TravelCenters of America Inc. /MD/ - Annual Report: 2010 (Form 10-K)

Use these links to rapidly review the document
Table of Contents
PART IV

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

Commission file number 001-33274

TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA LLC
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

          Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

          Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

          Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o    No ý

          Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o    No ý

          Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý    No o

          Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes o    No o

          Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ý

          Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

          Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o    No ý

          The aggregate market value of the voting shares of the registrant held by non-affiliates was $33.7 million based on the closing price per common share of $2.32 on the NYSE Amex on June 30, 2010. For purposes of this calculation, the aggregate of 1,258,287 common shares that were held by the directors and officers of the registrant as of June 30, 2010, have been included in the number of common shares held by affiliates.

          Number of the registrant's common shares outstanding as of February 14, 2011: 18,016,196.

          References in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, to "TA", "TravelCenters", the "Company", "we", "us" and "our" include TravelCenters of America LLC and our consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly stated or the context indicates otherwise.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

          Certain information required in Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A, or our definitive Proxy Statement.

Table of Contents

WARNING CONCERNING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

        THIS ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K CONTAINS STATEMENTS THAT CONSTITUTE FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995 AND OTHER FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS. ALSO, WHENEVER WE USE WORDS SUCH AS "BELIEVE", "EXPECT", "ANTICIPATE", "INTEND", "PLAN", "ESTIMATE" OR SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS, WE ARE MAKING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS. THESE FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE BASED UPON OUR PRESENT INTENT, BELIEFS OR EXPECTATIONS, BUT FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED TO OCCUR AND MAY NOT OCCUR. ACTUAL RESULTS MAY DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE CONTAINED IN OR IMPLIED BY OUR FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS AS A RESULT OF VARIOUS FACTORS. AMONG OTHERS, THE FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS WHICH APPEAR IN THIS ANNUAL REPORT THAT MAY NOT OCCUR INCLUDE:

•

OUR DESCRIPTION OF OUR AMENDED LEASES WITH HOSPITALITY PROPERTIES TRUST, OR HPT, DESCRIBES RENT REDUCTIONS AND DEFERRALS WHICH HAVE BEEN AGREED BETWEEN US AND HPT. AN IMPLICATION OF THESE DESCRIPTIONS MAY BE THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO OPERATE PROFITABLY IN THE FUTURE. IN FACT, THERE ARE MANY FACTORS WHICH WILL IMPACT THE PROFITABILITY OF OUR FUTURE OPERATIONS IN ADDITION TO RENTS, INCLUDING SOME FACTORS WHICH ARE BEYOND OUR CONTROL, SUCH AS THE CONDITION OF THE U.S. ECONOMY GENERALLY, THE FUTURE DEMAND FOR OUR GOODS AND SERVICES AND COMPETITION IN OUR BUSINESS. WE HAVE REPORTED NET INCOME IN ONLY FOUR QUARTERLY REPORTING PERIODS SINCE WE BECAME A SEPARATE PUBLICLY OWNED COMPANY IN 2007 AND WE HAVE ACCUMULATED SIGNIFICANT LOSSES SINCE THAT TIME. THERE IS NO ASSURANCE THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO PRODUCE FUTURE NET INCOME;



•

CERTAIN STATEMENTS MAY IMPLY THAT OUR EXPENSE CONTROLS AND OTHER INITIATIVES MAY CAUSE IMPROVED FINANCIAL RESULTS. IN FACT, CURRENT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE UNITED STATES MAY NOT IMPROVE AND MAY DECLINE FURTHER, FUTURE MARKET CONDITIONS IN THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY OR OTHERWISE MAY BE WORSE THAN WE NOW EXPECT AND OUR INITIATIVES MAY NOT BE SUCCESSFULLY SUSTAINED, EACH OR ALL OF WHICH CIRCUMSTANCES COULD RESULT IN OUR FINANCIAL RESULTS NOT IMPROVING OR OUR EXPERIENCING MATERIAL AND CONTINUING LOSSES;



•

THE SUCCESS OF OUR COST CONTROL INITIATIVES DEPENDS IN LARGE PART UPON OUR MANAGEMENT'S ABILITY TO MANAGE STAFFING AND OTHER COSTS TO MATCH OUR CHANGING LEVELS OF BUSINESS, BUT WE MAY BE UNABLE TO REDUCE STAFFING OR OTHER COSTS BELOW CERTAIN LEVELS AT OUR TRAVEL CENTERS, WHICH OPERATE 24 HOURS PER DAY, 365 DAYS PER YEAR;



•

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITY MAY BE GREATER THAN WE CURRENTLY ANTICIPATE AND LEGISLATION AND REGULATION REGARDING CLIMATE CHANGE, INCLUDING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS MAY BE ADOPTED OR ADMINSTERED AND ENFORCED DIFFERENTLY IN THE FUTURE, WHICH COULD REQUIRE US TO EXPEND SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS;



•

THIS ANNUAL REPORT STATES THAT OUR BUSINESS REQUIRES REGULAR SIGNIFICANT CAPITAL EXPENDITURES, SOME OF WHICH MAY BE FUNDED BY HPT IN RETURN FOR RENT INCREASES. THE AMOUNT AND TIMING OF CAPITAL

2

Table of Contents

EXPENDITURES ARE OFTEN DIFFICULT TO PROJECT. SOME CAPITAL PROJECTS COST MORE THAN ANTICIPATED. CURRENTLY UNANTICIPATED PROJECTS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO BE COMPLETED MAY ARISE AND CAUSE US TO SPEND MORE THAN CURRENTLY ANTICIPATED. SOME CAPITAL PROJECTS TAKE MORE TIME THAN ANTICIPATED. AS A RESULT OF MARKET CONDITIONS, WE MAY DEFER CERTAIN CAPITAL PROJECTS AND SUCH DEFERRAL MAY HARM OUR BUSINESS OR REQUIRE US TO MAKE LARGER AMOUNTS OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURES IN THE FUTURE. ALSO, HPT IS NOT REQUIRED TO FUND OUR CAPITAL EXPENDITURES AND IT MAY BE UNWILLING OR UNABLE TO DO SO;

•

THE STATEMENTS IN THIS ANNUAL REPORT THAT WE HAD $125.4 MILLION OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT DECEMBER 31, 2010, THAT WE GENERATED NET CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES OF $28.3 MILLION DURING 2010, THAT THERE WERE NO AMOUNTS OUTSTANDING UNDER OUR BANK CREDIT FACILITY AND THAT WE OWN UNENCUMBERED REAL ESTATE AND OTHER ASSETS THAT MAY BE ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF LIQUIDITY OVER TIME MAY IMPLY THAT WE HAVE ABUNDANT WORKING CAPITAL AND CASH LIQUIDITY. IN FACT, OUR REGULAR OPERATIONS REQUIRE LARGE AMOUNTS OF WORKING CASH. AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2010, $62.4 MILLION OF OUR BANK CREDIT FACILITY WAS USED TO SECURE LETTERS OF CREDIT FOR OUR SUPPLIERS AND TAXING AUTHORITIES, AND WE HAVE COLLATERALIZED THIS FACILITY WITH A PORTION OF OUR WORKING CAPITAL, INCLUDING A PORTION OF OUR CASH. IN ADDITION, WE DO NOT KNOW THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE COULD MONETIZE OUR EXISTING UNENCUMBERED REAL ESTATE. FURTHER, OUR BUSINESS REQUIRES US TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT CAPITAL EXPENDITURES TO MAINTAIN OUR COMPETITIVENESS. ACCORDINGLY, WE MAY NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT WORKING CAPITAL OR CASH LIQUIDITY;



•

THIS ANNUAL REPORT STATES THAT OUR FUEL SALES VOLUME ON A SAME SITE BASIS AND IN TOTAL FOR 2010 INCREASED OVER 2009. THIS MAY IMPLY THAT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE U.S. GENERALLY AND THE TRUCKING AND TRAVEL CENTER INDUSTRIES IN PARTICULAR ARE IMPROVING AND THAT OUR RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATIONS WILL IMPROVE IN THE FUTURE. HOWEVER, THE POSITIVE TREND IN FUEL SALES VOLUMES WE EXPERIENCED MAY BE THE RESULT OF INCREASED MARKET SHARE AND NOT AN IMPROVING MARKET OR MAY NOT CONTINUE. ALSO, IMPROVEMENTS, IF ANY, IN THE U.S. ECONOMY OR IN THE TRUCKING OR TRAVEL CENTER INDUSTRIES MAY NOT CONTINUE, AND OUR FUEL SALES VOLUMES MAY NOT CONTINUE TO INCREASE OR BE SUSTAINED;



•

WE MAY BE UNABLE TO PREVAIL IN OUR PENDING LITIGATION MATTERS AND ANY SETTLEMENT OR ADVERSE RULING MAY HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR BUSINESS. ALSO, THE LEGAL AND OTHER EXPENSES WE MAY INCUR IN CONNECTION WITH LITIGATION MATTERS WILL DEPEND, IN PART, UPON ACTIONS TAKEN BY OTHER PARTIES, WHICH ACTIONS ARE NOT WITHIN OUR CONTROL AND THESE COSTS MAY HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR BUSINESS;



•

WE MAY NOT REALIZE OUR EXPECTATION THAT WE WILL BENEFIT FINANCIALLY BY PARTICIPATING IN AFFILIATES INSURANCE COMPANY, OR AIC, IN WHICH WE HAVE INVESTED ALONG WITH REIT MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH LLC, OR RMR, AND COMPANIES TO WHICH RMR PROVIDES MANAGEMENT SERVICES;

3

Table of Contents

•

OUR PARTICIPATION IN AIC INVOLVES POTENTIAL FINANCIAL RISKS AND REWARDS TYPICAL OF INSURANCE COMPANIES. ACCORDINGLY, OUR EXPECTED FINANCIAL BENEFITS FROM OUR INVESTMENTS IN AIC MAY BE DELAYED OR MAY NOT OCCUR AND AIC MAY REQUIRE A LARGER INVESTMENT THAN WE EXPECT;



•

THIS ANNUAL REPORT STATES THAT THE PARTIES INVOLVED IN A DERIVATIVE LITIGATION HAVE AGREED TO SETTLE THAT LITIGATION. THIS SETTLEMENT IS SUBJECT TO COURT APPROVAL. LITIGATION AND A COURT APPROVAL PROCESS SOMETIMES PRODUCE UNEXPECTED RESULTS. WE CAN PROVIDE NO ASSURANCE THAT THE REQUIRED COURT APPROVAL WILL BE OBTAINED OR THAT THIS SETTLEMENT WILL BE CONCLUDED; AND



•

THIS ANNUAL REPORT STATES THAT WE BELIEVE THAT OUR CONTINUING RELATIONSHIPS WITH HPT, RMR AND THEIR AFFILIATED AND RELATED PERSONS AND ENTITIES MAY BENEFIT US AND MAY PROVIDE US OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND OUR BUSINESS IN THE FUTURE. IN FACT, THE ADVANTAGES WE BELIEVE WE MAY REALIZE FROM OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH RMR AND HPT MAY NOT MATERIALIZE AND WE CAN PROVIDE NO ASSURANCE THAT WE WILL BENEFIT FROM THESE CONTINUING RELATIONSHIPS.

        THESE AND OTHER UNEXPECTED RESULTS MAY BE CAUSED BY VARIOUS FACTORS, SOME OF WHICH ARE BEYOND OUR CONTROL, INCLUDING:

•

THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN THE ECONOMY AND THE CAPITAL MARKETS, ON US AND OUR FRANCHISEES AND TENANTS;



•

COMPLIANCE WITH, AND CHANGES TO, FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS, ACCOUNTING RULES, TAX RATES AND SIMILAR MATTERS;



•

COMPETITION WITHIN THE TRAVEL CENTER INDUSTRY;



•

FUTURE FUEL PRICE INCREASES, FUEL PRICE VOLATILITY, COMPETITION OR OTHER FACTORS MAY CAUSE US TO NEED MORE WORKING CAPITAL TO MAINTAIN OUR INVENTORIES AND CARRY OUR ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE THAN WE NOW EXPECT;



•

IN THE PAST, INCREASES IN FUEL PRICES HAVE REDUCED THE DEMAND FOR THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT WE SELL BECAUSE HIGH FUEL PRICES MAY HAVE ENCOURAGED FUEL CONSERVATION, DIRECTED FREIGHT BUSINESS AWAY FROM TRUCKING OR OTHERWISE ADVERSELY AFFECTED THE BUSINESS OF OUR CUSTOMERS. FUTURE INCREASES IN FUEL PRICES MAY HAVE SIMILAR AND OTHER ADVERSE EFFECTS ON OUR BUSINESS;



•

OUR SUPPLIERS MAY BE UNWILLING OR UNABLE TO MAINTAIN CURRENT TERMS FOR OUR PURCHASES ON CREDIT. IF WE ARE UNABLE TO PURCHASE GOODS ON REASONABLE CREDIT TERMS, OUR REQUIRED WORKING CAPITAL MAY INCREASE AND WE MAY INCUR MATERIAL LOSSES. ALSO, IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT AND CURRENT ECONOMIC, INDUSTRY AND GLOBAL CREDIT MARKET CONDITIONS AND OUR HISTORICAL OPERATING LOSSES, THE AVAILABILITY AND THE TERMS OF ANY CREDIT WE MAY BE ABLE TO OBTAIN ARE UNCERTAIN. OUR $100 MILLION REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY EXPIRES IN 2012. OUR FAILURE TO RENEW OUR EXISTING CREDIT FACILITY OR TO OBTAIN NEW OR SUBSTITUTE FINANCING ON REASONABLE TERMS WOULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO FUND OUR BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS;

4

Table of Contents

•

IF THE RECENT DIFFICULT U.S. ECONOMIC AND TRUCKING INDUSTRY CONDITIONS CONTINUE, WORSEN OR LAST FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD, OUR CUSTOMERS MAY PURCHASE LESS OF OUR GOODS AND SERVICES AND WE MAY SUFFER LOSSES;



•

WE ARE CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN SEVERAL LITIGATION MATTERS IN ADDITION TO THE LITIGATION THAT IS DESCRIBED IN THIS ANNUAL REPORT AS SUBJECT TO COURT APPROVAL. DISCOVERY AND COURT DECISIONS DURING LITIGATION OFTEN RESULT IN UNANTICIPATED RESULTS. LITIGATION IS USUALLY EXPENSIVE AND DISTRACTING TO MANAGEMENT. WE CAN PROVIDE NO ASSURANCE AS TO THE OUTCOME OF ANY OF THE LITIGATION MATTERS IN WHICH WE ARE INVOLVED;



•

ALTHOUGH WE BELIEVE THAT WE BENEFIT FROM OUR CONTINUING RELATIONSHIPS WITH HPT, RMR AND THEIR AFFILIATED AND RELATED PERSONS AND ENTITIES, ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST WITH OUR MANAGING DIRECTORS, HPT, RMR AND RELATED PERSONS AND ENTITIES MAY PRESENT A CONTRARY PERCEPTION OR RESULT IN LITIGATION; AND



•

AS A RESULT OF CERTAIN TRADING IN OUR SHARES DURING 2007, WE EXPERIENCED A CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP AS DEFINED BY SECTION 382 OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE, OR THE CODE. CONSEQUENTLY, WE ARE UNABLE TO USE OUR NET OPERATING LOSS GENERATED IN 2007. IF WE EXPERIENCE ADDITIONAL CHANGES IN OWNERSHIP, AS DEFINED IN THE CODE, OUR NET OPERATING LOSSES GENERATED AFTER 2007 COULD ALSO BE SUBJECT TO LIMITATIONS ON USAGE.

