Jack Cardwell, owner of first self-service truck stop Petro, dies at age of 89: Trish Long

El Paso businessman Jack Cardwell died Jan. 23 at the age of 89. His obituary in the El Paso Times says that James A. "Jack" Cardwell was born on March 1, 1932, to Agnes Godwin and Aubrey Cardwell in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

“From 1952-1954 he served two years in the United States Army, which brought him to El Paso, TX. In the fall of 1952, he met the woman of his dreams, Martha Evonne Emmett who passed August 10, 2019, just two weeks shy of their 66th wedding anniversary.

“Jack's decades-long entrepreneurship began with Jack's Super Service in 1954, continued with the El Paso Truck Terminal in 1965, and then on to Petro Stopping Centers in 1975, which were known for their customer-friendly innovations. He operated Petro successfully until its sale in 2007. Jack was recently honored in 2021 by Chevron for his 60 years as a Chevron dealer and marketer with C&R Distributing.”

Jack Cardwell obituary: https://www.elpasotimes.com/obituaries/tnm058938

El Paso has first self-service truck stop

This May 15, 1976, article by Ed Kimble, explains the success of the Petro truck stop:

El Paso has the very first self-service truck stop in the United states.

Petro, the $2.5 million truck stop complex at the intersection of Horizon Boulevard and Interstate 10, is an experiment that worked out better than expected, developer Rip Russell said.

Russell is vice president and co-owner, with Jack Cardwell, of Crinco Investments, Inc., the holding company that developed Petro last year.

The pumping station, with its 12 self-service diesel islands, computerized sales center and 250,000 gallon storage tanks, has been open for about a year now, Russell said.

It now attracts an average of 150 trucks per day for an average fill-up of 110 gallons of diesel fuel.

"At Petro, we're already doing twice what the El Paso Truck Terminal (also owned by Crinco) is doing and that's a full service truck stop," Russell said.

That's the kind of savings that is especially important to independent truckers, and it is not surprising that most of Petro's customers are independent truckers or drivers who work for smaller carrier lines.

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Not congested, easily accessible

Another reason for the growing popularity of Petro is that it is not congested. Russell explained that at full-service truck stops, drivers often leave their trucks by the pumps to be filled while they go inside to eat and shower, thus making it difficult for other trucks to get in and out.

At Petro, the driver fills his own truck and must then move it to a parking area well out of the way of the pumps.

Also, since Petro is outside the eastern city limits where there is less traffic on the expressway, truckers can get on and off the expressway more easily, Russell said.

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Tire repair, scales and restaurant

Petro's self-serve complex includes a tire repair center and currently under construction is a set of scales so truckers can weigh their trucks to see if they meet New Mexico port of entry requirements.

Truckers also seem to appreciate the service they get at the restaurant-store-rest area complex.

"There's not but one other truck stop I've ever seen with showers like this one," Gordon Bearden, a Dalton, Ga., independent trucker, commented. "I don't think I've ever seen a better truck stop."

Petro's truck stop complex includes the Iron Skillet Restaurant, operated by Tom Jordan of Jord-Inns; Hi-Yo Silver's, a Western clothing and trucker's supply store, managed by Mrs. Syble Midgley; and a trucker's rest area, which includes a game room, 12 private shower rooms and a laundromat.

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Free shower with fill-up

Every trucker getting a fill-up at Petro is entitled to a free shower. Otherwise, use of the shower rooms costs $1. Russell said the shower rooms are cleaned and supplied with new linens and soap after each use.

The Iron Skillet, which opened for business in March, includes a truckers-only coffee shop and a restaurant that features 70 items, all of which can be ordered any time of day or night.

The restaurant features a soup bar as well as a salad bar and the specialty of the house is an all-you-can-eat menu that includes fried chicken, chicken fried steak, T-bone steak and the "house" stew.

Originally, Crinco had intended to build a 100-room hotel on the Petro site, but Russell said the land reserved for the hotel will probably have to be used for a parking lot.

A certain philosophy is reflected in the design and quality of service at Petro , Russell said.

Wave of the future

Self-service, he believes, is the wave of the future in truck stops.

"I believe that by 1980, self-serve stations will have 80 percent of the gasoline market and 20 percent of the diesel market. Right now, 56 percent of all gas is being pumped at self-serve outlets. As fast as you can build a self-service, you effectively wipe out the full-serves," Russell said.

Truckers seem to have mixed feelings about the self-service concept.

"It's all right. It's not my idea, it's the boss man's idea. It's just another way to trim costs. We fill up 28 trucks here every week," Ed Montsinger said while waiting for his receipt at the sales center Friday.

Bearden, the Dalton, Ga., driver, said he prefers the self-serve concept. "If anything's done wrong, you have to look at yourself," he said.

And Bobby I. Freeman, a trucker from Fort Worth, summed it up over a healthy sized chew of tobacco, "I think this is a real nice place. If you don't like the service, you don't have to stop here.

"One thing, though. They need to get some better looking waitresses," he said spitting a stream of brown juice on the pavement as he turned to repair his engine.

Trish Long may be reached at tlong@elpasotimes.com or 915-546-6179.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Jack Cardwell, owner of 1st self-service truck stop Petro, dies at 89