap prints everywhere. It's disgusting. But they can't put up signs to help prevent it because that'd be "telling people what to do". Getting harassed by Truckers constantly didn't make me feel safe and frankly I wanted to just up and leave some days it was so bad. Not only that, but we would constantly run out of towels because customers would steal them. I would get chewed out for a mess left from the previous shift who didn't do their job. I'd work until 11 pm and then be expected to come in at 5 am the next day when the schedule said to come in at 3pm just a day prior. I'd have to constantly check to make sure when I was supposed to come in and I never worked the same days every week. I missed a day or two when I first started by accident because my schedule changed without me knowing about it...and got chewed out for it. I also didn't get the hours I was promised. All in all, it was a horrible experience. The manager had a "I don't give a ****" attitude and when I expressed concern about job safety, or brought up ideas to help make the job better I was brushed off. I did get a good performance review, but frankly the bump in pay was mere cents. Not worth it. I did the same type of work at another place and made at least 1.50 more when I started AND felt 10x safer.

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Pilot Flying J Response
9y
We take claims like yours very seriously. Please email us directly at PFJHR@pilottravelcenters.com with specific details pertaining to your experience so we may address.

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5.0
5 June 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Amazing co-workers and leadership in the company.

Cons

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2.0
12 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pay is decent for Knoxville Benefits are good Coworkers are the only thing holding this place together

Cons

The culture has taken a nosedive. The new CFO sets the tone, and that tone is basically “I don’t care.” That attitude trickles down through leadership and it shows in every decision being made. The return‑to‑office mandate is a perfect example. It’s not about productivity — it’s about control. People with long commutes are burning hours of their lives just to sit in the office on Zoom calls they used to take from home. Morale is the lowest it has ever been. Entire teams have been gutted because people are quitting faster than they can be replaced. The workload dumped on whoever stays is unsustainable. Communication from leadership is cold, dismissive, and out of touch. Feedback goes nowhere. Concerns are brushed off. Decisions are made with zero regard for how they impact employees. Constant reorganizations create chaos. Roles change overnight, expectations shift constantly, and employees are expected to absorb more and more with no support. The company used to feel people‑focused. Now it feels like a machine that’s grinding down the very people who keep it running.

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