        WE HAVE GENERATED NET INCOME IN ONLY FOUR QUARTERLY REPORTING PERIODS SINCE WE BECAME A PUBLICLY OWNED COMPANY ON JANUARY 31, 2007. ALTHOUGH OUR PLANS ARE INTENDED TO GENERATE NET INCOME, THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE THAT THESE PLANS WILL SUCCEED.

        RESULTS THAT DIFFER FROM THOSE STATED OR IMPLIED BY OUR FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS MAY ALSO BE CAUSED BY VARIOUS CHANGES IN OUR BUSINESS OR MARKET CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED MORE FULLY UNDER "ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS" AND ELSEWHERE IN THIS ANNUAL REPORT.

        YOU SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE RELIANCE UPON FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS. EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY LAW, WE UNDERTAKE NO OBLIGATION TO UPDATE OR REVISE ANY FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT AS A RESULT OF NEW INFORMATION, FUTURE EVENTS OR OTHERWISE.

5

Table of Contents

TRAVELCENTERS OF AMERICA LLC
2010 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

Table of Contents

6

Table of Contents

PART I

Item 1.    Business

General

        We are a limited liability company formed under Delaware law on October 10, 2006, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hospitality Properties Trust, or HPT. Our initial capitalization in a nominal amount was provided by HPT on our formation date. From that time through January 31, 2007, we conducted no business activities. On January 31, 2007, HPT acquired TravelCenters of America, Inc., our predecessor, restructured this acquired business and distributed all of our then outstanding common shares to the shareholders of HPT. In this Annual Report on Form 10-K we sometimes refer to these transactions as the HPT Transaction, refer to the distribution of our shares in connection with the HPT Transaction as our spin off and refer to HPT and the subsidiaries of HPT from which we lease certain properties collectively as HPT.

        Internet Website.    Our internet website address is www.tatravelcenters.com. Copies of our governance guidelines, code of business conduct and ethics, our policy outlining procedures for handling concerns or complaints about accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters and the charters of our audit, compensation and nominating and governance committees are posted on our website and also may be obtained free of charge by writing to our Secretary, TravelCenters of America, Two Newton Place, 255 Washington Street, Suite 300, Newton, Massachusetts 02458 or at our website. We make available, free of charge, on our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after these forms are filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Any shareholder or other interested party who desires to communicate with our Independent Directors, individually or as a group, may do so by filling out a report on our website. Our board of directors also provides a process for security holders to send communications to the entire board. Information about the process for sending communications to our board can be found on our website. Our website address is included several times in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as a textual reference only and the information in the website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Business Overview

        We operate and franchise travel centers primarily along the U.S. interstate highway system. Our customers include trucking fleets and their drivers, independent truck drivers and motorists. As of December 31, 2010, our business included 228 travel centers located in 41 states in the U.S. and the province of Ontario, Canada. Our travel centers included 165 operated under the "TravelCenters of America" or "TA" brand names, including 143 that we operated and 22 that franchisees operated, and 63 that were operated under the "Petro" brand name, including 45 that we operated and 18 that franchisees operated.

        Many of our travel centers were originally developed years ago when prime real estate locations along the interstate highway system were more readily available than they are today, which we believe would make it difficult to replicate our business. We believe that our nationwide locations provide an advantage to large trucking fleets, particularly long haul trucking fleets, by enabling them to reduce the number of their suppliers by routing their trucks through our locations from coast to coast.

        We offer a broad range of products and services, including diesel fuel and gasoline, truck repair and maintenance services, full service restaurants, more than 20 different brands of quick serve restaurants, or QSRs, travel and convenience stores and various driver amenities.

7

Table of Contents

        The U.S. travel center and truck stop industry in which we operate consists of travel centers, truck stops, diesel fuel outlets and similar properties. We believe that although the travel center and truck stop industry is highly fragmented generally, with in excess of 6,000 travel centers and truck stops in the U.S., the largest trucking fleets tend to purchase the majority of their over the road fuel from us or from our largest competitor.

History

        Our Predecessor.    Our predecessor was formed in December 1992 and acquired two travel center businesses in 1993 that had been operating since the 1970s. At the time of the HPT Transaction, our predecessor's business included 163 travel centers, of which 140 were operated by our predecessor, 10 were operated by franchisees on sites leased from our predecessor and 13 were operated by franchisees on sites they owned.

        The HPT Transaction.    We commenced business on January 31, 2007. In order to govern relations before and after our spin off, we entered into a transaction agreement with HPT and Reit Management & Research LLC, or RMR. The material provisions of the HPT Transaction and the related transaction agreement that affected us are summarized as follows:

•

Simultaneously with HPT's closing of its acquisition of our predecessor, the business of our predecessor was restructured. As a result of the restructuring:



•

the real property interests of 146 travel centers and certain other assets held by our predecessor were transferred to subsidiaries of HPT that were not subsidiaries of ours;



•

we leased the 146 travel centers owned by HPT, which we refer to as the TA Lease;



•

we continued to own all of our predecessor's working capital assets (primarily consisting of cash, receivables and inventory) and continued to be obligated for our predecessor's liabilities (primarily consisting of trade payables and accrued liabilities); and



•

we owned one travel center in Ontario, Canada, and leased two travel centers from, and managed one travel center for, owners other than HPT; we became the franchisor of 13 travel centers owned and operated by third parties; we owned certain other assets historically owned and used by our predecessor, including furniture, vehicles and substantially all other moveable equipment used at the travel centers that we operate, and buildings that are situated on land owned by HPT for nine travel centers that we operate.



•

HPT contributed cash to us so that the sum of our cash, receivables and inventory, net of trade payables and accrued liabilities, was about $212 million at the time of our spin off.



•

On January 31, 2007, HPT distributed all of our then outstanding shares to its shareholders.



•

We entered into a management and shared services agreement with RMR.



•

We provided HPT a right of first refusal to purchase, lease, mortgage or otherwise finance any interest we own in a travel center before we sell, lease, mortgage or otherwise finance that travel center with another party.



•

We granted HPT and other entities to which RMR provides management services a right of first refusal to acquire or finance any real estate of the types in which they invest before we do.



•

We agreed that for so long as we are a tenant of HPT we will not permit: the acquisition by any person or group of beneficial ownership of 9.8% or more of the voting shares or the power to direct the management and policies of us or any of our subsidiary tenants or guarantors under our leases with HPT; the sale of a material part of our assets or any such tenant or guarantor;

8

Table of Contents

or the cessation of certain continuing directors constituting a majority of the board of directors of us or any such tenant or guarantor.

•

We agreed to indemnify HPT for liabilities relating to our business and operations for periods before and after our spin off.



•

HPT agreed to pay all of the costs and expenses of our spin off and the restructuring.

        Activities Since January 31, 2007.    Since we began operations on January 31, 2007, we have completed or started a number of business initiatives that we believe may improve our future financial performance, including:

•

We conducted a strategic review of all our predecessor's contractual arrangements to determine those that should be discontinued, amended or expanded. As examples, we terminated a contract under which a third party marketed hedged fuel sales contracts to trucking fleets that in turn purchased fuel at our TA locations in return for low pumping fee payments to us and we extended our agreement with Daimler Trucks North America, or Daimler, formerly Freightliner LLC, under which we provide certain authorized warranty services for Daimler truck owners, for an additional 10 years, to July 2019, and we expanded the scope of this Daimler agreement to include travel centers operated under the Petro brand.



•

On May 30, 2007, we acquired Petro Stopping Centers, L.P., or Petro, which operated or franchised 69 travel centers along the U.S. interstate highways. We refer to this transaction as our Petro Acquisition. Simultaneously with our Petro Acquisition, HPT acquired the real estate of 40 Petro centers and we leased these 40 locations from HPT, which we refer to as the Petro Lease. In addition to the leasehold for these 40 locations, the Petro assets we acquired included:



•

two travel centers owned and operated by Petro;



•

two travel centers that Petro leased from parties other than HPT;



•

a minority interest in a joint venture which owned a travel center managed by Petro;



•

contract rights as franchisor of 24 Petro travel centers;



•

four land parcels which may be suitable for development of new travel centers; and



•

various items of personal property, contract rights and working capital.



•

After the Petro Acquisition, we began the integration of Petro into our business. This integration involved renegotiating supply arrangements with suppliers and revising processes and procedures in order to implement best practices across all of our locations. While we maintain both the TA and Petro brands, we have consolidated our corporate office and various marketing and operational functions.



•

In July and August 2007, we issued 5,335,090 common shares in a public offering, for net proceeds of $205 million after underwriters discount and commissions and other costs of the offering.



•

In November 2007 we entered a $100 million revolving credit agreement, or credit facility, with a group of commercial banks. Under this credit facility, a maximum of $100 million may be drawn, repaid and redrawn until maturity in November 2012. The maximum amount is subject to limits based on qualified collateral. On July 8, 2008, we entered an amendment to the credit facility to add as qualified collateral certain receivables and inventory related to our Petro sites, which assets had been previously excluded from the collateral supporting our credit facility. The credit facility may be used for general business purposes and provides for the issuance of letters of credit. Generally, no principal payments are due until maturity.

9

Table of Contents

•

In March 2008 we reduced the workforce at our headquarters and other locations. We recognized a severance charge of $1.6 million during the 2008 first quarter as a result of this reduction in workforce. Reductions were also made to our hourly workforce.



•

In May 2008 we and HPT amended the TA Lease. This lease amendment permitted us to receive funding from HPT, on an expedited basis and without an increase in rent, for qualified improvements that we have made to the travel centers leased from HPT under the TA Lease. As of September 30, 2010, we had received all of the $125 million tenant improvements allowance available under our lease from HPT without an increase in rent payments. Portions of this amount were discounted pursuant to the terms of the lease because we elected to receive those funds on an accelerated basis.



•

In August 2008 we entered a rent deferral agreement with HPT. Under the terms of the deferral agreement we had the option to defer our monthly rent payments to HPT by up to $5 million per month for periods beginning July 1, 2008 until December 31, 2010, and we were not obligated to pay cash interest on the deferred rent obligation through December 31, 2009. Any deferred rent obligation (and interest thereon) not previously paid was contractually due to HPT on July 1, 2011. In January 2011 we entered into an amendment to the rent deferral agreement with HPT, which extended the due date for the rent we had deferred to become due in two parts, with the first part due in December 2022 and the balance due in June 2024, and interest ceased to accrue on our deferred rent beginning on January 1, 2011, as further described below.



•

During 2009 and 2010, we invested $5.2 million in Affiliates Insurance Company, or AIC, concurrently with investments made in AIC by RMR and other companies to which RMR provides management services, including HPT. All of our Directors and nearly all the trustees and directors of the other shareholders of AIC currently serve on the board of directors of AIC. RMR, in addition to being a shareholder, entered a management agreement with AIC pursuant to which RMR provides AIC certain management and administrative services. We and the other shareholders of AIC each currently own approximately 14.29% of AIC. We may invest additional amounts in the insurance company in the future if the expansion of this insurance business requires additional capital, but we are not obligated to do so. In June 2010, we, and the other shareholders of AIC purchased property insurance pursuant to an insurance program designed and reinsured in part by AIC. Our first annual premium for this property insurance of $2.3 million was paid in June 2010. We are currently investigating the possibilities to expand our insurance relationships with AIC to include other types of insurance. By participating in this insurance business with RMR and the other companies to which RMR provides management services, we expect that we may benefit financially by possibly reducing insurance expenses or by realizing our pro-rata share of any profits of this insurance business.



•

In January 2011, we and HPT entered an Amendment Agreement that amended the TA Lease, the Petro Lease and our rent deferral agreement with HPT. This agreement provided for the following:



•

The minimum annual rent payable by us to HPT under the TA Lease was reduced effective January 1, 2011, by approximately $30 million, so that the rent is reduced to $135.1 million per year until February 1, 2012, when it will increase to $140.1 million per year through the end of the lease term in December 2022.



