The story behind a TikTok looting video and why Birmingham Pilot shut its doors
You may have seen videos making the rounds over the last month on TikTok showing a looted Pilot Travel Center in Birmingham.
The videos show empty shelves, broken merchandise, and a ransacked ATM inside the travel center, located at Finley Boulevard and Bankhead Highway.
The store now appears closed.
According to Pilot’s corporate office, the travel center was one of two stores in Alabama closed due to the bankruptcy of Mountain Express Oil Co., which terminated all operations and employees on Aug. 24, according to Trucking Dive.
Birmingham police said the store’s employees apparently walked out on termination, leaving the store.
Mountain Express also terminated licenses for the third-party branding of its individual operating sites, including the 19 Pilot-branded stores in nine states.
“Mountain Express Oil Co. (MEX) and its affiliates are ceasing operations due to chapter 7 liquidating bankruptcy,” the company said in a statement.
“As a result, 19 of MEX’s dealer locations within our network are temporarily closed. Pilot Company will continue serving our valued customers at our more than 800 locations across North America.”