TravelCenters of America (TA) 10-Q 2 Nov 21 2021 Q3 Quarterly report Financial data

Cover

Cover - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Oct. 29, 2021
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Quarterly Report	true
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2021
Document Transition Report	false
Entity File Number	001-33274
Entity Registrant Name	TravelCenters of America Inc. /MD/
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	MD
Entity Tax Identification Number	20-5701514
Entity Address, Address Line One	24601 Center Ridge Road
Entity Address, City or Town	Westlake
Entity Address, State or Province	OH
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	44145-5639
City Area Code	440
Local Phone Number	808-9100
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Interactive Data Current	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Small Business	true
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Shell Company	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		14,579,621
Entity Central Index Key	0001378453
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2021
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Shares of Common Stock, $0.001 Par Value Per Share
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Shares of Common Stock, $0.001 Par Value Per Share
Trading Symbol	TA
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
8.25% Senior Notes due 2028
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	8.25% Senior Notes due 2028
Trading Symbol	TANNI
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
8.00% Senior Notes due 2029
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	8.00% Senior Notes due 2029
Trading Symbol	TANNL
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
8.00% Senior Notes due 2030
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	8.00% Senior Notes due 2030
Trading Symbol	TANNZ
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Un

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 621,103	$ 483,151
Accounts receivable (net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,343 and $1,016 as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively)	149,410	94,429
Inventory	169,543	172,830
Other current assets	22,129	35,506
Total current assets	962,185	785,916
Property and equipment, net	789,403	801,789
Operating lease assets	1,680,902	1,734,883
Goodwill	22,213	22,213
Intangible assets, net	11,060	11,529
Other noncurrent assets	110,438	87,530
Total assets	3,576,201	3,443,860
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	249,982	158,075
Current operating lease liabilities	116,046	111,255
Other current liabilities	207,311	175,867
Total current liabilities	573,339	445,197
Long term debt, net	524,925	525,397
Noncurrent operating lease liabilities	1,685,084	1,763,166
Other noncurrent liabilities	104,602	69,121
Total liabilities	2,887,950	2,802,881
Stockholders' equity:
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 216,000 shares of common stock authorized as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, and 14,579 and 14,574 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively	14	14
Additional paid-in capital	783,778	781,841
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(194)	(205)
Accumulated deficit	(95,347)	(141,084)
Total TA stockholders' equity	688,251	640,566
Noncontrolling interest	0	413
Total stockholders' equity	688,251	640,979
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	$ 3,576,201	$ 3,443,860

Consolidated Statements of Oper

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Unaudited) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 1,939,946	$ 1,269,924	$ 5,303,322	$ 3,559,375
Cost of goods sold (excluding depreciation):
Total cost of goods sold	1,525,252	899,871	4,124,349	2,503,025
Site level operating expense	246,871	221,864	708,097	655,950
Selling, general and administrative expense	39,563	32,967	112,083	108,171
Real estate rent expense	63,898	65,226	191,378	191,893
Depreciation and amortization expense	24,276	32,299	72,244	89,113
Other operating expense (income), net	230	0	642	0
Income from operations	39,856	17,697	95,813	11,223
Interest expense, net	11,843	7,375	34,966	22,064
Other (income) expense, net	(1,034)	233	1,667	1,109
Income (loss) before income taxes	29,047	10,089	59,180	(11,950)
(Provision) benefit for income taxes	(6,847)	(1,432)	(13,776)	4,222
Net income (loss)	22,200	8,657	45,404	(7,728)
Less: net income (loss) for noncontrolling interest	0	52	(333)	104
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders	22,200	8,605	45,737	(7,832)
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes:
Foreign currency income (loss), net of taxes of $(36), $27, $(1) and $(33) respectively	28	0	11	(18)
Other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to common stockholders	28	0	11	(18)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to common stockholders	$ 22,228	$ 8,605	$ 45,748	$ (7,850)
Net income (loss) per share of common stock attributable to common stockholders:
Basic and diluted (in USD per share)	$ 1.52	$ 0.61	$ 3.14	$ (0.76)
Fuel
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 1,424,997	$ 791,880	$ 3,830,886	$ 2,244,219
Cost of goods sold (excluding depreciation):
Total cost of goods sold	1,318,987	711,757	3,547,154	1,990,241
Nonfuel
Revenues:
Total revenues	511,063	474,097	1,460,787	1,304,674
Cost of goods sold (excluding depreciation):
Total cost of goods sold	206,265	188,114	577,195	512,784
Rent and royalties from franchisees
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 3,886	$ 3,947	$ 11,649	$ 10,482

Consolidated Statements of Cash

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income (loss)	$ 45,404	$ (7,728)
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Noncash rent credits, net	(17,527)	(15,827)
Depreciation and amortization expense	72,244	89,113
Deferred income tax benefit (provision)	13,336	(3,045)
Gain on sale of assets, net	(642)	0
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	(55,345)	59,238
Inventory	3,288	35,684
Other assets	8,700	3,280
Accounts payable and other liabilities	108,369	43,807
Other, net	3,459	9,050
Net cash provided by operating activities	181,286	213,572
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(46,782)	(36,795)
Proceeds from other asset sales	8,803	1,270
Investment in equity investee	(1,350)	0
Other	148	(1,864)
Net cash used in investing activities	(39,181)	(37,389)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds received from public equity offering	0	79,985
West Greenwich Loan borrowings	0	16,600
Payments on West Greenwich Loan	(498)	0
Payments on Revolving Credit Facility	0	(7,900)
Payments on Term Loan Facility	(1,500)	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	(80)	(65)
Acquisition of stock from employees	(110)	0
Other, net	(2,029)	(1,589)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(4,217)	87,031
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash	64	22
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	137,952	263,236
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period	483,151	17,206
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	621,103	280,442
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Lease modification (operating to finance lease)	28,201	0
Interest paid, net of capitalized interest	33,069	21,353
Income taxes paid (refunded)	$ 74	$ (56)

Consolidated Statements of Stoc

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	Total	Total TA Stockholders' Equity	Common Stock	Additional Paid-In Capital	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss	Accumulated Deficit	Noncontrolling Interest
Beginning balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2019			8,307
Beginning balance at Dec. 31, 2019	$ 572,536	$ 571,053	$ 8	$ 698,402	$ (172)	$ (127,185)	$ 1,483
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net (in shares)			(11)
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net	2,176	2,176
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net				2,176
Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues	79,985	79,985	$ 6	79,979
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)			6,100
Distribution to noncontrolling interest							(65)
Other comprehensive loss, net of taxes	(18)	(18)			(18)
Net (loss) income	(7,728)	(7,832)				(7,832)	104
Ending balance (in shares) at Sep. 30, 2020			14,396
Ending balance at Sep. 30, 2020	646,886	645,364	$ 14	780,557	(190)	(135,017)	1,522
Beginning balance (in shares) at Jun. 30, 2020			8,298
Beginning balance at Jun. 30, 2020	558,285	556,815	$ 8	700,619	(190)	(143,622)	1,470
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net (in shares)			(2)
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net	(41)	(41)	$ 0
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net				(41)
Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues	79,985	79,985	$ 6	79,979
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)			6,100
Other comprehensive loss, net of taxes	0
Net (loss) income	8,657	8,605				8,605	52
Ending balance (in shares) at Sep. 30, 2020			14,396
Ending balance at Sep. 30, 2020	$ 646,886	645,364	$ 14	780,557	(190)	(135,017)	1,522
Beginning balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2020	14,574		14,574
Beginning balance at Dec. 31, 2020	$ 640,979	640,566	$ 14	781,841	(205)	(141,084)	413
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net (in shares)			5
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net	2,537	2,537
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net				2,537
Distribution to noncontrolling interest							(80)
Adjustments to Additional Paid in Capital, Other	(600)	(600)		(600)
Other comprehensive loss, net of taxes	11	11			11
Net (loss) income	$ 45,404	45,737				45,737	(333)
Ending balance (in shares) at Sep. 30, 2021	14,579		14,579
Ending balance at Sep. 30, 2021	$ 688,251	688,251	$ 14	783,778	(194)	(95,347)	0
Beginning balance (in shares) at Jun. 30, 2021			14,581
Beginning balance at Jun. 30, 2021	665,382	665,382	$ 14	783,137	(222)	(117,547)	0
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net (in shares)			(2)
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net	641	641	$ 0
Grants under share award plan and stock based compensation, net				641
Other comprehensive loss, net of taxes	28	28			28
Net (loss) income	$ 22,200	22,200				22,200	0
Ending balance (in shares) at Sep. 30, 2021	14,579		14,579
Ending balance at Sep. 30, 2021	$ 688,251	$ 688,251	$ 14	$ 783,778	$ (194)	$ (95,347)	$ 0