•

The $5 million increase in annual minimum rent payable by us to HPT under the TA Lease that was scheduled to begin on February 1, 2011, was eliminated.



•

The minimum annual rent payable by us to HPT under the Petro Lease was reduced effective January 1, 2011, by approximately $12 million, so that the annual rent is reduced to $54.2 million through the end of the lease term in June 2024.

10

Table of Contents

•

The due date for the $150 million of rent we had deferred as of December 31, 2010, was extended from July 1, 2011, so that $107.1 million will be due and payable on December 31, 2022, and the remaining $42.9 million will be due and payable on June 30, 2024, and interest ceased to accrue on our deferred rent obligation beginning on January 1, 2011; provided, however, that the deferred rent obligation shall be accelerated and interest shall begin to accrue thereon if certain events provided in the Amendment Agreement occur, including a change of control of us.



•

Subject to court approval of a settlement of the derivative action described in Item 3, "Legal Proceedings", HPT will waive payment of the first $2.5 million of percentage rent that may become due under the Petro Lease. Starting in 2012 under the TA Lease and 2013 under the Petro Lease, we are required to pay HPT additional rent equal to 3% of increases in nonfuel gross revenues and 0.3% of increases in gross fuel revenues at the leased travel centers over base amounts. The increases in percentage rents attributable to fuel revenues are subject to a maximum each year calculated by reference to changes in the consumer price index. Litigation and a court approval process sometimes produce unexpected results. We can provide no assurance that the required court approval will be obtained or that this settlement will be concluded.

Our Growth Strategy

        Development and Acquisitions.    In 2007, in addition to the Petro Acquisition, we purchased three travel centers for an aggregate of $20.9 million and completed development of two travel centers for an aggregate of $35.6 million, including site acquisition costs.

        During the depressed economic and industry conditions in 2008 through 2010 we had a limited growth strategy, during which our only new site development and construction activities included one new travel center developed by a joint venture in which we are a minority partner, and which opened in 2009. We invested approximately $7.0 million in this joint venture during 2008 in connection with development activities. We own eight additional land parcels that we believe may be suitable to develop as travel centers; we estimate our total cost to develop these sites to be substantial. Given current industry and economic conditions we currently do not expect to undertake substantial new development activities in the near term. However, continued pressure from these conditions has caused some, and may cause further, financial distress on smaller travel center operators and may in the future present opportunities to acquire travel centers at attractive prices.

        Franchising.    As of December 31, 2010, 40 of our travel centers were operated by our franchisees, 18 as Petro Stopping Centers® and 22 as TravelCenters of America®. In 2007, we added one TravelCenters of America franchised location, in 2008 the franchise agreements covering two Petro branded franchised locations were terminated and in 2010 the franchise agreements covering five Petro branded franchised locations expired. In January 2011, a new TA branded franchisee site opened in Tennessee. We may expand our business through franchising.

        Existing Properties.    We believe we have opportunities to increase revenues and profits through continued investment in our existing properties, including parking lot expansions, construction of additional truck repair bays, restaurant remodeling and the installation of additional QSR offerings, among others.

Our Travel Center Locations

        At December 31, 2010, our travel centers consisted of:

•

175 travel centers leased from HPT and operated by us;



•

10 travel centers leased from HPT and subleased to and operated by our franchisees;

11

Table of Contents

•

Nine travel centers we operate on sites we own;



•

Two travel centers that we operate on sites owned by parties other than HPT;



•

Two travel centers we operate for a joint venture in which we own a minority interest; and



•

Thirty travel centers that are operated by our franchisees on sites they own or lease from parties other than us (increased by one in January 2011 when a new franchisee site opened).

        Our travel centers include 165 that are operated under the TravelCenters of America or TA brand names and 64 that are operated under the Petro brand name. Our typical travel center includes:

•

over 23 acres of land with parking for 190 tractor trailers and 100 cars;



•

a full service restaurant and one or more QSRs that we operate as a franchisee under various brands;



•

a truck repair facility and parts store;



•

multiple diesel and gasoline fueling points; and



•

a travel and convenience store, game room, lounge and other amenities for professional truck drivers and motorists.

        Substantially all of our travel centers are full service sites located on or near an interstate highway and offer fuel and nonfuel products and services 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

        Properties.    The physical layouts of our travel centers vary from site to site. The majority of the developed acreage at our travel centers consists of truck and car fuel islands, separate truck and car parking lots, a main building that contains a full service restaurant and one or more QSRs, a travel and convenience store, a truck maintenance and repair shop and other amenities. Most of our TA locations have one building with separate service areas and most of our Petro locations have several separate buildings.

        Product and Service Offering.    We offer many products and services to complement our diesel fuel business, including:

•

Gasoline. We sell branded and unbranded gasoline. As of December 31, 2010, we offered gasoline at 209 of our 228 travel centers. We did not offer gasoline at 19 of our travel centers.



•

Full Service Restaurants and QSRs. Most of our travel centers have both full service restaurants and QSRs that offer customers a wide variety of nationally recognized branded food choices. The substantial majority of our full service restaurants are operated under our Iron Skillet®, Country Pride®, Buckhorn Family Restaurants® and Fork in the Road® brands and offer menu table service and buffets. During 2010, we introduced our All You Can Eat menu at selected locations, as well as our Stay Fit With Flavor® campaign, offering six new menu items at under 600 calories. We also operate more than 20 different brands of QSRs, including Arby's®, Burger King®, Pizza Hut®, Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits®, Starbuck's Coffee®, Subway® and Taco Bell®. As of December 31, 2010, 208 of our travel centers included a full service restaurant, 137 of our travel centers offered at least one QSR, and there were a total of 265 QSRs in our 228 travel centers. We operate substantially all of these QSRs as a franchisee, and restaurants and QSRs in travel centers that we operate are staffed by our employees.



•

Truck Service. As of December 31, 2010, we had truck repair and maintenance facilities at all but nine of our travel centers. The typical repair and maintenance facility has between three and six service bays and a parts storage room and is staffed by our mechanics and service technicians. These shops generally operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, and offer extensive maintenance and emergency repair and road services, ranging from basic services such

12

Table of Contents

as oil changes and tire repair to specialty services such as diagnostics and repair of air conditioning, air brakes and electrical systems. Some of our repair and maintenance services are guaranteed by our warranties. Most of our truck repair and maintenance facilities provide some warranty work on Daimler brand trucks through our participation in the Freightliner ServicePoint® and Western Star ServicePoint® programs, as described under the heading "Operations—Daimler Agreement" below.

•

Roadside Repair. RoadSquad® is a roadside truck service program that operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week and is comprised of a fleet of approximately 400 service trucks. Service trucks are centrally dispatched to assist customers with repairs when they are unable to bring their truck to our travel center due to a break down. This allows us to extend our truck services to customers who are unable to bring their truck to our facility.



•

Travel and Convenience Stores. At each of our travel centers we offer a travel and convenience store that offers merchandise to truck drivers, motorists, recreational vehicle operators and bus drivers and passengers. Our travel and convenience stores have a selection of over 4,000 items, including packaged food and snack items, beverages, non-prescription drug and beauty supplies, batteries, automobile accessories, and music and video products. Each location also has a "to go" bar offering fresh brewed coffee, hot dogs, prepared sandwiches, healthy offerings and other prepared foods. Our stores also sell items specifically designed for the truck driver's "on the road" lifestyle, including laundry supplies, clothing, truck accessories and a large selection of electronics.



•

Additional Driver Services. We believe that trucking fleets can improve the retention and recruitment of truck drivers by directing them to visit high quality, full service travel centers. We provide a consistently high level of service and amenities to professional truck drivers at all of our travel centers, making our travel centers an attractive choice for trucking fleets. Most of our travel centers provide truck drivers with access to specialized business services, including an information center where drivers can send and receive faxes, overnight mail and other communications and a banking desk where drivers can cash checks and receive funds transfers from fleet operators. Our typical travel center also offers wi-fi internet access and has a video game room, a laundry area with washers and dryers, private showers and areas designated for truck drivers only, including a theater or big screen television room with a video player and comfortable seating. Some of our travel centers offer casino gaming and some offer exercise facilities.



•

Marketing. We offer commercial truck and other customer loyalty programs, the principal program being the UltraOne Club^SM, that are similar to the frequent flyer programs offered by airlines. Drivers receive points for diesel fuel purchases and for spending on selected nonfuel products and services. These points can be redeemed for discounts on nonfuel products and services at our travel centers. We publish a magazine called RoadKing^SM which includes articles and advertising of interest to professional truck drivers.

Operations

        Fuel.    We have numerous sources for our diesel fuel and gasoline supply, including nearly all of the major and large oil companies operating in the U.S. We purchase diesel fuel from various suppliers at rates that fluctuate with market prices and generally are reset daily, and we sell fuel to our customers at prices that we establish daily. By establishing diesel fuel supply relationships with several alternate suppliers for most locations, we believe we are able to effectively create competition for our purchases among various diesel fuel suppliers. We also believe that purchasing arrangements with multiple diesel fuel suppliers may help us avoid product outages during times of diesel fuel supply disruptions. At some locations, however, there are very few suppliers for diesel fuel in that market and we may have only one supplier. We have single sources of supply for gasoline at each of our travel

13

Table of Contents

centers that offer branded gasoline; we generally purchase gasoline from multiple sources for our travel centers that offer unbranded gasoline.

        Generally our fuel purchases are delivered directly from suppliers' terminals to our travel centers. We do not contract to purchase substantial quantities of fuel to hold as inventory. We generally have less than three days of diesel fuel inventory at our travel centers. We are exposed to price increases and interruptions in supply. We believe our exposure to market price increases for diesel fuel is partially mitigated by the significant percentage of our total diesel fuel sales volume that is sold under pricing formulae that reset daily and are indexed to market prices. We do not engage in any fixed price fuel contracts with customers.

        Nonfuel products.    We have many sources for the large variety of nonfuel products that we sell. We have developed strategic relationships with several suppliers of key nonfuel products, including Daimler for truck parts, Bridgestone/Firestone Tire Sales Company for truck tires, McLane Company, Inc. for convenience store and tobacco products and ExxonMobil Oil Corporation for lubricants and oils. We believe that our relationships with these and our other suppliers are satisfactory. We maintain a distribution center near Nashville, Tennessee, with 85,000 square feet of space. Our distribution center distributes certain nonfuel and nonperishable products to our travel centers using a combination of contract carriers and our fleet of trucks and trailers.

        Daimler Agreement.    We are party to an agreement with Daimler that extends to July 2019 and under which we are authorized providers of warranty repairs to Daimler's customers. Daimler is a leading manufacturer of heavy trucks in North America under the Freightliner and Western Star brand names. All but one of our TA and Petro sites are or will be authorized providers of repair work and specified warranty repairs to Daimler's customers through the Freightliner ServicePoint® program and most of our Petro Sites are or will be authorized providers of similar services through the Western Star ServicePoint® program. Most of our TA and Petro truck maintenance and repair facilities are part of Freightliner's 24 hour customer assistance database for emergency and roadside repair referrals and we have access to Daimler's parts distribution, service and technical information systems. During 2008 this agreement was amended to include our Petro locations.

Our Leases With HPT

        We have two leases with HPT, the TA Lease for 145 travel centers, which became effective on January 31, 2007, and the Petro Lease for 40 Petro travel centers, which became effective on May 30, 2007. Two of our subsidiaries are the tenants under the leases, and we, and in the case of our TA Lease certain of our subsidiaries, guarantee the tenants' obligations under the leases. These leases have subsequently been amended, including most recently on January 31, 2011. The following are summaries of the material terms of these leases, as amended.

        Term.    The TA Lease expires on December 31, 2022. The Petro Lease expires on June 30, 2024, and may be extended by us for up to two additional periods of 15 years each.

        Operating Costs.    The leases are "triple net" leases, which require us to pay all costs incurred in the operation of the leased travel centers, including personnel, utilities, acquiring inventories, service to customers, insurance, repairs and maintenance, real estate and personal property taxes, environmental related expenses and ground lease payments, if any.

        Rent.    Under these leases we are required to pay the following rent amounts: (i) minimum amounts of rent to HPT as specified in the TA Lease and the Petro Lease, (ii) additional rent to HPT in connection with certain sales to HPT of qualifying improvements at sites leased from HPT, (iii) additional rent to HPT, beginning in 2012 for the TA Lease and in 2013 for the Petro Lease, based on percentages of increases in our gross revenues, and (iv) the underlying ground lease payments at those sites subleased to us by HPT that we pay directly to the party from whom HPT leases the site. For certain sites, HPT has exercised purchase options or otherwise acquired the leased properties that had previously been subleased to us and we now pay the related ground lease rents to HPT.

14

Table of Contents

        The TA Lease requires us to pay minimum rent to HPT of $135.1 million per year for the period from January 1, 2011 through January 31, 2012, and $140.1 million per year for the period commencing February 1, 2012 and continuing through December 31, 2022. Starting in 2012, additional rent is calculated as follows: an amount equal to 3% of increases in nonfuel gross revenues and 0.3% of increases in gross fuel revenues at each leased travel center over the respective gross revenue amounts for the year 2011. The Petro Lease requires us to pay minimum annual rent to HPT of $54.2 million through June 30, 2024, and additional rent is calculated using the same formula as in the TA Lease, except that such payments start in 2013 and are calculated using the revenues of the 40 leased Petro travel centers in excess of revenues for the year 2012. The minimum rent payable under each of the TA Lease and the Petro Lease may increase if HPT funds or reimburses qualifying tenant improvements we make to the leased properties, as described below. Additional rent attributable to fuel revenues in each lease is subject to a maximum each year calculated by reference to changes in the consumer price index. As part of the amendment of the Petro Lease and subject to court approval of a settlement of the derivative action described in Item 3, "Legal Proceedings", HPT will waive payment of the first $2.5 million of percentage rent which becomes due under the Petro Lease.

