The parent to the truckstop chains TA and Petro reported sharp increases in its profits for the final quarter of last year and for all of 2014.

Travel Centers of America LLC saw its fourth quarter net income jump from the same time in 2013 by 186.8% to $34.2 million dollars. Revenue during the period fell 9.5% to $1.7 billion.

Net income for 2014 compared to 2013 surged 92.8% to $61 million while revenue slipped 2.1% to $7.8 billion.

“While the significant move in fuel product pricing during the second half of 2014 contributed to much of the year over year improvement with respect to TA's fuel gross margins, we also remain committed to provide customers with competitively priced fuel and the nonfuel products and services necessary to support and enhance their travel experiences,” said Thomas M. O'Brien, CEO. “The results of these efforts produced solid nonfuel growth at both our same sites and newly acquired locations. Also, our ability to manage site level expenses at both our same site and newly acquired locations contributed to the positive results.”

Travel Centers has 174 locations that operate under the Travel Centers of America banner while 76 operate under the Petro Stopping Centers name, plus 34 convenience stores with retail gas stations, primarily under the Minit Mart brand name.

The company said its fuel revenue for the 2014 fourth quarter and year declined from the prior year periods primarily due to the sharp decline in market prices for fuel during the last five months of 2014. Nonfuel revenue for the 2014 fourth quarter increased by $46.8 million over the prior year quarter. About half of this increase came from same site revenue growth and the other half came from revenue at sites the company acquired since the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2013.

"Looking ahead, our program of internal growth initiatives is robust and our pipeline of potential acquisitions continues to be reasonably full. While it is uncertain whether fuel gross margins will remain as elevated as in the 2014 fourth quarter, they have abated somewhat thus far in the first quarter of 2015,, our operating performance and growth opportunities have me more enthusiastic about TA's prospects than I have been at any other time since I began working for the company,” said O'Brien.