Consolidated Balance Sheets (_2

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Statement of Financial Position [Abstract]
Allowance for doubtful accounts	$ 1,343	$ 1,016
Common stock, par value (in USD per share)	$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	216,000,000	216,000,000
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	14,579,000	14,574,000
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	14,579,000	14,574,000

Consolidated Statements of Op_2

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Unaudited) (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020
Income Statement [Abstract]
Foreign currency loss, taxes	$ (36)	$ 27

Business Description and Basis

Business Description and Basis of Presentation	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Business Description and Basis of Presentation	Business Description and Basis of Presentation TravelCenters of America Inc. is a Maryland corporation. We operate or franchise 279 travel centers, standalone truck service facilities and a standalone restaurant. Our customers include trucking fleets and their drivers, independent truck drivers, highway and local motorists and casual diners. We also collect rents, royalties and other fees from our tenants and franchisees. As of September 30, 2021, our business included 275 travel centers in 44 states in the United States and the province of Ontario, Canada, primarily along the U.S. interstate highway system, operated primarily under the "TravelCenters of America," "TA," "TA Express," "Petro Stopping Centers" and "Petro" brand names. Of these travel centers, we owned 51, we leased 181, we operated two for a joint venture in which we owned a noncontrolling interest and 41 were owned or leased from others by our franchisees. We operated 232 of our travel centers and franchisees operated 43 travel centers, including two we leased to franchisees. Our travel centers offer a broad range of products and services, including diesel fuel and gasoline, as well as nonfuel products and services such as truck repair and maintenance services, diesel exhaust fluid, full service restaurants, quick service restaurants, travel stores and various customer amenities. As of September 30, 2021, our business included three standalone truck service facilities operated under the "TA Truck Service" brand name. Of these standalone truck service facilities, we leased two and owned one. Our standalone truck service facilities offer extensive maintenance and emergency repair and roadside services to large trucks. As of September 30, 2021, our business included one standalone restaurant that we operated for a joint venture in which we owned a noncontrolling interest. On April 21, 2021, we completed the sale of our Quaker Steak & Lube, or QSL, business for $5,000, excluding costs to sell and certain closing adjustments. See Note 3 of this Quarterly Report for more information about the sale of our QSL business. We manage our business as one segment. We make specific disclosures concerning fuel and nonfuel products and services because they facilitate our discussion of trends and operational initiatives within our business and industry. We have a single travel center located in a foreign country, Canada, that we do not consider material to our operations. The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements are unaudited. These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, applicable for interim financial statements. The disclosures presented do not include all the information necessary for complete financial statements in accordance with GAAP. These unaudited interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, or our Annual Report. In the opinion of our management, the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, including normal recurring adjustments, considered necessary for a fair presentation. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. While our revenues are modestly seasonal, the quarterly variations in our operating results may reflect greater seasonal differences because our rent expense and certain other costs do not vary seasonally. The COVID-19 pandemic has, and economic conditions occasionally in the past have, significantly altered the seasonal aspects of our business, and they may have similar impacts in the future. For this and other reasons, our operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year. Fair Value Measurement Senior Notes We collectively refer to our $110,000 of 8.25% Senior Notes due 2028, our $120,000 of 8.00% Senior Notes due 2029 and our $100,000 of 8.00% Senior Notes due 2030 as our Senior Notes, which are our senior unsecured obligations. We estimate that, based on their trading prices (a Level 2 input), the aggregate fair value of our Senior Notes on September 30, 2021, was $354,756. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement and Other Accounting Matters In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update 2019-12, Income Taxes – Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes , which eliminates certain exceptions related to the approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. It also clarifies and simplifies other aspects of the accounting for income taxes. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2021, using the prospective transition method. The implementation of this update did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. On March 27, 2020, the United States enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act, as a response to the economic uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which, among other things, included several temporary changes to corporate income tax provisions such as modifications to limitations on deductibility of net operating losses and business interest, provisions relating to the deferral of the employer portion of social security taxes incurred through December 31, 2020, and employee retention tax credit, which is a refundable payroll credit for certain qualified wages and health benefits. As of September 30, 2021, we have deferred $23,340 of employer social security payments, and have included this amount in other current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets. On December 27, 2020 and March 11, 2021, the CARES Act was modified by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, respectively, extending the employee retention tax credit through December 31, 2021. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized $3,268 relating to the employee retention tax credit, which is included in accounts receivable in our consolidated balance sheets. We continue to evaluate the total amount of employee retention tax credits for which we may be eligible and the $3,268 outstanding receivable as of September 30, 2021 is still our best estimate. We will continue to evaluate the impact of this legislation on our operations and consolidated financial statements in future periods to the extent additional guidance and regulations are issued.

Revenues

Revenues	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]
Revenues	Revenues We recognize revenues based on the consideration specified in the contract with the customer, net of any sales incentives (such as customer loyalty programs and customer rebates) and excluding amounts collected on behalf of third parties (such as sales and excise taxes). The majority of our revenues are generated at the point of sale in our retail locations. Revenues consist of fuel revenues, nonfuel revenues and rents and royalties from franchisees. Disaggregation of Revenues We disaggregate our revenues based on the type of good or service provided to the customer, or by fuel revenues and nonfuel revenues, in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss). Nonfuel revenues disaggregated by type of good or service for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, were as follows: Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended 2021 2020 2021 2020 Nonfuel revenues: Store and retail services $ 197,842 $ 179,517 $ 564,054 $ 489,575 Truck service 200,192 189,630 565,520 504,584 Restaurant 79,850 77,665 233,657 233,369 Diesel exhaust fluid 33,179 27,285 97,556 77,146 Total nonfuel revenues $ 511,063 $ 474,097 $ 1,460,787 $ 1,304,674 Contract Liabilities Our contract liabilities, which are presented in our consolidated balance sheets in other current and other noncurrent liabilities, primarily include deferred revenues related to our customer loyalty programs, gift cards, rebates payable to customers and other deferred revenues. The following table shows the changes in our contract liabilities between periods. Customer Other Total December 31, 2019 $ 17,993 $ 4,822 $ 22,815 Increases due to unsatisfied performance obligations arising during the period 115,792 15,791 131,583 Revenues recognized from satisfied performance obligations during the period (98,147) (12,879) (111,026) Other (12,817) (589) (13,406) December 31, 2020 22,821 7,145 29,966 Increases due to unsatisfied performance obligations arising during the period 95,943 9,762 105,705 Revenues recognized from satisfied performance obligations during the period (89,444) (8,609) (98,053) Other (2,804) (1,496) (4,300) September 30, 2021 $ 26,516 $ 6,802 $ 33,318

Disposition Activity

Disposition Activity	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Business Combination and Asset Acquisition [Abstract]
Disposition Activity	Disposition ActivityOn April 21, 2021, we completed the sale of our QSL business for $5,000, excluding costs to sell and certain closing adjustments. We had classified our QSL business as held for sale as of December 31, 2020. We did not treat the sale of QSL as a discontinued operation, as we concluded that its effect was not material and did not represent a strategic shift in our business. As of the date of sale, our QSL business included 41 standalone restaurants in 11 states in the United States operated primarily under the QSL brand name. During the first quarter of 2021, we recorded impairment charges of $650, primarily resulting from the change in fair value of underlying assets sold, which were included in depreciation and amortization expense in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss). During the second quarter of 2021, we recognized a $606 loss on the sale of QSL, which was included in other operating expense (income), net,

Stockholders' Equity

Stockholders' Equity	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]
Stockholders' Equity	Stockholders' Equity The following table presents a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders to net income (loss) available to common stockholders and the related earnings (loss) per share of common stock for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020. Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended 2021 2020 2021 2020 Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ 22,200 $ 8,605 $ 45,737 $ (7,832) Less: net (income) loss attributable to participating securities 497 175 1,048 (273) Net income (loss) available to common stockholders $ 21,703 $ 8,430 $ 44,689 $ (7,559) Weighted average shares of common stock (1) 14,254 13,779 14,239 9,890 Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share of common stock attributable to common stockholders $ 1.52 $ 0.61 $ 3.14 $ (0.76) (1) Excludes unvested shares of common stock awarded under our share award plans, in which shares of common stock are considered participating securities because they participate equally in earnings and losses with all of our other shares of common stock. The weighted average number of unvested shares of common stock outstanding for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, was 327 and 286, respectively. The weighted average number of unvested shares of common stock outstanding for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, was 334 and 358, respectively.