        The following table sets forth the amounts of minimum lease payments required under our leases with HPT, as amended on January 31, 2011, in each of the years shown.

        Although the minimum lease payments under the TA Lease increased from 2007 through 2010 and are scheduled to increase in 2012, we are required, under generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, to recognize expense related to these payments in equal annual amounts for the term of the lease, or approximately $144.5 million per year.

        Rent Deferral Agreement.    On August 11, 2008, we entered a rent deferral agreement with HPT. Under the terms of the deferral agreement we deferred our rent payments to HPT by up to $5 million per month for each month in the period from July 1, 2008 until December 31, 2010, and we were not obligated to pay cash interest on the deferred rent obligation through December 31, 2009; however, pursuant to this agreement, we issued 1,540,000 of our common shares to HPT (which represented approximately 9.6% of our shares then outstanding after this new issuance). The rent that had been deferred and remained unpaid began to accrue interest payable in cash to HPT monthly in arrears at the rate of 1% per month, beginning January 1, 2010. All deferred rent obligation (and interest thereon) not previously paid was contractually due to HPT on July 1, 2011. The agreement prohibited share repurchases and dividends by us while any deferred rent obligation remained unpaid and provided that the deferred rent obligation would be accelerated if certain events provided in that agreement occurred, including a change of control of us, while the deferred rent obligation was unpaid. Through December 31, 2010, we had deferred $150 million of rent payable to HPT and we had incurred $14.1 million of interest on the deferred rent obligation during 2010. On January 31, 2011, we and HPT amended the rent deferral agreement. Under the terms of the amendment, the due date for the $150 million of rent we had deferred as of December 31, 2010, was extended from July 1, 2011, so that $107.1 million will be due and payable on December 31, 2022, and the remaining $42.9 million will be due and payable on June 30, 2024, and interest ceased to accrue on our deferred rent obligation beginning on January 1, 2011; provided, however, that the deferred rent obligation shall be accelerated

15

Table of Contents

and interest shall begin to accrue thereon if certain events provided in the Amendment Agreement occur, including a change of control of us.

        Improvements.    Under the TA Lease, we received funding from HPT for certain tenant improvements we made to properties owned by HPT with no increase in our rent payable to HPT. The amount of such funding was originally limited to $125 million with no more than $25 million of funding permitted in any one year; provided, however, that none of the $125 million of tenant improvements allowance was available to be drawn after December 31, 2015. On May 12, 2008, we and HPT amended the TA Lease. This lease amendment permitted us to request funding from HPT for qualified improvements to the travel centers leased from HPT under the TA Lease on an expedited basis. As of September 30, 2010, we had received from HPT all of the $125 million tenant improvements allowance available under the TA Lease without an increase in rent payments. Portions of this amount were discounted pursuant to the terms of the lease because we elected to receive those funds on an accelerated basis.

        Although they are legally owned by HPT, in accordance with the requirements of GAAP the assets related to the qualifying tenant improvements funded by HPT under the tenant improvements allowance remain on our balance sheet after the funding by HPT and are amortized over the lives of the assets or the remaining term of the lease, whichever is shorter, as depreciation and amortization expense.

        Maintenance and Alterations.    Except for HPT's commitment to fund the tenant improvements allowance as described above, we must maintain, at our expense, the leased travel centers, including maintenance of structural and non-structural components. The leases require us to submit an annual budget for capital expenditures at the leased travel centers to HPT for approval. In addition to tenant improvements funded under the $125 million tenant improvements allowance, we may request that HPT fund approved amounts for renovations, improvements and equipment at the leased travel centers, in return for minimum annual rent increases according to the following formula: the minimum rent per year will be increased by an amount equal to the amount funded by HPT multiplied by the greater of (i) 8.5% or (ii) a benchmark U.S. Treasury interest rate plus 3.5%. Through December 31, 2010, we have sold approximately $1.4 million of improvements to HPT pursuant to these agreements and our rents have increased by approximately $0.1 million per year. At the end of each lease we must surrender the leased travel centers in substantially the same condition as existed at the commencement of the lease subject to any permitted alterations and reasonable wear and tear.

        Assignment and Subletting.    HPT's consent is required for any direct or indirect assignment or sublease of any of the leased travel centers. We remain liable under the leases for subleased travel centers.

        Environmental Matters.    Generally, we have agreed to indemnify HPT from liabilities that may arise from any violation of any environmental law or regulation with respect to the leased travel centers.

        Indemnification and Insurance.    With limited exceptions, we indemnify HPT from liabilities which arise during the terms of the leases from ownership or operation of the leased travel centers. We generally must maintain commercially reasonable insurance. Our insurance coverage includes:

•

property insurance in an amount equal to the full replacement cost of at risk improvements at our leased travel centers;



•

business interruption insurance;



•

general liability insurance, including bodily injury and property damage, in amounts as are generally maintained by companies operating travel centers;



•

flood insurance for any travel center located in whole or in part in a flood plain;

16

Table of Contents

•

workers' compensation insurance if required by law; and



•

such additional insurance as may be generally maintained by companies operating travel centers, including certain environmental insurance.

The leases generally require that HPT be named as an additional insured under our insurance policies.

        Damage, Destruction or Condemnation.    If any leased travel center is damaged by fire or other casualty or taken by eminent domain, we are generally obligated to rebuild. If the leased travel center cannot be restored, HPT will generally receive all insurance or taking proceeds, we are liable to HPT for any deductible or deficiency between the replacement cost and the amount of such proceeds, and the annual minimum rent will be reduced by (i) in the case of the TA Lease, at HPT's option, either 8.5% of the net proceeds paid to HPT or the fair market rental of the damaged, destroyed or condemned property, or portion thereof, as of the commencement date of the TA Lease; (ii) in the case of a casualty loss under the Petro Lease, 8.5% of the net proceeds paid to HPT plus 8.5% of the fair market value of the land; and (iii) in the case of a taking under the Petro Lease, 8.5% of the amount of the net proceeds paid to HPT.

        Events of Default.    Events of default under each lease include the following:

•

our failure to pay rent or any other sum when due;



•

our failure to maintain the insurance required under the lease;



•

the occurrence of certain events with respect to our insolvency;



•

the institution of a proceeding for our bankruptcy or dissolution;



•

our failure to continuously operate any leased travel center without HPT's consent;



•

the acquisition by any person or group of beneficial ownership of 9.8% or more of the voting shares or the power to direct the management and policies of us or any of our subsidiary tenants or guarantors; the sale of a material part of the assets of us or any such tenant or guarantor; or the cessation of certain continuing directors constituting a majority of the board of directors of us or any such tenant or guarantor; in each case without the consent of HPT;



•

our default under any indebtedness of $10 million or more for the TA Lease, or $20 million or more for the Petro Lease, that gives the holder the right to accelerate the maturity of the indebtedness; and



•

our failure to perform certain other covenants or agreements of the lease and the continuance thereof for a specified period of time after written notice.

        Remedies.    Following the occurrence of any event of default, each lease provides that, among other things, HPT may, to the extent legally permitted:

•

accelerate the rent;



•

terminate the lease; and/or



•

make any payment or perform any act required to be performed by us under the lease and receive from us, on demand, an amount equal to the amount so expended by HPT plus interest.

        We are also obligated to reimburse HPT for all costs and expenses incurred in connection with any exercise of the foregoing remedies.

        Lease Subordination.    Each lease may be subordinated to any mortgages of the leased travel centers by HPT, but HPT is required to obtain nondisturbance agreements for our benefit.

17

Table of Contents

        Financing Limitations; Security.    Without HPT's prior written consent, our tenant subsidiaries may not incur debt secured by any of their assets used in the operation of the leased travel centers; provided, however, our tenant subsidiaries may incur purchase money debt to acquire assets used in these operations and we may encumber such assets to obtain a line of credit secured by our tenant subsidiaries' receivables, inventory or certain other assets used in these operations.

        Lease Termination.    When a lease terminates, any equipment, furniture, fixtures, inventory and supplies at the leased travel centers that we own may be purchased by HPT at its then fair market value. Also at termination of the TA Lease, HPT has the right to license any of our software used in the operation of the leased travel centers thereunder at its then fair market value and to offer employment to employees at the leased travel centers thereunder; and under both leases we have agreed to cooperate in the transfer of permits, agreements and the like necessary for the operation of the leased travel centers thereunder.

        Territorial Restrictions.    Under the terms of each lease, without the consent of HPT, we generally cannot own, franchise, finance, operate, lease or manage any travel center or similar property within 75 miles in either direction along the primary interstate on which a travel center owned by HPT is located.

        Non-Economic Properties.    If during a lease term the continued operation of any leased travel center becomes non-economic in our reasonable determination and we and HPT cannot agree on an alternative use for the property, we may offer that travel center for sale, including the sale of HPT's interest in the property, free and clear of our leasehold interests. No sale of a travel center leased from HPT, however, may be completed without HPT's consent. The net sale proceeds received will be paid to HPT and the annual minimum rent payable shall be reduced. In the case of the TA Lease, this reduction will be, at HPT's option, either the amount of such proceeds times 8.5% or the fair market rental for such property as of the commencement date of the lease; in the case of the Petro Lease, this reduction will be the amount of such proceeds times 8.5%. No more than a total of 15 properties subject to the TA Lease and no more than five properties subject to the Petro Lease may be offered for sale as non-economic properties during the applicable lease term. If HPT does not consent to the sale of the travel center, that property will no longer be part of the lease and the minimum rent will be reduced as if the sale had been completed.

        Arbitration.    Our leases with HPT also include arbitration provisions for the resolution of disputes, claims and controversies.

Relationships with Franchisees

        We have lease and franchise agreements with lessees and owners of travel centers. We collect rent and franchise, royalty and other fees under these agreements. As of December 31, 2010, 40 of our travel centers were operated by our franchisees. Ten of these travel centers are leased by us from HPT and subleased by us to a franchisee. Thirty of these travel centers are owned, or leased from others, by our franchisees. As of December 31, 2010, one franchisee operated four locations, two operated three locations each, one operated two locations, and 28 operated one location each. Branding and

18

Table of Contents

ownership of our franchised locations by state as of December 31, 2010, are generally described in the chart below:

Franchise Agreements

        Material provisions of our existing franchise agreements include the following:

        Initial Franchise Fee.    The initial franchise fee for a new franchise is $125,000.

        Term of Agreement.    The initial term of a franchise agreement is generally ten years for a TA franchise and 15 years for a Petro franchise. Our franchise agreements generally provide for two five year renewals on the terms then being offered to prospective franchisees at the time of the franchise renewal. As of December 31, 2010, our franchise agreements had an average remaining term excluding renewal options of three years and an average remaining term including renewal options of 12 years.

        Protected Territory.    Under the terms of our franchise agreements for TA travel centers, generally we have agreed not to operate, or allow another person to operate, a travel center or travel center business that uses the TravelCenters of America or TA brand in a specified territory for that TA branded franchise location. Under the terms of our franchise agreements for Petro travel centers, generally we have agreed not to operate, or allow another person to operate, a travel center or travel center business that uses the Petro brand in a specified territory for that Petro branded franchise location.

19

Table of Contents

        Restrictive Covenants.    Generally our franchisees may not operate any travel center or truck stop related business under a franchise agreement, licensing agreement or marketing plan or system of another person or entity. If the franchisee owns the franchised premises, generally for a two year period after termination of our franchise agreement the franchisee may not operate the premises with a competitive brand.

        Fuel Purchases, Sales and Royalties.    Our TA franchisees that operate travel centers that they sublease from us must purchase all of their diesel fuel from us. Our franchisees that do not sublease from us the travel centers they operate are not required to purchase their diesel fuel from us; however, our franchise agreements that do not require the franchisee to purchase fuel from us generally do require the franchisee to pay us a royalty fee based on sales of certain fuels at the franchised travel center. We also purchase receivables generated by some of our franchisees on a non-recourse basis in return for a fee.

        Nonfuel Product Offerings.    Franchisees are required to operate their travel centers in conformity with guidelines that we establish and offer any products and services that we deem to be a standard product or service in our centers.

        Royalty Payments on Nonfuel Revenues.    Franchisees are required to pay us a royalty fee generally equal to between 2% and 4% of nonfuel revenues. Generally if a franchisee operates one or more QSRs on the franchised premises, the franchisee must pay us from 2% to 3% of all revenues in connection with those sales, net of royalties paid to QSR franchisors.

        Advertising, Promotion and Image Enhancement.    Our franchisees are required to make additional payments to us as contribution to the applicable brand wide advertising, marketing and promotional expenses we incur.

        Termination/Nonrenewal.    Generally, we may terminate or refuse to renew a franchise agreement for default by the franchisee. Generally, we may also refuse to renew if we determine that renewal would not be in our economic interest or if the franchisee will not agree to the terms in our then current form of franchise agreement for the related brand.

        Rights of First Refusal.    During the term of each franchise agreement, we generally have a right of first refusal to purchase that facility at the price offered by a third party. In addition, we generally have the right to purchase franchised Petro centers for fair market value, as determined by the parties or an independent appraiser, upon termination of a Petro franchise agreement.

Franchisee Lease Agreements

        In addition to franchise fees, we also collect rent from franchisees for ten travel centers operated by TA franchisees who sublease travel centers from us. The material provisions of these lease agreements include the following:

        Operating Costs.    The franchisee is responsible for the payment of all costs and expenses in connection with the operation of the leased travel centers, typically excluding certain environmental costs, certain maintenance costs and real estate taxes.

        Term of Agreement.    The subleases have an initial term of ten years and allow for two renewals of five years each. The current terms of these sublease agreements end between June and September 2012. The average remaining term of these agreements as of December 31, 2010, including all renewal periods, was 12 years.

        Rent.    The sublessee must pay annual fixed rent equal to the sum of:

•

base rent;

20

Table of Contents

•

improvement rent, if any, which is defined as an amount equal to a certain percentage of the cost of certain capital improvements we fund after we and the sublessee agree that the improvements may enhance the value of the leased premises; and



•

an annual inflator generally equal to the percentage increase in the consumer price index.

        Use of the Leased Travel Center.    The leased travel center must be operated as a travel center in compliance with all laws, including all environmental laws.

        Termination/Nonrenewal.    The subleases contain terms and provisions regarding termination and nonrenewal, which are substantially the same as the terms and provisions of the related franchise agreements. The subleases are cross defaulted with the related franchise agreements. In certain circumstances we may reimburse the franchisee for a portion of the franchisee's cost of certain capital improvements upon termination of the lease.

Franchise Regulation

        Some states require state registration and delivery of specified disclosure documentation to potential franchisees and impose special regulations on petroleum franchises. Some state laws also impose restrictions on our ability to terminate or not renew franchises and impose other limitations on the terms of our franchise relationships or the conduct of our franchise business. A number of states include, within the scope of their petroleum franchising statutes, prohibitions against price discrimination and other allegedly anticompetitive conduct. These provisions supplement applicable federal and state antitrust laws. Federal Trade Commission regulations require that we make extensive disclosure to prospective franchisees. We believe that we are in compliance with all franchise laws applicable to our business.

Competition

        Fuel and nonfuel products and services can be obtained by truck drivers from a variety of sources, including regional full service travel centers and pumper only truck stops, some of which are owned or franchised by large chains and some of which are independently owned and operated, and some large service stations. In addition, some trucking companies operate their own terminals to provide fuel and services to their own trucking fleets.

        Although there are in excess of 6,000 travel centers and truck stops in the U.S., we believe that large trucking fleets and long haul trucking fleets tend to purchase the large majority of their fuel at the travel centers and truck stops that are located at or near interstate highway exits and from us or our largest competitor, Pilot Flying J. On June 30, 2010, Pilot Travel Centers LLC and Flying J Inc., the then first and second largest companies in our industry based on fuel sales volumes, announced that they had completed a merger, effective July 1, 2010, and that the new company would be called Pilot Flying J. Based on the number of locations, Pilot Flying J is the largest company in our industry and we are the second largest. As a result of the Pilot Flying J combination, we may see increased competitive pressure that could negatively impact our sales volumes and profitability and could increase our operating or our selling, general and administrative expenses.

        We experience competition from other travel center and truck stop chains based primarily on diesel fuel prices. We also experience competition from travel center chains and independent full service travel centers that is based primarily on the quality, variety and pricing of nonfuel product and service offerings. Our truck repair and maintenance facilities compete with regional full service travel center and truck stop chains, full service independently owned and operated travel centers and truck stops, fleet maintenance terminals, independent garages, truck dealerships, truck quick lube facilities and other parts and service centers. We also compete with other full service restaurants, QSRs, mass merchandisers, electronics stores, drugstores and travel and convenience stores. Some truck fleets own their own fuel, repair and maintenance facilities; however, we believe the long term trend has been

21

Table of Contents

toward a reduction in these facilities in favor of obtaining fuel, repair and maintenance services from third parties like us.

        Most of our trucking customers transact business with us by use of fuel cards, which are issued by third party fuel card companies. The fuel card industry has only a few significant participants, including Comdata Network, Inc., or Comdata, the largest issuer of fuel cards, and Transportation Clearing House LLC, or TCH, a company affiliated with Pilot Flying J. We are unable to determine the extent of the effect that competition, or lack thereof, between Comdata and TCH in particular, may result in future increases in our transaction fee expenses or working capital requirements, or both.

        An additional source of competition in the future could result from commercialization of state owned interstate highway rest areas. Some state governments have historically requested that the federal government allow these rest areas to offer fuel and nonfuel products and services similar to that offered at a travel center and we understand that certain congressional leaders have recently begun to entertain the issue. If commercialized, these rest areas may increase the number of locations competing with us and these rest areas may have significant competitive advantages over existing travel centers, including ours, because they are generally located on restricted (i.e., toll) roads and provided dedicated ingress and egress.

        We believe we may be able to compete successfully for the following reasons:

•

Because we offer consistent, high quality products and services in our locations on a nationwide basis we may be able to attract fleet and independent professional truck drivers and motorists.



•

Many of our employees have substantial experience in operating our business.



•

As a publicly owned company with extensive relations with RMR we may have stronger capitalization and opportunities to raise capital than some of our competitors.



•

Our continuing relationship with HPT may provide us opportunities to expand our business in the future.

        HPT is not obligated to provide us with opportunities to lease additional properties, and we may not be able to find other sources of capital sufficient to maintain or grow our travel center business. Also, some of our competitors may have substantially more resources than we do; and some of our competitors have vertically integrated fuel businesses which may provide them competitive advantages. For all of these reasons and others, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully.

        Some states have privatized their toll roads that are part of the interstate highway system. We believe it is likely that tolls will increase on privatized highways. In addition, some states may increase tolls for their own account. If tolls are introduced or increased on highways in the proximity of our locations, our business at those locations may decline because truckers may seek alternative routes.

Environmental and Climate Change Matters

        Extensive environmental laws regulate our operations and properties. These laws may require us to investigate and clean up hazardous substances, including petroleum 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. We use both underground storage tanks and above ground storage tanks to store petroleum products and waste at our travel centers. 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 our leases, we generally have agreed to indemnify HPT for any environmental liabilities related to travel centers that we lease from HPT and we are required to pay all environmental related expenses incurred in the operation of the travel centers.

22

Table of Contents

        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 travel centers. Investigatory and remedial actions were, and regularly are, undertaken with respect to releases of hazardous substances at our travel centers. In some cases contributions were, and may be, received by us to partially offset 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 travel centers purchased from those indemnitors. To the extent we incur material amounts for environmental matters for which we do not receive insurance or other third party reimbursement or for which we have not previously recorded a reserve, 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.

        At December 31, 2010, we had an accrued liability of $7 million for environmental matters as well as a receivable for expected recoveries of certain of these estimated future expenditures and cash in an escrow account to fund certain of these estimated future expenditures, resulting in an estimated net amount of $1.4 million that we expect to need to fund from future cash flows. We do not have a reserve for unknown current or potential future environmental matters. Accrued liabilities related to environmental matters are recorded on an undiscounted basis because of the uncertainty associated with the timing of the related future payments. We cannot precisely know the ultimate costs we will incur in connection with currently known or future potential environmental related violations, corrective actions, investigation and remediation; however, based on our current knowledge we do not expect that our net costs for such matters to be incurred at our travel centers, individually or in the aggregate, would be material to our financial condition or results of operations. We have insurance of up to $35 million for environmental liabilities at certain of our travel centers that were known at the time the policies were issued, and up to $60 million for unknown environmental liabilities, subject, in each case, to certain limitations and deductibles. However, as noted above, we can provide no assurance that:

•

we or a prior owner, operator or occupant of our travel centers did not create a material environmental condition not known to us at this time;



•

future uses or circumstances (including changes in applicable environmental laws and regulations) will not result in the imposition of additional environmental liability upon us;



•

we will be able to maintain similar environmental insurance coverage in the future on acceptable terms; or



•

future environmental laws or regulations, including those regarding climate change, will not require us to expend significant amounts.

        While the costs of our environmental compliance in the past have not had a material adverse impact on us, it is impossible to predict the ultimate effect changing circumstances and changing environmental laws may have on us in the future. We cannot be certain that additional contamination presently unknown to us does not exist at our sites, or that material liability will not be imposed on us in the future. If we discover additional environmental problems, 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. In addition, legislation and regulation regarding climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental matters may be adopted or administered and enforced differently in the future, which could require us to expend significant amounts. For instance, federal and state governmental requirements addressing emissions from trucks and other motor vehicles, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's gasoline and diesel sulfur control requirements that limit the concentration of sulfur in motor gasoline

23

Table of Contents

and diesel fuel, could negatively impact our business. Further, legislation and regulations that limit carbon emissions may cause our energy costs at our travel centers to increase.

Intellectual Property

        We own no patents. We own the "Petro" name and related trademarks. We have the right to use the "TA", "TravelCenters of America" and other trademarks historically used by our predecessor, which are owned by HPT, during the term of the TA Lease. We also license certain trademarks used in the operation of our QSRs. We believe that these QSR trademarks are important to our business, but could be replaced with alternative trademarks without significant disruption in our business but with significant costs.

Seasonality

        Assuming little variation in fuel prices: our revenues are usually lowest in the first quarter of the year when movement of freight by professional truck drivers and motorist travel are typically at their lowest levels of the year; and our revenues in the fourth quarter of a year are often somewhat lower than those of the second and third quarters because, while the beginning of the fourth quarter often experiences increased movement of freight in preparation for various national holidays, that increase is often more than offset by a reduction in freight movement caused by vacation time associated with those holidays taken by professional truck drivers toward the end of the year. While our revenues are modestly seasonal, the quarterly variations in our operating results may reflect greater seasonal differences because our rent and certain other costs do not vary seasonally.

Employees

        As of December 31, 2010, we employed approximately 15,170 people on a full or part time basis. Of this total, approximately 14,620 were employees at our company operated sites, 490 performed managerial, operational or support services at our headquarters or elsewhere and 50 employees staffed our distribution center. Twenty-eight of our employees at two sites are represented by unions. We believe that our relationship with our employees is satisfactory.

Item 1A.    Risk Factors

        Our business faces many risks. If any of the events or circumstances described in the following risks occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations could suffer and the trading price of our equity securities may decline. Investors and prospective investors should carefully consider the following risks, the risks referred to elsewhere in this Annual Report and the information contained under the heading "Warning Concerning Forward Looking Statements" before deciding whether to invest in our securities.

Risks in our business

Our operations have consistently produced losses.

        Since we began operations on January 31, 2007, our business has generally produced losses, with net income generated in only four quarters. Although some of our historical results were impacted by management transition, reorganization and other costs that we do not expect to continue, we believe our losses are also the result of the general decline of the U.S. and world economies over which we have no control. We can not provide any assurance that we will be able to operate profitably.

Our financial results are being affected by the current U.S. economic condition.

        The trucking industry is the primary customer for our goods and services. Freight and trucking demand in the U.S. generally reflect the amount of commercial activity in the U.S. economy. When the

24

Table of Contents

U.S. economy slows, demand for our products and services slows. For example, declines in housing construction have led to less lumber and construction materials being shipped, and these reduced shipments have resulted in fewer customers and lower sales volumes at our travel centers. While the U.S. economy recently has shown recent signs of stabilizing and growing, recent economic activity is still below pre-recession levels and the strength and sustainability of any economic recovery is uncertain, including the risk that a possible "double dip" recession may occur. If the U.S. economy continues to operate as it has over the past few years, or if it worsens, our financial results may not improve and may decline, resulting in our experiencing continued losses from our operations or for our losses to increase.

Reduced consumer spending has resulted in less imported consumer goods into the U.S. and less business at our travel centers; protectionist legislation could materially reduce imports and reduce our business.

        During the past 20 years, increasing world trade has resulted in large increases in the importing of consumer goods into the U.S., many of which are transported within the U.S. by truck. The recent recession and slow U.S. economy has lessened the demand for consumer goods imported into the U.S. and this decline is adversely affecting our business of supplying goods and services to truckers. Increases in U.S. exports have not offset this lost business, as many U.S. exports, for example commodities and heavy equipment, generally are not shipped via truck. If the volume of imported goods into the U.S. does not increase, our financial results may not improve and our losses may increase. Also, recent protectionist legislation such as was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and various proposals for laws to encourage purchasing of domestically manufactured goods rather than imported products may reduce imports and adversely affect our business.

Consolidation of our competitors may negatively affect our business.

        On June 30, 2010, two of our competitors, Pilot Travel Centers LLC and Flying J Inc., announced that they had completed a merger, effective July 1, 2010, and that the new company would be called Pilot Flying J. That merger combined the first and second largest competitors in our industry, based on diesel fuel sales volume. As a result of this combination, we may see increased competitive pressure that could negatively impact our sales volumes and profitability and could increase our level of operating and selling, general and administrative expenses. In addition, most of our trucking customers transact business with us by use of fuel cards, which are issued by third party fuel card companies. The fuel card industry has only a few significant participants, including Comdata, the largest issuer of fuel cards, and TCH, a company affiliated with Pilot Flying J. We are unable to determine the extent of the effect the combined Pilot Flying J may have on our financial position, results of operations, or competitive position, although we expect the combination may significantly alter the competitive conditions in the travel center industry. Further, we are unable to determine the extent of the effect that competition, or lack thereof, between Comdata and TCH in particular, may result in future increases in our transaction fee expenses or working capital requirements, or both. In December 2010, we entered a new contract with Comdata that we expect will increase our operating expenses and our working capital requirements.

Fuel price increases and fuel price volatility negatively affect our business.