Leasing Transactions

Leasing Transactions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Leases [Abstract]
Leasing Transactions, As a Lessee	Leasing Transactions As a Lessee We have lease agreements covering many of our properties, as well as various equipment, with the most significant leases being our five leases with Service Properties Trust, or SVC, which are further described below. Certain of our leases include renewal options, and certain leases include escalation clauses and purchase options. Renewal periods are included in calculating our operating lease assets and liabilities when they are reasonably certain. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recognized in our consolidated balance sheets. As of September 30, 2021, most of our SVC Leases (as defined below), the leases covering our other properties, and most of our equipment leases, were classified as operating leases and certain of our other equipment leases and one ground lease pursuant to one SVC Lease were classified as finance leases. As of September 30, 2021, our non-SVC finance lease assets and liabilities were immaterial to our consolidated financial statements. Finance lease assets were included in other noncurrent assets, with the corresponding current and noncurrent finance lease liabilities included in other current liabilities and other noncurrent liabilities, respectively, on our consolidated balance sheets. Certain of our operating leases provide for variable lease costs, which primarily include percentage rent and our obligation for the estimated cost of removing underground storage tanks under the SVC Leases. Our lease costs are included in various balances in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss), as shown in the following table. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, our lease costs consisted of the following: Classification in our Consolidated Three Months Ended 2021 2020 Operating lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense $ 58,951 $ 59,500 Operating lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 2,447 4,182 Variable lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense 2,332 1,372 Variable lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 168 172 Total real estate rent expense 63,898 65,226 Operating lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 710 881 Financing lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense 53 — Short-term lease costs Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 171 390 Amortization of finance lease assets: Depreciation and amortization expense 553 — Amortization of finance lease assets: other Depreciation and amortization expense 553 79 Interest on finance lease liabilities: Interest expense, net 305 — Interest on finance lease liabilities: other Interest expense, net 134 32 Sublease income Nonfuel revenues (502) (542) Net lease costs $ 65,875 $ 66,066 Classification in our Consolidated Nine Months Ended 2021 2020 Operating lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense $ 177,040 $ 178,499 Operating lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 7,529 9,859 Variable lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense 6,303 3,073 Variable lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 506 462 Total real estate rent expense 191,378 191,893 Operating lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 2,332 2,797 Financing lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense 152 — Short-term lease costs Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 513 1,340 Amortization of finance lease assets: Depreciation and amortization expense 1,290 — Amortization of finance lease assets: other Depreciation and amortization expense 1,212 79 Interest on finance lease liabilities: Interest expense, net 716 — Interest on finance lease liabilities: other Interest expense, net 323 32 Sublease income Nonfuel revenues (1,505) (1,565) Net lease costs $ 196,411 $ 194,576 Maturities of our operating lease liabilities that had remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of September 30, 2021, were as follows: SVC Leases (1) Other Total Years ended December 31: 2021 $ 67,350 $ 1,134 $ 68,484 2022 268,980 4,133 273,113 2023 255,407 2,601 258,008 2024 251,234 1,463 252,697 2025 251,221 1,334 252,555 Thereafter 1,789,682 3,483 1,793,165 Total operating lease payments 2,883,874 14,148 2,898,022 Less: present value discount (2) (1,094,815) (2,077) (1,096,892) Present value of operating lease liabilities $ 1,789,059 $ 12,071 $ 1,801,130 (1) Includes rent for properties we sublease from SVC and pay directly to SVC's landlords. (2) The discount rate used to derive the present value of unpaid lease payments is based on the rates implicit in the SVC Leases and our incremental borrowing rate for all other leases. The weighted average remaining lease term for our operating leases as of September 30, 2021, was approximately 12 years. Our weighted average discount rate for our operating leases as of September 30, 2021, was approximately 9.1%. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we paid $208,905 and $208,327, respectively, for amounts that had been included in the measurement of our operating lease liabilities. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, our operating lease assets and liabilities consisted of the following: September 30, December 31, Operating lease assets: SVC Leases $ 1,669,329 $ 1,724,428 Other 11,573 10,455 Total operating lease assets $ 1,680,902 $ 1,734,883 Current operating lease liabilities: SVC Leases $ 112,030 $ 106,788 Other 4,016 4,467 Total current operating lease liabilities $ 116,046 $ 111,255 Noncurrent operating lease liabilities: SVC Leases $ 1,677,029 $ 1,756,449 Other 8,055 6,717 Total noncurrent operating lease liabilities $ 1,685,084 $ 1,763,166 On March 9, 2021, we and SVC amended one of the SVC Leases to reflect the renewal of a third party ground lease at one of the 179 travel center properties that we lease from SVC. This ground lease, which was previously accounted for as an operating lease, is now accounted for as a finance lease. As a result of this ground lease modification, the applicable ground lease has balances, as of September 30, 2021, of $27,095 in other noncurrent assets, $1,487 in other current liabilities and $26,346 in other noncurrent liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets. Maturities of the financing lease liabilities related to the amended ground lease noted above that had remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of September 30, 2021, were as follows: Finance Ground Lease Years ended December 31: 2021 $ 644 2022 2,591 2023 2,656 2024 2,722 2025 2,790 Thereafter 24,986 Total financing lease payments 36,389 Less: present value discount (1) (8,556) Present value of financing lease liabilities $ 27,833 (1) The discount rate used to derive the present value of unpaid lease payments is based on the rate implicit in the SVC Lease. Leasing Agreements with SVC. As of September 30, 2021, we leased from SVC a total of 179 properties under five leases that expire between 2029 and 2035, subject to our right to extend those leases. We refer to these five leases collectively as the SVC Leases. We recognized total real estate rent expense under the SVC Leases of $61,283 and $60,872 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $183,343 and $181,572 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Included in these rent expense amounts are percentage rent payable of $1,850 and $893 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $4,827 and $1,742 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, which are based on a percentage of the increases in total nonfuel revenues at each leased property over base year levels, deferred rent of $4,404 and $13,211 for the three and nine month periods, respectively, and adjustments to record minimum annual rent on a straight line basis over the terms of the leases and estimated future payments by us for the cost of removing underground storage tanks on a straight line basis. The remaining balance of our deferred rent obligations was $26,422 as of September 30, 2021. Pursuant to the SVC Leases, we may request that SVC purchase qualifying capital improvements we make at the leased travel centers in return for increased annual minimum rent. We did not sell to SVC any improvements we made to properties leased from SVC for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020. As permitted by the SVC Leases, we sublease a portion of certain travel centers to third parties to operate other retail operations. These subleases are classified as operating leases. We recognized sublease rental income of $502 and $542 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $1,505 and $1,565 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. As a Lessor We leased two travel centers to franchisees as of September 30, 2021 and 2020. Rent revenues from these operating leases totaled $595 and $584 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $1,763 and $1,728 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Future minimum lease payments due to us for the two leased sites under these operating leases as of September 30, 2021, were $595 for the remainder of 2021 and $1,190 for 2022. See above for information regarding certain travel centers that we lease from SVC in which we sublease a portion of the travel centers to third parties to operate other retail operations. We also lease portions of owned properties to third parties to operate other retail operations.