        Fuel commodity prices and price volatility were very high during 2008, and while fuel commodity prices have abated somewhat from the historical high reached in July 2008, they remain at historically high levels, fuel commodity price volatility has continued and fuel commodity prices were generally higher throughout 2010 than they were during 2009. Also, recent political unrest in the Middle East region could result in significant price increases and volatility in world markets for oil and petroleum based commodities. High prices and the inability to project future prices have several adverse impacts upon our business. First, high fuel prices result in higher truck shipping costs. This causes shippers to consider alternative means for transporting freight, which reduces trucking business and, in turn, reduces our

25

Table of Contents

business. Second, high fuel prices cause our trucking customers to seek cost savings throughout their businesses. This has resulted in some customers instituting fuel conservation measures, such as lower maximum driving speeds and reduced truck engine idling reducing total fuel consumption. Also, some of our customers and potential customers appear to be concentrating their fuel business with some of our competitors who may offer lower prices than we offer. Third, higher fuel prices may result in less disposable income for our customers to purchase our nonfuel goods and services. Fourth, higher and more volatile fuel commodity prices increase the working capital needed to maintain our fuel inventories and receivables, and this increases our costs of doing business. If fuel commodity prices or fuel price volatility increase, our financial results may not improve and our losses may increase.

Our labor costs are difficult to control.

        During 2008 and 2009 we implemented labor cost savings initiatives in our salaried and hourly workforce in an effort to match the declines in our business volumes. These initiatives generally remained in effect in 2010. However, to maintain and manage our operations requires certain minimum staffing levels to operate our travel centers 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. We believe it will be increasingly difficult for us to make additional staff reductions without adversely affecting our business prospects. Also, certain opportunities for sales may be lost when labor is reduced. For these reasons, our labor costs are difficult to control and we may suffer losses.

Our properties require regular and expensive maintenance and capital investments.

        Our travel centers are open for business 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Also, many of our locations were originally constructed more than 25 years ago. Because of the age of many of our properties, especially some of our TA sites, and because of the nature and intensity of our uses of these properties, our properties require regular and expensive maintenance and capital investments to remain functional and attractive to customers. When we commenced business we determined that some of our TA sites required significant capital investments and we obtained a commitment from HPT to invest $125 million in our leased TA sites as part of the HPT Transaction. After the HPT Transaction was completed, we determined to accelerate this investment and we raised additional capital, in part, to do so. In 2009 and 2010, because of the recessionary U.S. economy we determined to defer some of these capital expenditures. If our financial results do not improve or if we can not access capital necessary to maintain our properties, our business may decline and our losses may increase. Also, deferring certain capital expenditures in the near term may require us to make larger amounts of capital expenditures in the future.

Our operating margins are narrow.

        Our total operating revenues for the year ended December 31, 2010, were $6 billion, while the sum of our cost of goods sold (excluding depreciation) and site level operating expenses for the same period totaled $5.6 billion. Fuel sales in particular generate low gross margins. Our fuel sales for the year ended December 31, 2010, were $4.8 billion and our gross margin on fuel sales was $260 million, or approximately 5.4%. A small percentage decline in our future revenues or increase in our future expenses, especially revenues and expenses related to fuel, may cause us to continue to experience losses or our losses to increase.

An interruption in our fuel supplies would materially adversely affect our business.

        To mitigate the risks arising from fuel price volatility, we generally maintain limited fuel inventories. Accordingly, an interruption in our fuel supplies would materially adversely affect our business. Interruptions in fuel supplies may be caused by local conditions, such as a malfunction in a particular pipeline or terminal, by weather related events, such as hurricanes in the areas where petroleum is extracted or refined, or by national or international conditions, such as government

26

Table of Contents

rationing, acts of terrorism, war and the like. Any limitation in available fuel supplies or on the fuel we can offer for sale may cause us to experience losses or our losses to increase.

We are involved in litigation which is expensive and may have adverse impacts upon our business.

        We are currently involved in litigation which is expensive and which may have adverse consequences to us. If these litigation matters or new litigation matters continue for extended periods or if they result in judgments adverse to us, we may continue to experience losses or our losses may increase. In addition, in our experience, the risk of litigation is greater in certain jurisdictions, such as the State of California. We have significant operations in the State of California and have in the past been, and may in the future be, party to employee and other litigation in that state or elsewhere. Although to date our litigation matters in the State of California have not resulted in settlements or judgments against us which have had, or which we expect would reasonably be likely to have, a material adverse effect on our business, there can be no assurance that they will not have such an effect or that litigation elsewhere would not have such an effect on us. See below Item 3, "Legal Proceedings."

We rely upon trade creditors for a significant amount of our working capital and the availability of alternative sources of financing may be limited.

        Our fuel purchases are our largest operating cost. In 2010 we purchased $4.5 billion of fuel. Historically, we have paid for our fuel purchases after delivery. In the past, as our fuel costs increased with the increase in commodity market prices, some of our fuel suppliers were unwilling to adjust the amounts of our available trade credit to accommodate the increased costs of the fuel volumes that we purchase; for example, a $10 million amount of trade credit will allow us to purchase 5 million gallons of fuel at $2.00 per gallon, but only 3.33 million gallons at $3.00 per gallon. Also, our financial results and business conditions in the U.S. financial markets generally have caused some fuel suppliers to request letters of credit or other forms of security for our purchases. Fuel commodity prices generally increased in 2009 and during the first quarter of 2010. Then, fuel commodity prices generally trended lower during the second and third quarters of 2010, but rose again during the fourth quarter of 2010. We cannot predict how high or low fuel prices may be in the future, and fuel commodity price volatility significantly impacts our working capital requirements. Further, in light of the recent and current economic, industry and global credit market conditions and our historical operating losses, the availability and terms of any credit we may be able to obtain are uncertain, which may limit the availability to us of alternative sources of financing. Although we maintain a credit facility permitting borrowings of up to $100 million, we typically utilize a large portion of that facility for issuances of letters of credit to our fuel suppliers to secure our fuel purchases and to taxing authorities (or bonding companies) for fuel taxes. Our credit facility expires in November 2012. Our inability to obtain any additional or replacement financing we may need on reasonable terms would adversely affect our ability to fund our business operations and may result in increased investment in our working capital. Any increased investment in working capital decreases our financial flexibility to use our capital for other business purposes or to fund our operations and may cause us to suffer losses.

Our customers may become unable to pay us when we extend credit.

        We sell some of our products on credit. Customers purchasing fuel or other goods on credit from us may default on their obligations to pay, or they may extend the payment period, for products sold to them on credit. In light of the difficult economic conditions that have existed recently in the United States generally and the trucking industry specifically, the risk that some of our customers may not pay us is greater at present than it has been historically. Also, to the extent that we are unable to collect receivables owed to us in a timely fashion, we may be required to increase amounts invested in our working capital, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

27

Table of Contents

Our storage and dispensing of petroleum products create the potential for environmental damages, and compliance with environmental laws is often expensive.

        Our business is subject to laws relating to the protection of the environment. The travel centers we operate include fueling areas, truck repair and maintenance facilities and tanks for the storage of petroleum products and other hazardous substances, all of which create the potential for environmental damage. As a result, we regularly incur environmental clean up costs. Our balance sheet as of December 31, 2010, included an accrued liability of $7 million for environmental remediation and related costs. Because of the uncertainties associated with environmental expenditures, it is possible that future expenditures could be substantially higher than this amount. Environmental laws expose us to the possibility that we may become liable to reimburse the government or others for damages and costs they incur in connection with environmental hazards. We cannot predict what environmental legislation or regulations may be enacted or how existing laws or regulations will be administered or interpreted with respect to our products or activities in the future; more stringent laws, more vigorous enforcement policies or stricter interpretation of existing laws in the future could cause us to expend significant amounts or experience losses.

        Legislation and regulation regarding climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental matters may be adopted or administered and enforced differently in the future, which could require us to expend significant amounts. For instance, federal and state governmental requirements addressing emissions from trucks and other motor vehicles, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's gasoline and diesel sulfur control requirements that limit the concentration of sulfur in motor gasoline and diesel fuel, could negatively impact our business.

        In addition, in our experience, the risk of being subject to regulatory review and proceedings for environmental related matters is greater in certain jurisdictions, such as the State of California. We have significant operations in the State of California and have in the past been subject to regulatory review and proceedings for environmental related matters and may in the future be subject to similar reviews and proceedings in that state or elsewhere. Although to date our environmental regulatory matters in the State of California have not resulted in settlements or judgments against us, or otherwise resulted in our paying or agreeing to pay amounts, which have had, or which we expect would reasonably be likely to have, a material adverse effect on our business, there can be no assurance that they will not have such an effect or that environmental regulatory reviews or proceedings elsewhere would not have such an effect on us. See the disclosure under Item 3, "Legal Proceedings."

        Under the leases between us and HPT, we have agreed to indemnify HPT from environmental liabilities it may incur arising at any of our leased travel centers. Although we maintain insurance policies which cover our environmental liabilities, that coverage may not adequately cover liabilities we may incur. To the extent we incur material amounts for environmental matters for which we do not receive insurance or other third party reimbursement or for which we have not set aside a reserve in prior years, 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. Also, to the extent we are or become obligated to fund any such liabilities, such funding obligation could materially adversely affect our liquidity and financial position.

Our franchisees may become unable to pay our rents, franchise royalties and other fees and we have limited control of our franchisees.

        Ten travel centers which we lease from HPT are subleased to franchisees. As of December 31, 2010, an additional 30 travel centers not owned by us or HPT are operated by franchisees. Because we have historically experienced losses, the rent, franchise royalties and other fees we receive from these franchisees may be significant to us. For the year ended December 31, 2010, the rent, franchise royalty and other fee revenue generated from these franchisee relationships was $13.5 million. We believe the

28

Table of Contents

difficult business conditions which have recently affected the locations which we operate, including the effects of current U.S. economic conditions and high and volatile fuel commodity prices, are also adversely affecting our franchisees and may make it difficult for our franchisees to pay the rent, franchise royalties and other fees due to us. In addition, our franchise agreements are subject to periodic renewal by us or the franchisee. Also, various laws and our existing franchise contracts limit the control we may exercise over our franchisees' business activities. A failure by our franchisees to pay rent, franchise royalties and other fees to us, or the termination or non-renewal of a significant number of our franchise agreements, may cause us to continue to experience losses or cause our losses to increase.

Difficult U.S. economic conditions may adversely affect suppliers and subtenants.

        Some of the products and services provided at our travel centers are obtained by us by way of a lease, license or supply agreement with third parties. Continued economic pressures may cause financial stress, performance issues and/or outright failure by one or more of these third parties and we may incur substantial costs or loss of business as a result. For example: one subtenant who operates a casino has been unable to pay rent of about $0.3 million monthly since 2009 and we have entered a work out arrangement with that subtenant; and a lessee that provided certain services to trucks parked in our lots and had historically paid us about $0.3 million monthly ceased operations in 2009, and in addition to the loss of lease income, we may experience costs to remove its equipment and repair our parking lots.

We may experience losses from our business dealings with AIC.

        We have invested approximately $5.2 million in AIC, we have purchased substantially all our property insurance in a program designed and reinsured in part by AIC and we are currently investigating the possibilities to expand our relationship with AIC to other types of insurance. Our principal reason for investing in AIC and in purchasing insurance in these programs is to seek to improve our financial results by obtaining improved insurance coverages at lower costs than may be otherwise available to us or by participating in any profits which we may realize as an owner of AIC. These beneficial financial results may not occur and we may need to invest additional capital in order to continue to pursue these results. AIC's business involves the risks typical of an insurance business, including the risk that it may be insufficiently capitalized. Accordingly, our anticipated financial benefits from our business dealings with AIC may be delayed or not achieved and we may experience losses from these dealings.

We rely on information technology in our operations, and any material failure, inadequacy, interruption or security failure of that technology could harm our business.

        We rely on information technology systems throughout our operations, including for management of our supply chain, point of sale processing at our sites, and various other processes and transactions. We purchase some of our information technology from vendors, on whom our systems depend. We rely on commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for processing, transmission and storage of confidential customer information, such as payment card and personal credit information. In addition, the systems currently used for certain transmission and approval of payment card transactions, and the technology utilized in payment cards themselves, may put certain payment card data at risk; and these systems are determined and controlled by the payment card industry, and not by us. Any compromise or breach of our information and payment technology systems could cause interruptions in our operations, damage our reputation and reduce our customers' willingness to visit our sites and conduct business with us. Further, the failure of these systems to operate effectively, or problems we may experience with maintaining our current system or transitioning to upgraded or replacement systems, could significantly harm our business and operations and cause us to incur significant costs to remediate such problems and to pay related fines.

29

Table of Contents

Privatization of toll roads or of rest areas may negatively affect our business.

        Some states have privatized their toll roads which are part of the interstate highway system. We believe it is likely that tolls will increase on privatized highways. In addition, some states may increase tolls for their own account. If tolls are introduced or increased on highways in the proximity of our locations, our business at those locations may decline because truckers may seek alternative routes. Similarly, some states have privatized or are considering privatizing their publicly owned highway rest areas. If publicly owned rest areas along highways are privatized and converted to travel centers in the proximity of our location, our business at those locations may decline and we may experience losses.

Our sales could be harmed if our suppliers, franchisors or licensors become associated with negative publicity.

        We sell branded gasoline at some of our travel centers and most of our travel centers have QSRs. If the companies or brands associated with these products and offerings become associated with negative publicity, our customers may avoid purchasing these products and offerings, including at our travel centers, and may avoid visiting our travel centers because of our association with the particular company or brand, which could harm our sales and results of operations.

We may have to expend significant amounts to comply with climate change and other environmental legislation and regulation; and the market reaction to such legislation and regulation and climate change concerns generally may require us to make significant capital or other expenditures and may adversely affect our business.

        Future climate change legislation and regulation, including those addressing greenhouse gas emissions, may require us to expend significant amounts. In addition, the market reaction to any such legislation or regulation or to climate change concerns generally may cause us to incur increased costs and capital expenditures. Increased costs incurred by our suppliers as a result of climate change or other environmental legislation or regulation may be passed on to us in the prices we pay for our fuel supplies. We may not be able to pass on those increased costs to our customers. Increased fuel costs resulting for these reasons would likely have similar effects on our business, operations and liquidity as discussed elsewhere regarding high fuel costs, including decreased demand for our fuel at our travel centers, increased working capital needs and decreased fuel gross margins. Further, legislation and regulations that limit carbon emissions may cause our energy costs at our travel centers to increase. Moreover, technological changes developed or changes in customer transportation or fueling preferences, including as a result of or in response to any such legislation, regulation or market reaction, may require us to make significant capital or other expenditures to adopt those technologies or to address those changed preferences and may decrease the demand for products and services sold at our travel centers.

We may be unable to utilize our net operating loss carry forwards.

        As a result of certain trading in our shares during 2007, we experienced a change in ownership, as defined by section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code, or the Code. Consequently, we are unable to use our net operating loss generated in 2007. If we experience additional changes in ownership, as defined in the Code, our net operating losses generated after 2007 could also be subject to limitations on usage.

We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common shares in the foreseeable future.

        We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common shares, and we currently do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

30

Table of Contents

The price of our common shares has fluctuated, and a number of factors may cause our common share price to decline.

        The market price of our common shares has fluctuated and could fluctuate significantly in the future in response to various factors and events, including, but not limited to, the risks set out in this Annual Report, as well as:

•

the liquidity of the market for our common shares;



•

changes in our operating results;



•

changes in analysts' expectations; and



•

general economic and industry trends and conditions.

        In addition, the stock market in recent years has experienced broad price and volume fluctuations that often have been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also cause the market price of our common shares to decline. Shareholders may be unable to resell our common shares at or above the price at which they purchased our shares.

Risks arising from certain relationships of ours

We are obligated to pay material amounts of rent to HPT.

        The terms of our leases with HPT require us to pay all of our operating costs and generally fixed amounts of rent. During periods of business decline, like the one we experienced during the recent recession, our revenues and gross margins may decrease but our rents due to HPT do not decline. A decline in our revenues or an increase in our expenses may make it difficult or impossible for us to meet all of our obligations and, if we default under our HPT leases, we may be unable to continue our business.

Our business is subject to possible conflicts of interest with HPT and RMR.

        Our creation was, and our continuing business is, subject to possible conflicts of interest, as follows:

•

Two of our Directors were trustees of HPT at the time we were created.



•

We have five Directors: one of whom, Barry M. Portnoy, also is a managing trustee of HPT, Chairman, the majority owner and an employee of RMR; one of whom, Arthur G. Koumantzelis, is a former trustee of HPT; and one of whom, Thomas M. O'Brien, is a former executive officer of HPT. Further, Mr. Portnoy and all of our Independent Directors are members of the boards of trustees or boards of directors of various companies to which RMR provides management services.



•

Mr. O'Brien, who serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew J. Rebholz, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer are also officers of RMR.



•

We lease a large majority of our locations from HPT.



•

RMR provides us business management and shared services pursuant to our business management and shared services agreement with RMR, and RMR provides business and property management services to HPT.



•

In the event of conflicts between us and RMR, any affiliate of RMR or any publicly owned entity with which RMR has a relationship, including HPT, our business management and shared services agreement allows RMR to act on its own behalf and on behalf of HPT or such other entity rather than on our behalf.

31

Table of Contents

•

RMR's simultaneous contractual obligations to us and HPT create actual and potential conflicts of interest, or the appearance of such conflicts.

        In connection with the agreement we entered as part of the HPT Transaction, we granted HPT a right of first refusal to purchase, lease, mortgage or otherwise finance any interest we own in a travel center before we sell, lease, mortgage or otherwise finance that travel center with another party, and we granted HPT and other entities to which RMR provides management services a right of first refusal to acquire or finance any real estate of the types in which they invest before we do, which could limit our ability to purchase or finance our properties or properties we may wish to invest in or acquire in the future. Also, under this agreement we agreed not to take any action that might reasonably be expected to have a material adverse impact on HPT's ability to qualify as a real estate investment trust, or REIT.

        We believe that our historical and ongoing business dealings with HPT and RMR have benefited us and that, despite the foregoing possible conflicts of interest, the transactions we have entered with HPT and RMR since the HPT Transaction have been commercially reasonable and not less favorable than otherwise available to us. Nonetheless, in the past, in particular following periods of financial distress or volatility in the market price of a company's securities, shareholder litigation, dissident director nominations and dissident proposals have often been instituted against companies alleging conflicts of interest in business dealings with directors and affiliated persons and entities. Our relationship with Mr. Portnoy and with other companies to which RMR provides management services may precipitate such activities. These activities, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management's attention and resources even if it is without merit. In fact, such litigation is currently pending; see Item 3, "Legal Proceedings".

Territorial restrictions placed on us by our leases with HPT and our franchise agreements with our franchisees could impair our ability to grow our business.

        Under our leases with HPT, without the consent of HPT, we generally cannot own, franchise, finance, operate, lease or manage any travel center or similar property within 75 miles in either direction along the primary interstate on which a travel center owned by HPT is located. Under the terms of our franchise agreements for TA travel centers, generally we have agreed not to operate, or allow another person to operate, a travel center or travel center business that uses the TravelCenters of America or TA brand in a specified territory for that TA branded franchise location. Under the terms of our franchise agreements for Petro travel centers, generally we have agreed not to operate, or allow another person to operate, a travel center or travel center business that uses the Petro brand in a specified territory for that Petro branded franchise location. As a result of these restrictions, we may be unable to develop, acquire or franchise a travel center in an area in which an additional travel center may be profitable, thereby losing an opportunity for future growth of our business.

We have significant commercial arrangements with RMR and HPT and we are dependent on those arrangements in operating our business.

        We are party to a business management and shared services agreement with RMR, whereby RMR assists us with various aspects of our business. One of our Directors is the majority owner and a director of RMR. One of our other Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer and our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer are also officers of RMR. Most of the travel centers that we operate are leased by us, principally from HPT. As a result of these factors, we are dependent on our arrangements with RMR and HPT in operating our business and any adverse developments in those arrangements could have a material adverse effect on our business and our ability to conduct our operations.

32

Table of Contents

Ownership limitations, anti-takeover and other provisions may prevent us from experiencing a change of control, our shareholders from effecting changes in our governance or related matters, and our shareholders from receiving a takeover premium.

        Our limited liability company agreement, or our LLC agreement, and bylaws include various provisions which may make it difficult for anyone to cause a change of control of us by means of a tender offer, open market share purchases, a proxy contest or otherwise, without the approval of our Board of Directors. Among others, these provisions include the following:

•

separate prohibitions on the ownership of 5% or more of our shares or in excess of 9.8% of any class or type of our equity securities by any person or group;



•

regulatory compliance matters, including Louisiana gaming and Indiana insurance regulatory matters, which we and our shareholders may be subject to and which may effectively restrict a shareholder's ownership in us, including in some cases, to 5% of our outstanding shares;



•

staggered terms for members of our Board of Directors;



•

qualifications to serve on our Board of Directors and a requirement that certain of our Directors be Managing Directors and Independent Directors;



•

the power of our Board of Directors, without shareholders' approval, to authorize and issue additional shares of any class or type on terms that it determines;



•

advance notice procedures for shareholder nominations and other proposals;



•

a requirement that an individual Director may only be removed for cause and then only by unanimous vote of the other Directors; and a 75% shareholders' vote and cause requirements for removal of our entire Board of Directors;



•

a 75% shareholders' vote requirement for shareholder nominations and other proposals which are not approved by our Board of Directors;



•

the authority of our Board of Directors, and not our shareholders, to adopt, amend or repeal our bylaws; and



•

limitations on the ability of shareholders to cause a special meeting of shareholders to be held and a prohibition on shareholders acting by written consent unless the consent is a unanimous consent of all our shareholders entitled to vote on the matter;



•

because of our ownership of AIC, we are an insurance holding company under applicable state law; accordingly, anyone who intends to solicit proxies for a person to serve as one of our Directors or for another proposal of business not approved by our Board of Directors may be required to receive pre-clearance from the concerned insurance regulators;



•

a requirement that a shareholder who desires to nominate a person for election as Director or to propose other business not approved by our Board of Directors at a meeting of our shareholders that would cause a breach or default of any debt instrument or agreement or other material agreement of ours, to provide (i) evidence of the lender's or contracting party's willingness to waive the breach of covenant or default or (ii) a detailed plan for repayment of the applicable indebtedness or curing the contractual breach or default and satisfying any resulting damage, in each case, satisfactory to our Board of Directors; and



•

requirements that shareholders and Director nominees comply with regulatory requirements (including gambling and insurance licensing requirements) affecting us which could effectively limit share ownership.

33

Table of Contents

        In addition, our leases with HPT, our business management and shared services agreement with RMR and our credit facility each provide that our rights and benefits under those agreements may be terminated in the event that anyone acquires more than 9.8% of our shares or we experience a change in control, as defined in those agreements, without the consent of HPT, RMR or the lenders under the credit facility, respectively, and that AIC and the other shareholders of AIC may have rights to acquire our interests in AIC if such an acquisition occurs or if we experience a change of control. In addition, our obligation to repay deferred rent then outstanding under our rent deferral arrangements with HPT may be accelerated if, among other things, a Director not nominated or appointed by the then members of our Board of Directors is elected to our Board of Directors or if our shareholders adopt a proposal (other than a precatory proposal) not recommended for adoption by the then members of our Board of Directors. For these reasons, among others, we may not experience a change of control, our shareholders may be unable to effect changes to our governance or related matters and our shareholders may be unable to realize a takeover premium for their shares.

Our rights and the rights of our shareholders to take action against our Directors, officers, HPT and RMR are limited.

        Our limited liability company agreement eliminates the personal liability of each of our Directors to us and our shareholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as our Director, except for a breach of the Director's duty of loyalty to us or our shareholders as modified by our limited liability company agreement, for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involved intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, or for any transaction from which the Director derived an improper personal benefit. Our limited liability company agreement also provides that our Directors and officers, HPT, RMR, and the respective directors and officers of HPT and RMR shall not be liable for monetary damages to us or our shareholders for losses sustained or liabilities incurred as a result of any act or omission by any of them unless there has been a final, nonappealable judgment entered by a court determining that such person or entity acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud, willful misconduct or, in the case of a criminal matter, acted with knowledge that his, her or its conduct was unlawful.

        Our limited liability company agreement also generally requires us to indemnify, to the fullest extent permitted by law, our present and former Directors and officers, HPT, RMR, and the respective directors and officers of HPT and RMR for losses they may occur arising from claims or actions in which any of them may be involved in connection with any act or omission by such person or entity in good faith on behalf of or with respect to us. In addition, we may be obligated to pay or reimburse the expenses incurred by our present and former Directors and officers, HPT, RMR, and the respective directors and officers of HPT and RMR without requiring a preliminary determination of their ultimate entitlement to indemnification. As a result, we and our shareholders may have more limited rights against our present and former Directors and officers, HPT, RMR, and the respective directors and officers of HPT and RMR than might otherwise exist absent the provisions in our limited liability company agreement or that might exist with other companies, which could limit your recourse in the event of actions not in your best interest.

Disputes with HPT and RMR and shareholder litigation against us or our Directors and officers may be referred to arbitration proceedings.

        Our contracts with HPT and RMR provide that any dispute arising under those contracts may be referred to binding arbitration proceedings. Similarly, our LLC agreement and bylaws provide that actions by our shareholders against us or against our Directors and officers, including derivative cases and class actions, may be referred to binding arbitration proceedings. As a result, we and our shareholders would not be able to pursue litigation for these disputes in courts against HPT, RMR or our directors and officers if the disputes were referred to arbitration. In addition, the ability to collect

34

Table of Contents

attorney's fees or other damages may be limited in the arbitration proceedings, which may discourage attorneys from agreeing to represent parties wishing to commence such a proceeding.

Item 1B.    Unresolved Staff Comments

        None.

Item 2.    Properties

        Our principal executive offices are leased and are located at 24601 Center Ridge Road, Suite 200, Westlake, Ohio 44145-5639. Our distribution center is a leased facility located at 1450 Gould Boulevard, LaVergne, Tennessee 37086-3535. We also conduct some home office business from RMR's premises at Two Newton Place, 255 Washington Street, Suite 300, Newton, Massachusetts 02458.

        As of December 31, 2010, our travel center business consisted of 228 travel centers, 185 of which are leased from HPT, nine of which we own, two of which are owned by parties other than HPT and leased to or managed by us, 30 of which are owned or leased by our franchisees and two travel centers that we operate for a joint venture in which we own a minority interest. We operated 188 of these travel centers and our franchisees operated 40 of these travel centers. We own eight parcels of land on which we may decide to build additional travel centers in the future.