Leasing Transactions, As a Lessor	Leasing Transactions As a Lessee We have lease agreements covering many of our properties, as well as various equipment, with the most significant leases being our five leases with Service Properties Trust, or SVC, which are further described below. Certain of our leases include renewal options, and certain leases include escalation clauses and purchase options. Renewal periods are included in calculating our operating lease assets and liabilities when they are reasonably certain. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recognized in our consolidated balance sheets. As of September 30, 2021, most of our SVC Leases (as defined below), the leases covering our other properties, and most of our equipment leases, were classified as operating leases and certain of our other equipment leases and one ground lease pursuant to one SVC Lease were classified as finance leases. As of September 30, 2021, our non-SVC finance lease assets and liabilities were immaterial to our consolidated financial statements. Finance lease assets were included in other noncurrent assets, with the corresponding current and noncurrent finance lease liabilities included in other current liabilities and other noncurrent liabilities, respectively, on our consolidated balance sheets. Certain of our operating leases provide for variable lease costs, which primarily include percentage rent and our obligation for the estimated cost of removing underground storage tanks under the SVC Leases. Our lease costs are included in various balances in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss), as shown in the following table. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, our lease costs consisted of the following: Classification in our Consolidated Three Months Ended 2021 2020 Operating lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense $ 58,951 $ 59,500 Operating lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 2,447 4,182 Variable lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense 2,332 1,372 Variable lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 168 172 Total real estate rent expense 63,898 65,226 Operating lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 710 881 Financing lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense 53 — Short-term lease costs Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 171 390 Amortization of finance lease assets: Depreciation and amortization expense 553 — Amortization of finance lease assets: other Depreciation and amortization expense 553 79 Interest on finance lease liabilities: Interest expense, net 305 — Interest on finance lease liabilities: other Interest expense, net 134 32 Sublease income Nonfuel revenues (502) (542) Net lease costs $ 65,875 $ 66,066 Classification in our Consolidated Nine Months Ended 2021 2020 Operating lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense $ 177,040 $ 178,499 Operating lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 7,529 9,859 Variable lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense 6,303 3,073 Variable lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 506 462 Total real estate rent expense 191,378 191,893 Operating lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 2,332 2,797 Financing lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense 152 — Short-term lease costs Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 513 1,340 Amortization of finance lease assets: Depreciation and amortization expense 1,290 — Amortization of finance lease assets: other Depreciation and amortization expense 1,212 79 Interest on finance lease liabilities: Interest expense, net 716 — Interest on finance lease liabilities: other Interest expense, net 323 32 Sublease income Nonfuel revenues (1,505) (1,565) Net lease costs $ 196,411 $ 194,576 Maturities of our operating lease liabilities that had remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of September 30, 2021, were as follows: SVC Leases (1) Other Total Years ended December 31: 2021 $ 67,350 $ 1,134 $ 68,484 2022 268,980 4,133 273,113 2023 255,407 2,601 258,008 2024 251,234 1,463 252,697 2025 251,221 1,334 252,555 Thereafter 1,789,682 3,483 1,793,165 Total operating lease payments 2,883,874 14,148 2,898,022 Less: present value discount (2) (1,094,815) (2,077) (1,096,892) Present value of operating lease liabilities $ 1,789,059 $ 12,071 $ 1,801,130 (1) Includes rent for properties we sublease from SVC and pay directly to SVC's landlords. (2) The discount rate used to derive the present value of unpaid lease payments is based on the rates implicit in the SVC Leases and our incremental borrowing rate for all other leases. The weighted average remaining lease term for our operating leases as of September 30, 2021, was approximately 12 years. Our weighted average discount rate for our operating leases as of September 30, 2021, was approximately 9.1%. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we paid $208,905 and $208,327, respectively, for amounts that had been included in the measurement of our operating lease liabilities. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, our operating lease assets and liabilities consisted of the following: September 30, December 31, Operating lease assets: SVC Leases $ 1,669,329 $ 1,724,428 Other 11,573 10,455 Total operating lease assets $ 1,680,902 $ 1,734,883 Current operating lease liabilities: SVC Leases $ 112,030 $ 106,788 Other 4,016 4,467 Total current operating lease liabilities $ 116,046 $ 111,255 Noncurrent operating lease liabilities: SVC Leases $ 1,677,029 $ 1,756,449 Other 8,055 6,717 Total noncurrent operating lease liabilities $ 1,685,084 $ 1,763,166 On March 9, 2021, we and SVC amended one of the SVC Leases to reflect the renewal of a third party ground lease at one of the 179 travel center properties that we lease from SVC. This ground lease, which was previously accounted for as an operating lease, is now accounted for as a finance lease. As a result of this ground lease modification, the applicable ground lease has balances, as of September 30, 2021, of $27,095 in other noncurrent assets, $1,487 in other current liabilities and $26,346 in other noncurrent liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets. Maturities of the financing lease liabilities related to the amended ground lease noted above that had remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of September 30, 2021, were as follows: Finance Ground Lease Years ended December 31: 2021 $ 644 2022 2,591 2023 2,656 2024 2,722 2025 2,790 Thereafter 24,986 Total financing lease payments 36,389 Less: present value discount (1) (8,556) Present value of financing lease liabilities $ 27,833 (1) The discount rate used to derive the present value of unpaid lease payments is based on the rate implicit in the SVC Lease. Leasing Agreements with SVC. As of September 30, 2021, we leased from SVC a total of 179 properties under five leases that expire between 2029 and 2035, subject to our right to extend those leases. We refer to these five leases collectively as the SVC Leases. We recognized total real estate rent expense under the SVC Leases of $61,283 and $60,872 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $183,343 and $181,572 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Included in these rent expense amounts are percentage rent payable of $1,850 and $893 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $4,827 and $1,742 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, which are based on a percentage of the increases in total nonfuel revenues at each leased property over base year levels, deferred rent of $4,404 and $13,211 for the three and nine month periods, respectively, and adjustments to record minimum annual rent on a straight line basis over the terms of the leases and estimated future payments by us for the cost of removing underground storage tanks on a straight line basis. The remaining balance of our deferred rent obligations was $26,422 as of September 30, 2021. Pursuant to the SVC Leases, we may request that SVC purchase qualifying capital improvements we make at the leased travel centers in return for increased annual minimum rent. We did not sell to SVC any improvements we made to properties leased from SVC for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020. As permitted by the SVC Leases, we sublease a portion of certain travel centers to third parties to operate other retail operations. These subleases are classified as operating leases. We recognized sublease rental income of $502 and $542 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $1,505 and $1,565 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. As a Lessor We leased two travel centers to franchisees as of September 30, 2021 and 2020. Rent revenues from these operating leases totaled $595 and $584 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $1,763 and $1,728 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Future minimum lease payments due to us for the two leased sites under these operating leases as of September 30, 2021, were $595 for the remainder of 2021 and $1,190 for 2022. See above for information regarding certain travel centers that we lease from SVC in which we sublease a portion of the travel centers to third parties to operate other retail operations. We also lease portions of owned properties to third parties to operate other retail operations.

Business Management Agreement w

Business Management Agreement with RMR	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Business Management Agreement with RMR	Related Party TransactionsWe have relationships and historical and continuing transactions with SVC, RMR and others related to them, including other companies to which RMR or its subsidiaries provide management services and some of which have directors, trustees or officers who are also our Directors or officers. RMR is a majority owned subsidiary of The RMR Group Inc. The Chair of our Board of Directors and one of our Managing Directors, Adam D. Portnoy, is the sole trustee, an officer and the controlling shareholder of ABP Trust, which is the controlling shareholder of The RMR Group Inc. Mr. Portnoy is also a managing director and the president and chief executive officer of The RMR Group Inc. and an officer and employee of RMR. Jonathan M. Pertchik, our other Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, also serves as an officer and employee of RMR. Certain of our other officers and SVC's officers also serve as officers and employees of RMR. Some of our Independent Directors also serve as independent trustees or independent directors of other public companies to which RMR or its subsidiaries provide management services. Mr. Portnoy serves as chair of the boards of trustees or boards of directors and as a managing director or managing trustee of these public companies, including SVC. Other officers of RMR, including certain of our officers, serve as managing trustees, managing directors or officers of certain of these companies. As of September 30, 2021, Mr. Portnoy beneficially owned 659 shares of our common stock (including indirectly through RMR), representing approximately 4.5% of our outstanding shares of common stock. Relationship with SVC We are SVC's largest tenant and SVC is our principal landlord and second largest stockholder. As of September 30, 2021, SVC owned 1,185 shares of our common stock, representing approximately 8.1% of our outstanding shares of common stock. As of September 30, 2021, we leased from SVC a total of 179 travel center properties under the SVC Leases. See Note 6 of this Quarterly Report for more information about our lease agreements with SVC. Our Manager, RMR RMR provides certain services we require to operate our business. We have a business management agreement with RMR to provide management services to us, which relates to various aspects of our business generally. See Note 7 of this Quarterly Report for more information about our business management agreement with RMR. Retirement and Separation Arrangements In December 2019, we and RMR entered into a retirement agreement with Andrew J. Rebholz. Pursuant to his retirement agreement, Mr. Rebholz continued to serve, through June 30, 2020, as a non-executive employee in order to assist in transitioning his duties and responsibilities to his successor. Under Mr. Rebholz's retirement agreement, consistent with past practice, we paid Mr. Rebholz his current annual base salary of $300 until June 30, 2020, a cash bonus in the amount of $1,000 in December 2019 and an additional cash payment in the amount of $1,000 in June 2020, and we fully accelerated the vesting of any unvested shares of our common stock previously awarded to Mr. Rebholz. In February 2020, we and RMR entered into a separation agreement with our former Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, William E. Myers. Pursuant to his separation agreement, in 2020, we paid Mr. Myers $300 and fully accelerated the vesting of any unvested shares of our common stock previously awarded to Mr. Myers. Sale of Property In May 2021, we sold a property located in Mesquite, Texas to Industrial Logistics Properties Trust, or ILPT, for a sales price of $2,200, excluding selling costs of $15. RMR provides management services to ILPT and Mr. Portnoy serves as the chair of the board of trustees and as a managing trustee of ILPT. The gain on sale of assets of $1,504 was included in other operating expense (income), net for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. For more information about these and other such relationships and certain other related person transactions, see our Annual Report.
RMR Group LLC | Affiliated entity
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Business Management Agreement with RMR	Business Management Agreement with RMR The RMR Group LLC, or RMR, provides us certain services that we require to operate our business, and which relate to various aspects of our business. RMR provides these services pursuant to a business management agreement. Pursuant to the business management agreement, we incurred aggregate fees and certain cost reimbursements payable to RMR o f $3,822 and $3,369 for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $10,418 and $9,513 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, which included reimbursements for our share of RMR's costs for providing internal audit services. These amounts are included in selling, general and administrative expense in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss). For more information about our relationship with RMR, see Note 8 of this Quarterly Report and our Annual Report.

Related Party Transactions

Related Party Transactions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Related Party Transactions	Related Party TransactionsWe have relationships and historical and continuing transactions with SVC, RMR and others related to them, including other companies to which RMR or its subsidiaries provide management services and some of which have directors, trustees or officers who are also our Directors or officers. RMR is a majority owned subsidiary of The RMR Group Inc. The Chair of our Board of Directors and one of our Managing Directors, Adam D. Portnoy, is the sole trustee, an officer and the controlling shareholder of ABP Trust, which is the controlling shareholder of The RMR Group Inc. Mr. Portnoy is also a managing director and the president and chief executive officer of The RMR Group Inc. and an officer and employee of RMR. Jonathan M. Pertchik, our other Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, also serves as an officer and employee of RMR. Certain of our other officers and SVC's officers also serve as officers and employees of RMR. Some of our Independent Directors also serve as independent trustees or independent directors of other public companies to which RMR or its subsidiaries provide management services. Mr. Portnoy serves as chair of the boards of trustees or boards of directors and as a managing director or managing trustee of these public companies, including SVC. Other officers of RMR, including certain of our officers, serve as managing trustees, managing directors or officers of certain of these companies. As of September 30, 2021, Mr. Portnoy beneficially owned 659 shares of our common stock (including indirectly through RMR), representing approximately 4.5% of our outstanding shares of common stock. Relationship with SVC We are SVC's largest tenant and SVC is our principal landlord and second largest stockholder. As of September 30, 2021, SVC owned 1,185 shares of our common stock, representing approximately 8.1% of our outstanding shares of common stock. As of September 30, 2021, we leased from SVC a total of 179 travel center properties under the SVC Leases. See Note 6 of this Quarterly Report for more information about our lease agreements with SVC. Our Manager, RMR RMR provides certain services we require to operate our business. We have a business management agreement with RMR to provide management services to us, which relates to various aspects of our business generally. See Note 7 of this Quarterly Report for more information about our business management agreement with RMR. Retirement and Separation Arrangements In December 2019, we and RMR entered into a retirement agreement with Andrew J. Rebholz. Pursuant to his retirement agreement, Mr. Rebholz continued to serve, through June 30, 2020, as a non-executive employee in order to assist in transitioning his duties and responsibilities to his successor. Under Mr. Rebholz's retirement agreement, consistent with past practice, we paid Mr. Rebholz his current annual base salary of $300 until June 30, 2020, a cash bonus in the amount of $1,000 in December 2019 and an additional cash payment in the amount of $1,000 in June 2020, and we fully accelerated the vesting of any unvested shares of our common stock previously awarded to Mr. Rebholz. In February 2020, we and RMR entered into a separation agreement with our former Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, William E. Myers. Pursuant to his separation agreement, in 2020, we paid Mr. Myers $300 and fully accelerated the vesting of any unvested shares of our common stock previously awarded to Mr. Myers. Sale of Property In May 2021, we sold a property located in Mesquite, Texas to Industrial Logistics Properties Trust, or ILPT, for a sales price of $2,200, excluding selling costs of $15. RMR provides management services to ILPT and Mr. Portnoy serves as the chair of the board of trustees and as a managing trustee of ILPT. The gain on sale of assets of $1,504 was included in other operating expense (income), net for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. For more information about these and other such relationships and certain other related person transactions, see our Annual Report.

Contingencies

Contingencies	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Contingencies	Contingencies Environmental Contingencies Extensive environmental laws regulate our operations and properties. These laws may require us to investigate and clean up hazardous substances, including petroleum or natural gas products, released at our owned and leased properties. Governmental entities or third parties may hold us liable for property damage and personal injuries, and for investigation, remediation and monitoring costs incurred in connection with any contamination and regulatory compliance at our locations. We use both underground storage tanks and above ground storage tanks to store petroleum products, natural gas and other hazardous substances at our locations. We must comply with environmental laws regarding tank construction, integrity testing, leak detection and monitoring, overfill and spill control, release reporting and financial assurance for corrective action in the event of a release. At some locations we must also comply with environmental laws relative to vapor recovery or discharges to water. Under the terms of the SVC Leases, we generally have agreed to indemnify SVC for any environmental liabilities related to properties that we lease from SVC and we are required to pay all environmental related expenses incurred in the operation of the leased properties. We have entered into certain other arrangements in which we have agreed to indemnify third parties for environmental liabilities and expenses resulting from our operations. From time to time we have received, and in the future likely will receive, notices of alleged violations of environmental laws or otherwise have become or will become aware of the need to undertake corrective actions to comply with environmental laws at our locations. Investigatory and remedial actions were, and regularly are, undertaken with respect to releases of hazardous substances at our locations. In some cases we have received, and may receive in the future, contributions to partially offset our environmental costs from insurers, from state funds established for environmental clean up associated with the sale of petroleum products or from indemnitors who agreed to fund certain environmental related costs at locations purchased from those indemnitors. To the extent we incur material amounts for environmental matters for which we do not receive or expect to receive insurance or other third party reimbursement and for which we have not previously recorded a liability, our operating results may be materially adversely affected. In addition, to the extent we fail to comply with environmental laws and regulations, or we become subject to costs and requirements not similarly experienced by our competitors, our competitive position may be harmed. As of September 30, 2021, we accrued a current liability of $2,355 and a noncurrent liability of $1,268 for environmental matters as well as a receivable, which is recorded in noncurrent assets in our consolidated balance sheets, for expected recoveries of certain of these estimated future expenditures of $972, resulting in an estimated net amount of $2,651 that we expect to fund in the future. We cannot precisely know the ultimate costs we may incur in connection with currently known environmental related violations, corrective actions, investigation and remediation; however, we do not expect the costs for such matters to be material, individually or in the aggregate, to our financial position or results of operations. We currently have primary insurance of up to $20,000 per incident and up to $20,000 in the aggregate for certain environmental liabilities, subject, in each case, to certain limitations and deductibles. Our current insurance policy expires in June 2024 and we can provide no assurance that we will be able to maintain similar environmental insurance coverage in the future on acceptable terms. We cannot predict the ultimate effect of changing circumstances and changing environmental laws may have on us in the future or the ultimate outcome of matters currently pending. We cannot be certain that contamination presently unknown to us does not exist at our sites, or that a material liability will not be imposed on us in the future. If we discover additional environmental issues, or if government agencies impose additional environmental requirements, increased environmental compliance or remediation expenditures may be required, which could have a material adverse effect on us. Legal Proceedings We are routinely involved in various legal and administrative proceedings incidental to the ordinary course of business, including commercial disputes, employment related claims, wage and hour claims, premises liability claims and tax audits among others. We do not expect that any litigation or administrative proceedings in which we are presently involved, or of which we are aware, will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Inventory

Inventory	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Inventory Disclosure [Abstract]
Inventory	Inventory Inventory as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, consisted of the following: September 30, December 31, Nonfuel products $ 131,327 $ 143,440 Fuel products 38,216 29,390 Total inventory $ 169,543 $ 172,830

Equity Investments

Equity Investments	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Equity Investments	Equity Investments On April 30, 2021, we reduced our ownership in Epona, LLC, owner of QuikQ LLC, an independent full-service fuel payment solutions provider, from 50% to less than 50%, for which a pre-tax loss of $1,826 was included in other expense (income), net in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. This investment will continue to be accounted for under the equity method.

Business Description and Basi_2

Business Description and Basis of Presentation (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Segment Reporting	We manage our business as one segment. We make specific disclosures concerning fuel and nonfuel products and services because they facilitate our discussion of trends and operational initiatives within our business and industry. We have a single travel center located in a foreign country, Canada, that we do not consider material to our operations.
Basis of Presentation	The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements are unaudited. These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, applicable for interim financial statements. The disclosures presented do not include all the information necessary for complete financial statements in accordance with GAAP. These unaudited interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, or our Annual Report. In the opinion of our management, the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, including normal recurring adjustments, considered necessary for a fair presentation. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. While our revenues are modestly seasonal, the quarterly variations in our operating results may reflect greater seasonal differences because our rent expense and certain other costs do not vary seasonally. The COVID-19 pandemic has, and economic conditions occasionally in the past have, significantly altered the seasonal aspects of our business, and they may have similar impacts in the future. For this and other reasons, our operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement and Other Accounting Matters	Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement and Other Accounting Matters In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update 2019-12, Income Taxes – Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes , which eliminates certain exceptions related to the approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. It also clarifies and simplifies other aspects of the accounting for income taxes. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2021, using the prospective transition method. The implementation of this update did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. On March 27, 2020, the United States enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act, as a response to the economic uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which, among other things, included several temporary changes to corporate income tax provisions such as modifications to limitations on deductibility of net operating losses and business interest, provisions relating to the deferral of the employer portion of social security taxes incurred through December 31, 2020, and employee retention tax credit, which is a refundable payroll credit for certain qualified wages and health benefits. As of September 30, 2021, we have deferred $23,340 of employer social security payments, and have included this amount in other current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets. On December 27, 2020 and March 11, 2021, the CARES Act was modified by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, respectively, extending the employee retention tax credit through December 31, 2021. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized $3,268 relating to the employee retention tax credit, which is included in accounts receivable in our consolidated balance sheets. We continue to evaluate the total amount of employee retention tax credits for which we may be eligible and the $3,268 outstanding receivable as of September 30, 2021 is still our best estimate. We will continue to evaluate the impact of this legislation on our operations and consolidated financial statements in future periods to the extent additional guidance and regulations are issued.
Revenue Recognition	We recognize revenues based on the consideration specified in the contract with the customer, net of any sales incentives (such as customer loyalty programs and customer rebates) and excluding amounts collected on behalf of third parties (such as sales and excise taxes). The majority of our revenues are generated at the point of sale in our retail locations. Revenues consist of fuel revenues, nonfuel revenues and rents and royalties from franchisees.
Leasing Transactions	Certain of our leases include renewal options, and certain leases include escalation clauses and purchase options. Renewal periods are included in calculating our operating lease assets and liabilities when they are reasonably certain. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recognized in our consolidated balance sheets.

Leases, Codification Topic 842

Leases, Codification Topic 842 (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Leases [Abstract]
Leasing Transactions	Certain of our leases include renewal options, and certain leases include escalation clauses and purchase options. Renewal periods are included in calculating our operating lease assets and liabilities when they are reasonably certain. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recognized in our consolidated balance sheets.

Revenues (Tables)

Revenues (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]
Nonfuel revenues disaggregated by type of good or service	Nonfuel revenues disaggregated by type of good or service for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, were as follows: Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended 2021 2020 2021 2020 Nonfuel revenues: Store and retail services $ 197,842 $ 179,517 $ 564,054 $ 489,575 Truck service 200,192 189,630 565,520 504,584 Restaurant 79,850 77,665 233,657 233,369 Diesel exhaust fluid 33,179 27,285 97,556 77,146 Total nonfuel revenues $ 511,063 $ 474,097 $ 1,460,787 $ 1,304,674
Changes in contract liabilities between periods	The following table shows the changes in our contract liabilities between periods. Customer Other Total December 31, 2019 $ 17,993 $ 4,822 $ 22,815 Increases due to unsatisfied performance obligations arising during the period 115,792 15,791 131,583 Revenues recognized from satisfied performance obligations during the period (98,147) (12,879) (111,026) Other (12,817) (589) (13,406) December 31, 2020 22,821 7,145 29,966 Increases due to unsatisfied performance obligations arising during the period 95,943 9,762 105,705 Revenues recognized from satisfied performance obligations during the period (89,444) (8,609) (98,053) Other (2,804) (1,496) (4,300) September 30, 2021 $ 26,516 $ 6,802 $ 33,318

Stockholders' Equity (Tables)

Stockholders' Equity (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]
Reconciliation of net loss attributable to common stockholders to net loss available to common stockholders	The following table presents a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders to net income (loss) available to common stockholders and the related earnings (loss) per share of common stock for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020. Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended 2021 2020 2021 2020 Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ 22,200 $ 8,605 $ 45,737 $ (7,832) Less: net (income) loss attributable to participating securities 497 175 1,048 (273) Net income (loss) available to common stockholders $ 21,703 $ 8,430 $ 44,689 $ (7,559) Weighted average shares of common stock (1) 14,254 13,779 14,239 9,890 Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share of common stock attributable to common stockholders $ 1.52 $ 0.61 $ 3.14 $ (0.76) (1) Excludes unvested shares of common stock awarded under our share award plans, in which shares of common stock are considered participating securities because they participate equally in earnings and losses with all of our other shares of common stock. The weighted average number of unvested shares of common stock outstanding for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, was 327 and 286, respectively. The weighted average number of unvested shares of common stock outstanding for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, was 334 and 358, respectively.

Leasing Transactions (Tables)

Leasing Transactions (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Leases [Abstract]
Schedule of lease costs as a lessee	For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, our lease costs consisted of the following: Classification in our Consolidated Three Months Ended 2021 2020 Operating lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense $ 58,951 $ 59,500 Operating lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 2,447 4,182 Variable lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense 2,332 1,372 Variable lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 168 172 Total real estate rent expense 63,898 65,226 Operating lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 710 881 Financing lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense 53 — Short-term lease costs Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 171 390 Amortization of finance lease assets: Depreciation and amortization expense 553 — Amortization of finance lease assets: other Depreciation and amortization expense 553 79 Interest on finance lease liabilities: Interest expense, net 305 — Interest on finance lease liabilities: other Interest expense, net 134 32 Sublease income Nonfuel revenues (502) (542) Net lease costs $ 65,875 $ 66,066 Classification in our Consolidated Nine Months Ended 2021 2020 Operating lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense $ 177,040 $ 178,499 Operating lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 7,529 9,859 Variable lease costs: SVC Leases Real estate rent expense 6,303 3,073 Variable lease costs: other Real estate rent expense 506 462 Total real estate rent expense 191,378 191,893 Operating lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 2,332 2,797 Financing lease costs: equipment and other Site level operating expense 152 — Short-term lease costs Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense 513 1,340 Amortization of finance lease assets: Depreciation and amortization expense 1,290 — Amortization of finance lease assets: other Depreciation and amortization expense 1,212 79 Interest on finance lease liabilities: Interest expense, net 716 — Interest on finance lease liabilities: other Interest expense, net 323 32 Sublease income Nonfuel revenues (1,505) (1,565) Net lease costs $ 196,411 $ 194,576
Schedule of maturities of operating lease liabilities with remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year	Maturities of our operating lease liabilities that had remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of September 30, 2021, were as follows: SVC Leases (1) Other Total Years ended December 31: 2021 $ 67,350 $ 1,134 $ 68,484 2022 268,980 4,133 273,113 2023 255,407 2,601 258,008 2024 251,234 1,463 252,697 2025 251,221 1,334 252,555 Thereafter 1,789,682 3,483 1,793,165 Total operating lease payments 2,883,874 14,148 2,898,022 Less: present value discount (2) (1,094,815) (2,077) (1,096,892) Present value of operating lease liabilities $ 1,789,059 $ 12,071 $ 1,801,130 (1) Includes rent for properties we sublease from SVC and pay directly to SVC's landlords. (2) The discount rate used to derive the present value of unpaid lease payments is based on the rates implicit in the SVC Leases and our incremental borrowing rate for all other leases.
Schedule of operating lease assets and liabilities	As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, our operating lease assets and liabilities consisted of the following: September 30, December 31, Operating lease assets: SVC Leases $ 1,669,329 $ 1,724,428 Other 11,573 10,455 Total operating lease assets $ 1,680,902 $ 1,734,883 Current operating lease liabilities: SVC Leases $ 112,030 $ 106,788 Other 4,016 4,467 Total current operating lease liabilities $ 116,046 $ 111,255 Noncurrent operating lease liabilities: SVC Leases $ 1,677,029 $ 1,756,449 Other 8,055 6,717 Total noncurrent operating lease liabilities $ 1,685,084 $ 1,763,166
Finance Lease, Liability, Fiscal Year Maturity	Maturities of the financing lease liabilities related to the amended ground lease noted above that had remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of September 30, 2021, were as follows: Finance Ground Lease Years ended December 31: 2021 $ 644 2022 2,591 2023 2,656 2024 2,722 2025 2,790 Thereafter 24,986 Total financing lease payments 36,389 Less: present value discount (1) (8,556) Present value of financing lease liabilities $ 27,833 (1) The discount rate used to derive the present value of unpaid lease payments is based on the rate implicit in the SVC Lease.

Inventory (Tables)

Inventory (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021
Inventory Disclosure [Abstract]
Schedule of inventory	Inventory as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, consisted of the following: September 30, December 31, Nonfuel products $ 131,327 $ 143,440 Fuel products 38,216 29,390 Total inventory $ 169,543 $ 172,830

Business Description and Basi_3

Business Description and Basis of Presentation - Business Description (Details) $ in Thousands	Apr. 21, 2021USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2021segmenttravel_centerstatetruck_service_facilitystorerestaurant
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of sites | store		279
Number of reportable segments | segment		1
Travel centers
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of states | state		44
Number of sites owned		51
Travel centers | Company operated sites
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of sites		232
Number of sites leased		181
Number of sites operated under joint venture		2
Travel centers | Franchisee operated sites
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of sites		43
Number of sites owned by franchisees or leased from others		41
Travel centers | Franchisee operated and leased sites
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of sites		2
Travel centers | TA, TA Express and Petro brands
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of sites		275
Truck service facilities | TA Truck Service brand
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of sites | truck_service_facility		3
Number of sites owned | truck_service_facility		1
Number of sites leased | truck_service_facility		2
Restaurants
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Purchase price | $	$ 5,000
Restaurants | Company operated sites
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of sites operated under joint venture | restaurant		1

Business Description and Basi_4

Business Description and Basis of Presentation - Senior Notes (Details) - Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)
Level 1 input
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Fair value of long term debt	$ 354,756,000
8.25% Senior Notes due 2028
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount issued	$ 110,000,000
Interest rate (as a percent)	8.25%
8.00% Senior Notes due 2029
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount issued	$ 120,000,000
Interest rate (as a percent)	8.00%
8.00% Senior Notes due 2030
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount issued	$ 100,000,000
Interest rate (as a percent)	8.00%

Business Description and Basi_5

Business Description and Basis of Presentation - Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement and Other Accounting Matters (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2021
Site level operating expense
Tax Credit Carryforward [Line Items]
Employee retention tax credit	$ 3,268
Other noncurrent assets
Tax Credit Carryforward [Line Items]
Deferred tax liability		$ 23,340

Revenues - Disaggregation of No

Revenues - Disaggregation of Nonfuel Revenues (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020
Total nonfuel revenues	$ 1,939,946	$ 1,269,924	$ 5,303,322	$ 3,559,375
Store and retail services
Total nonfuel revenues	197,842	179,517	565,520	504,584
Truck service
Total nonfuel revenues	200,192	189,630	564,054	489,575
Restaurant
Total nonfuel revenues	79,850	77,665	233,657	233,369
Diesel exhaust fluid
Total nonfuel revenues	33,179	27,285	97,556	77,146
Nonfuel
Total nonfuel revenues	$ 511,063	$ 474,097	$ 1,460,787	$ 1,304,674

Revenues - Changes in Contract

Revenues - Changes in Contract Liabilities Between Periods (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Change in Contract Liabilities:
Contract liabilities, beginning	$ 29,966	$ 22,815
Increases due to unsatisfied performance obligations arising during the period	105,705	131,583
Revenues recognized from satisfied performance obligations during the period	(98,053)	(111,026)
Other	(4,300)	(13,406)
Contract liabilities, ending	33,318	29,966
Customer Loyalty Programs
Change in Contract Liabilities:
Contract liabilities, beginning	22,821	17,993
Increases due to unsatisfied performance obligations arising during the period	95,943	115,792
Revenues recognized from satisfied performance obligations during the period	(89,444)	(98,147)
Other	(2,804)	(12,817)
Contract liabilities, ending	26,516	22,821
Other
Change in Contract Liabilities:
Contract liabilities, beginning	7,145	4,822
Increases due to unsatisfied performance obligations arising during the period	9,762	15,791
Revenues recognized from satisfied performance obligations during the period	(8,609)	(12,879)
Other	(1,496)	(589)
Contract liabilities, ending	$ 6,802	$ 7,145

Revenues - Contract Liabilities

Revenues - Contract Liabilities (Details)	Sep. 30, 2021
Customer Loyalty Programs | Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction, Start Date [Axis]: 2021-07-01
Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Expected Timing of Satisfaction [Line Items]
Expected timing for unsatisfied performance obligations to be satisfied	12 months

Disposition Activity - Narrativ

Disposition Activity - Narrative (Details) $ in Thousands	Apr. 21, 2021USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)storestaterestaurant	Jun. 30, 2021USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2021USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of sites | store		279
Restaurants
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price	$ 5,000
Restaurants | Disposal group, held for sale
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of states | state		11
Restaurants | Disposal group, held for sale | Depreciation and amortization expense
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Additional impairment charge		$ 606	$ 650
Impairment charge				$ 13,715	$ 14,365
Restaurants | QSL brand | Disposal group, held for sale
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of sites | restaurant		41

Stockholders' Equity - Net Loss

Stockholders' Equity - Net Loss Per Share of Common Stock Attributable to Common Stockholders (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders		$ 22,200	$ 8,605	$ 45,737	$ (7,832)
Less: net (income) loss attributable to participating securities		497	175	1,048	(273)
Net income (loss) available to common stockholders		$ 21,703	$ 8,430	$ 44,689	$ (7,559)
Weighted average shares of common stock (in shares)	[1]	14,254	13,779	14,239	9,890
Basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock attributable to common stockholders (in USD per share)		$ 1.52	$ 0.61	$ 3.14	$ (0.76)
Weighted average number of unvested shares of common stock outstanding (in shares)		327	286	334	358
[1]	Excludes unvested shares of common stock awarded under our share award plans, in which shares of common stock are considered participating securities because they participate equally in earnings and losses with all of our other shares of common stock. The weighted average number of unvested shares of common stock outstanding for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, was 327 and 286, respectively. The weighted average number of unvested shares of common stock outstanding for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, was 334 and 358, respectively.

Leasing Transactions - As a Les

Leasing Transactions - As a Lessee (Details) $ in Thousands	Mar. 09, 2021USD ($)leaseproperty	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)propertylease	Sep. 30, 2020USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)propertylease	Sep. 30, 2020USD ($)
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Operating lease weighted average remaining lease term (in years)		12 years		12 years
Operating lease weighted average discount rate		9.10%		9.10%
Amount paid included in measurement of operating lease liabilities				$ 208,905	$ 208,327
SVC Leases | SVC | Principal landlord and second largest stockholder
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Number of leases | lease	1	5		5
Number of sites leased | property	1	179		179
Increase in other noncurrent assets	$ 27,095
Increase in other current liabilities	1,487
Increase in other noncurrent liabilities	$ 26,346
Amount paid included in measurement of operating lease liabilities		$ 61,283	$ 60,872	$ 183,343	$ 181,572

Leasing Transactions - Schedule

Leasing Transactions - Schedule of Lease Costs as a Lessee (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Net lease costs	$ 65,875	$ 66,066	$ 196,411	$ 194,576
Real estate rent expense
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Net lease costs	63,898	65,226	191,378	191,893
Real estate rent expense | SVC Leases
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating lease costs	58,951	59,500	177,040	178,499
Variable lease costs	2,332	1,372	6,303	3,073
Real estate rent expense | Other
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating lease costs	2,447	4,182	7,529	9,859
Variable lease costs	168	172	506	462
Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Short-term lease costs	171	390	513	1,340
Site level operating expense and selling, general and administrative expense | Equipment and other
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating lease costs	710	881	2,332	2,797
Site level operating expense | Equipment and other
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Variable lease costs	53	0	152	0
Depreciation and amortization expense | SVC Leases
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Amortization of finance lease assets	553	0	1,290	0
Depreciation and amortization expense | Other
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Amortization of finance lease assets	553	79	1,212	79
Interest expense, net | SVC Leases
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Interest on finance lease liabilities	305	0	716	0
Interest expense, net | Other
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Interest on finance lease liabilities	134	32	323	32
Nonfuel revenues | SVC Leases
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Sublease income	$ (502)	$ (542)	$ (1,505)	$ (1,565)

Leasing Transactions - Schedu_2

Leasing Transactions - Schedule of Maturities of Operating Leases Liabilities (Details) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
2021	$ 68,484
2022	273,113
2023	258,008
2024	252,697
2025	252,555
Thereafter	1,793,165
Total operating lease payments	2,898,022
Less: present value discount	(1,096,892)	[1]
Present value of operating lease liabilities	1,801,130
SVC Leases
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
2021	67,350	[2]
2022	268,980	[2]
2023	255,407	[2]
2024	251,234	[2]
2025	251,221	[2]
Thereafter	1,789,682	[2]
Total operating lease payments	2,883,874
Less: present value discount	(1,094,815)	[1],[2]
Present value of operating lease liabilities	1,789,059
Other
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
2021	1,134
2022	4,133
2023	2,601
2024	1,463
2025	1,334
Thereafter	3,483
Total operating lease payments	14,148
Less: present value discount	(2,077)	[1]
Present value of operating lease liabilities	$ 12,071
[1]	The discount rate used to derive the present value of unpaid lease payments is based on the rates implicit in the SVC Leases and our incremental borrowing rate for all other leases.
[2]	Includes rent for properties we sublease from SVC and pay directly to SVC's landlords.

Leasing Transactions - Schedu_3

Leasing Transactions - Schedule of Operating Lease Assets and Liabilities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating lease assets	$ 1,680,902	$ 1,734,883
Current operating lease liabilities	116,046	111,255
Noncurrent operating lease liabilities	1,685,084	1,763,166
SVC Leases
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating lease assets	1,669,329	1,724,428
Current operating lease liabilities	112,030	106,788
Noncurrent operating lease liabilities	1,677,029	1,756,449
Other
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Operating lease assets	11,573	10,455
Current operating lease liabilities	4,016	4,467
Noncurrent operating lease liabilities	$ 8,055	$ 6,717

Leasing Transactions - Leasing

Leasing Transactions - Leasing Agreements with SVC (Details)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)propertylease	Sep. 30, 2020USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)propertylease	Sep. 30, 2020USD ($)	Mar. 09, 2021leaseproperty
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Amount paid included in measurement of operating lease liabilities			$ 208,905,000	$ 208,327,000
SVC | Principal landlord and second largest stockholder | SVC Leases
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Number of sites leased | property	179		179		1
Number of leases | lease	5		5		1
Percentage rent incurred	$ 1,850,000	$ 893,000	$ 4,827,000	1,742,000
Deferred rent obligation installment payments	4,404,000	4,404,000	13,211,000	13,211,000
Deferred rent obligation	26,422,000		26,422,000
Aggregate selling price of improvements sold			0	0
Sublease income	502,000	542,000	1,505,000	1,565,000
Amount paid included in measurement of operating lease liabilities	$ 61,283,000	$ 60,872,000	$ 183,343,000	$ 181,572,000

Leasing Transactions - As a L_2

Leasing Transactions - As a Lessor (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)travel_center	Sep. 30, 2020USD ($)travel_center
Lessor, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Rent revenue	$ 595	$ 584
Remainder of 2021	595
2022	$ 1,190
Franchised units | Travel centers
Lessor, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Number of sites leased | travel_center	2	2

Leasing Transactions - Schedu_4

Leasing Transactions - Schedule of Maturities of Financing Lease Liabilities (Details) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Finance Lease, Right-of-Use Asset, after Accumulated Amortization	$ 36,389
SVC Leases
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Finance Lease, Liability	27,833
Finance Lease, Liability, to be Paid, Year One	2,591
Finance Lease, Liability, to be Paid, Year Two	2,656
Finance Lease, Liability, to be Paid, Year Three	2,722
Finance Lease, Liability, to be Paid, Year Four	2,790
Finance Lease, Liability, to be Paid, Year Five	24,986
Finance Lease, Liability, Undiscounted Excess Amount	(8,556)
Finance Lease, Liability, to be Paid, Remainder of Fiscal Year	$ 644

Business Management Agreement_2

Business Management Agreement with RMR (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020
RMR Group LLC | Affiliated entity | Selling, general and administrative expense | Business management agreement
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Business management fees and internal audit costs	$ 3,822	$ 3,369	$ 10,418	$ 9,513

Related Party Transactions - Na

Related Party Transactions - Narrative (Details) shares in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021directorshares	Dec. 31, 2020shares
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	14,579	14,574
RMR Group LLC | Affiliated entity
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Number of TA Managing Directors who are also the sole trustee, an officer and the controlling shareholder of ABP Trust as well as RMR's managing director, president and CEO | director	1
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	659
Percentage of outstanding shares of common stock owned	4.50%

Related Party Transactions - Re

Related Party Transactions - Relationship with SVC (Details) shares in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021propertyshares	Mar. 09, 2021property	Dec. 31, 2020shares
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	14,579		14,574
SVC | Principal landlord and second largest stockholder
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	1,185
Percentage of outstanding shares of common stock owned	8.10%
SVC | Principal landlord and second largest stockholder | SVC Leases
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Number of sites leased | property	179	1

Related Party Transactions - _2

Related Party Transactions - Retirement and Separation Arrangements (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2020	Feb. 29, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Jun. 30, 2020
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer | Annual salary paid
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Compensation per agreement				$ 300
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer | Cash bonus paid relating to 2019
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Compensation per agreement			$ 1,000
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer | Additional cash payment
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Compensation per agreement	$ 1,000
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer | Additional cash payment
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Compensation per agreement		$ 300

Contingencies (Details)

Contingencies (Details) - Environmental issue	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021USD ($)
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Current liability accrued for environmental matters	$ 2,355,000
Noncurrent liability accrued for environmental matters	1,268,000
Expected recoveries of future expenditures	972,000
Net recorded liability	2,651,000
Environmental liability insurance maximum coverage per incident	20,000,000
Environmental liability insurance annual coverage limit	$ 20,000,000

Inventory (Details)

Inventory (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Inventory [Line Items]
Total inventory	$ 169,543	$ 172,830
Nonfuel products
Inventory [Line Items]
Total inventory	131,327	143,440
Fuel products
Inventory [Line Items]
Total inventory	$ 38,216	$ 29,390

Equity Investments (Details)

Equity Investments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Apr. 30, 2021	Apr. 29, 2021
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Loss on reduced ownership of equity method investment	$ 1,826
Epona, LLC
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership (percent)			50.00%
Epona, LLC | Maximum
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership (percent)		50.00%

Intangible Assets, Goodwill and

Intangible Assets, Goodwill and Other (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 22,213	$ 22,213
Travel centers
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 22,213