35

Table of Contents

        The table below summarizes by state information as of December 31, 2010, regarding branding and ownership of the travel centers we operate. Similar information for the travel centers our franchisees operate is included under the heading "Relationships with Franchisees" in Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

36

Table of Contents

Item 3.    Legal Proceedings

        On February 1, 2008, a purported holder of our shares, Alan R. Kahn filed a purported derivative action in the Delaware Court of Chancery on behalf of us against members of our Board of Directors, HPT and RMR. This action alleges that our Directors breached their fiduciary duties in connection with our acquisition in 2007 of Petro Stopping Centers, L.P., or the Petro Acquisition, and our entering into the Petro Lease, which we entered into with HPT in connection with that acquisition, and seeks an award of unspecified damages and other relief. This action also appears to allege that RMR and HPT aided and abetted our Directors. Under our limited liability company agreement and agreements with RMR and HPT, we are liable to indemnify our Directors, HPT and RMR for liabilities, costs and expenses incurred by them in connection with this litigation. On May 6, 2008, we moved to dismiss this complaint. On June 20, 2008, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint making additional allegations regarding the members of our Board of Directors and withdrawing his request for reformation of the Petro Lease. On July 2, 2008, we moved to dismiss the amended complaint. On October 30, 2008, Mr. Kahn's claims against RMR were voluntarily dismissed. On December 11, 2008, our motion to dismiss the amended complaint was denied and a previously imposed stay of discovery was lifted. On January 21, 2009, HPT sent a letter to the plaintiff demanding arbitration of his claims pursuant to the terms of the Petro Lease. On January 31, 2011, we and HPT entered into the Amendment Agreement, which amended our leases and rent deferral agreement with HPT. Counsel for Mr. Kahn participated in the negotiation of certain aspects of that agreement. In connection with those negotiations, the parties involved in the litigation agreed to settle the lawsuit. Specifically, in exchange for settling the litigation, HPT agreed to waive payment of the first $2.5 million of percentage rent that becomes due under the Petro Lease, which waiver is further described in Item 1, "Business". The settlement is subject to approval by the Delaware Court of Chancery. Litigation and a court approval process sometimes produce unexpected results. We can provide no assurance that the required court approval will be obtained or that this settlement will be concluded.

        In July 2008, Riverside County in the State of California filed litigation against us in the Superior Court of California for Riverside County, seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief for alleged past violations of various state laws and regulations relating to management of underground storage tanks. In April 2009, the California Attorney General intervened in the action. The California Attorney General's complaint repeats many of the allegations made by Riverside County and adds allegations of past violations of state laws and regulations governing the management of hazardous wastes. The complaints by the Attorney General and the Riverside County District Attorney do not identify the amount of civil penalties sought. The Attorney General and the District Attorney recently filed a consolidated complaint in which they combined the allegations of their previous separate complaints into a single complaint. The consolidated complaint does not change the substance of the claims alleged against us. We disagree with these allegations and intend to defend these lawsuits.

        In May 2010, the California Attorney General filed a separate litigation against us in the Superior Court of California for Alameda County containing allegations of violations of underground storage tank laws and regulations at various facilities in Kern and Merced counties. On July 26, 2010, the California Attorney General voluntarily dismissed this litigation against us and, on September 2, 2010, refiled its complaint in the Superior Court of California for Merced County. The complaint does not identify the amount of civil penalties sought. We disagree with the Attorney General's allegations and intend to defend this lawsuit.

        Beginning in December 2006, a series of class action lawsuits was filed against numerous companies in the petroleum industry, including our predecessor and our subsidiaries, in U.S. district courts in over 20 states. Major petroleum refineries and retailers have been named as defendants in one or more of these lawsuits. The plaintiffs in the lawsuits generally allege that they are retail purchasers who purchased motor fuel at temperature greater than 60 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of sale. One theory alleges that the plaintiffs purchased smaller amounts of motor fuel than the amount

37

Table of Contents

for which defendants charged them because the defendants measured the amount of motor fuel they delivered by volumes which, at higher temperatures, contain less energy. A second theory alleges that fuel taxes are calculated in temperature adjusted 60 degree gallons and are collected by governmental agencies from suppliers and wholesalers, who are reimbursed in the amount of the tax by the defendant retailers before the fuel is sold to consumers. These "tax" cases allege that, when the fuel is subsequently sold to consumers at temperatures above 60 degrees, the retailers sell a greater volume of fuel than the amount on which they paid tax, and therefore reap unjust benefit because the customers pay more tax than the retailer pays. We believe that there are substantial factual and legal defenses to the theories alleged in these so called "hot fuel" lawsuits. The "temperature" cases seek nonmonetary relief in the form of an order requiring the defendants to install temperature correcting equipment on their retail fuel pumps. They also seek monetary relief in the form of damages. The plaintiffs have not quantified the damages they seek. The "tax" cases also seek monetary relief. Plaintiffs have proposed a formula (which we dispute) to measure these damages as the difference between the amount of fuel excise taxes paid by defendants and the amount collected by defendants on motor fuel sales. Plaintiffs have taken the position in filings with the Court that under this approach, our damages for an eight-year period for one state would be approximately $10.7 million. We deny liability and disagree with the plaintiff's position. The cases have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas pursuant to multi-district litigation procedures. On Friday, May 28, 2010, the Court ruled that, with respect to two cases originally filed in U.S. District Court in the state of Kansas, it would grant plaintiffs' motion to certify a class of plaintiffs seeking injunctive relief (implementation of fuel temperature equipment and/or posting of notices regarding the effect of temperature on fuel), and that it would defer plaintiffs' motion to certify a class with respect to damages. A TA entity was named in one of those two Kansas cases, but the Court ruled that the named plaintiffs were not sufficient to represent a class as to TA, and as a result, there has been no class certified as to TA. The U.S, Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has denied a request for interlocutory review of the Court's class certification decision, and the litigation in the Kansas cases is proceeding. The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas has not issued a decision on class certification with respect to the remaining cases that have been consolidated in the multi-district litigation and discovery in those cases is ongoing. Because these various motions are pending, we cannot estimate our ultimate exposure to loss or liability, if any, related to these lawsuits. However, the continued cost of litigating these cases could be significant.

        On April 6, 2009, five independent truck stop owners, who are plaintiffs in a purported class action suit against Comdata Network, Inc., or Comdata, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, filed a motion to amend their complaint to add us as a defendant, which was allowed on March 25, 2010. The amended complaint also adds as defendants Ceridian Corporation, Pilot Travel Centers LLC and Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc. Comdata markets fuel cards which are used for payments by trucking companies to truck stops. The amended complaint alleges antitrust violations arising out of Comdata's contractual relationships with truck stops in connection with its fuel cards. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and injunctive relief. This case is in the discovery stage. We believe that there are substantial factual and legal defenses to the plaintiffs' claims against us, but that the costs to defend this case could be significant.

        In addition to the legal proceedings referenced above, we are involved from time to time in various other legal and administrative proceedings, including tax audits, and threatened legal and administrative proceedings incidental to the ordinary course of our business, none of which we expect, individually or in the aggregate, to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Item 4.    (Removed and Reserved)

38

Table of Contents

PART II

Item 5.    Market for Our Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

        Market information.    The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the high and low sale prices for our common shares as reported by the NYSE Amex.

        The closing price of our common shares on NYSE Amex on February 14, 2011, was $11.67 per share.

        Holders.    As of February 14, 2011, there were approximately 1,200 shareholders of record of our common shares and we believe that there are approximately 21,500 beneficial owners of our common shares.

        Dividends.    We have never paid or declared any cash dividends on our common shares. At present, we intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the operations and growth of our business. Our future decisions concerning the payment of dividends on our common shares will depend upon our results of operations, financial condition and capital expenditure plans, as well as other factors as our Board of Directors, in its discretion, may consider relevant, and the extent to which the declaration or payment of dividends may be limited by agreements we have entered or cause us to lose the benefits of certain of our agreements.

        Stock issuable under equity compensation plans.    The equity compensation plan information set forth in Item 12 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated by reference herein.

        Recent sales of unregistered securities.    There were no sales of our unregistered securities by us during the fourth quarter of 2010.

Item 6.    Selected Financial Data

        From the time of our formation on October 10, 2006 to January 31, 2007, we had no operations, revenues, expenses, liabilities or assets except the nominal initial capitalization provided by HPT.

        TravelCenters of America, Inc. is considered to be our predecessor under applicable rules and regulations of the SEC. The HPT Transaction caused our assets, liabilities, financial position, results of operations and cash flows to be materially different than those of our predecessor. Among other things, these differences caused us to incur substantial expenses which were not incurred by our predecessor, for example, rent payments to HPT and costs associated with operating as a public company, while allowing us to avoid the interest and depreciation expenses our predecessor historically incurred. In addition, we completed the Petro Acquisition on May 30, 2007. For these and other reasons, the historical financial information of our predecessor is not indicative of our current or future financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

39

Table of Contents

        The following table presents selected historical financial information of us or our predecessor for each of the last five fiscal years. The information set forth below with respect to fiscal years 2010 and 2009 was derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The information set forth below with respect to fiscal years 2008, 2007 and 2006 was derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the audited consolidated financial statements included in our 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following information should also be read in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

40

Table of Contents

Item 7.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Overview (dollars in thousands)

        The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

        Our revenues and income are subject to potentially material changes as a result of the market prices of diesel fuel and gasoline, as well as the availability of these products. These factors are subject to the worldwide petroleum products supply chain, which historically has incurred price and supply volatility and, in some cases, shocks as a result of, among other things, severe weather, terrorism, political crises, wars and other military actions and variations in demand, which are often the result of changes in the macroeconomic environment. Over the past few years there has been significant volatility in the cost of fuel. During 2009, fuel commodity prices generally trended higher throughout the year after they reached a low for the year in March 2009. During 2010, although fuel commodity prices were generally higher each month than they were during the same month of 2009, fuel commodity prices generally declined from the preceding quarter during the second and third quarters of 2010, then rose again during the fourth quarter of 2010. Additionally, fuel commodity prices were less volatile in 2010 than in 2009. We expect that these significant changes in our costs for these products can largely be passed on to our customers, but often there are delays in passing on price changes that can affect our fuel gross margins. Although other factors have an effect, fuel gross margins per gallon tend to be lower during periods of rising fuel commodity prices and higher during periods of falling fuel commodity prices. Also, increased volatility in the crude oil and refined products markets can result in negative effects on our sales and profitability and increases in our working capital requirements. We expect that the crude oil and refined product markets will continue to be volatile for the foreseeable future.

        The trucking industry is the primary customer for our goods and services. Freight and trucking demand in the U.S. generally reflects the level of commercial activity in the U.S. economy. The condition of the U.S. economy generally, and the financial condition and activity of the trucking industry in the U.S. specifically, impacted our financial results during 2010 and we expect that they will continue to impact our financial results in future periods. Our fuel sales volumes and nonfuel revenues in 2010 both increased on a same site basis over the prior year; however, the level of fuel sales volume continues to be well below that experienced before the recession, and we experienced a net loss of $65,571 during 2010. Our operating results were significantly influenced by changes in our fuel gross margin that we experienced primarily because of changes in fuel commodity market costs as described above.

        During 2010, we experienced an increase in same site fuel sales volume of 6.0%, compared with 2009. We believe that this increase resulted from a combination of our marketing and customer service initiatives and increased trucking activity attributable to increased economic activity in the U.S. during 2010, compared to the prior year. The same site fuel sales volume increase continued the positive trend that began in the fourth quarter of 2009. The negative trend that had persisted since 2007 moderated

41

Table of Contents

during the first three quarters of 2009. The following table presents the quarterly changes in fuel sales volumes on a same site basis compared to the same quarter of the prior year.

        While the level of fuel sales volume increased during 2010 as compared to the same periods of the prior year, the increases appear to have moderated during the course of 2010 and the level of sales volume is still well below pre-recession levels. While the U.S. economy recently has shown signs of growing, recent economic activity is still below pre-recession levels and the strength and sustainability of any economic recovery is uncertain. If the U.S. economy continues to operate as it has over the past few years or if it worsens, our financial results may not improve and may decline, resulting in our experiencing losses from our operations.

        On June 30, 2010, two of our competitors, Pilot Travel Centers LLC and Flying J Inc., announced that they had completed a merger, effective July 1, 2010, and that the new company would be called Pilot Flying J. That merger combined the first and second largest competitors in our industry, based on estimated diesel fuel sales volume. As a result of this combination, we may see increased competitive pressure that could negatively impact our sales volumes and profitability and could increase our level of operating or selling, general and administrative expenses. In addition, most of our trucking customers transact business with us by use of fuel cards, which are issued by third party fuel card companies. The fuel card industry has only a few significant participants, including Comdata, the largest issuer of fuel cards, and Transportation Clearing House LLC, or TCH, a company affiliated with Pilot Flying J. In December 2010, we entered a new contract with Comdata that we expect will modestly increase our operating expenses and our working capital requirements. We are unable to determine the extent of the effect that competition, or lack thereof, between Comdata and TCH in particular, may result in future increases in our transaction fee expenses or working capital requirements, or both.

        On January 31, 2011, we and HPT entered an Amendment Agreement that amended the TA Lease, the Petro Lease and our rent deferral agreement with HPT. This agreement, which is further described under the headings "Liquidity and Capital Resources—Lease Amendments and Rent Deferral Agreement" and "Related Party Transactions" below, provided for the following:

•

The minimum annual rent payable by us to HPT under the TA Lease was reduced effective January 1, 2011, by approximately $29,983 to $135,139.



•

The $5,000 increase in annual minimum rent payable by us to HPT under the TA Lease that was scheduled to begin on February 1, 2011 was eliminated, but the rent due to HPT under the TA Lease will increase to $140,139 on February 1, 2012.



•

The minimum annual rent payable by us to HPT under the Petro Lease was reduced effective January 1, 2011, by approximately $12,017 to $54,160.



•

The due date for the $150,000 of rent we had deferred as of December 31, 2010, was extended from July 1, 2011, so that $107,085 will be due and payable on December 31, 2022, and the

42

Table of Contents

remaining $42,915 will be due and payable on June 30, 2024, and interest ceased to accrue on our deferred rent obligation beginning on January 1, 2011; provided, however, that the deferred rent obligation shall be accelerated and interest shall begin to accrue thereon if certain events provided in the Amendment Agreement occur, including a change of control of us.

•

Subject to court approval of the settlement of the derivative action described in Item 3, "Legal Proceedings," HPT will waive payment of the first $2,500 of percentage rent that may become due under the Petro Lease.

Summary of Travel Center Site Counts

        The changes in the number of our sites and in their method of operation (company operated, franchisee leased and operated or franchisee owned and operated) can be significant factors influencing the changes in our results of operations. The following table summarizes the changes in the composition of our business during the past two years: