What SBA's own loan files show about gas station and truck stop lending in Pennsylvania, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Loan size is the measure our screen picks out for Pennsylvania gas stations and truck stops. The median SBA loan is $533,000, 0.51x the national median for the class, and it differs from Pennsylvania's all-class median by more than our margin too. The cell is thin: 84 approvals worth $61.6 million in FY2017 to FY2026, a rank of 20 of 53 among states and 16 of 39 among Pennsylvania classes, while a location quotient of 0.35x shows fuel retailing taking far less of Pennsylvania's SBA activity than it does nationally.
Pennsylvania fuel approvals spread from $102,025 to $1.0 million across their middle half; 76 used SBA 7(a) and 8 used SBA 504. Franchise brands account for 28.6%. Metro City Bank holds 12 loans worth $13.0 million, much the largest dollar total, while TD Bank, National Association holds 11 for $2.4 million, Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company 9 for $2.3 million and The Huntington National Bank 7 for $2.2 million. Philadelphia County has 11 approvals, Montgomery 8, and Bucks and Luzerne 7 each. Recent years carry more dollars, with $10.1 million on 11 loans in FY2024 and $9.4 million on 9 in FY2026.
Cancellation after approval is at least 13.4% of the FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, and 14.9% when undisbursed loans are counted as cancelled. We withhold the charge-off rate for this cell because fewer than 30 Pennsylvania station loans funded in FY2017 to FY2021; that gap is a matter of sample size and says nothing either way about losses.
A feasibility study for a Pennsylvania station has to stand on its own evidence, since the state's record is too thin to lean on. Demand should be built from traffic counts, access, competing stations and in-store sales potential at the site. Cost needs an environmental assessment of tanks and soil, dispenser and canopy work and any store renovation, priced from bids. Debt service coverage should separate fuel margin from store margin and test a drop in gallons. The appraisal will weigh land, improvements and business value, and the study should support each with local sales and operating data.
Because the code is the borrower's industry, Pennsylvania truck stops and travel centers ride along inseparably, sharing a code with stations that lack a store; electric vehicle charging has no listing in the 2022 index and is absent from these Pennsylvania figures.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 84 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $61.6 million |
| Median loan | $533,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $102,025 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $1.0 million |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 76 |
| SBA 504 loans | 8 |
| Franchise share of loans | 28.6% |
| Rank among states for gas station and truck stop loans | 20 of 53 |
| Rank of gas station and truck stop among classes in Pennsylvania | 16 of 39 |
| Location quotient (share of loans against the national share) | 0.35x |
| Median loan against the national median for the class | 0.51x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 13.4% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 14.9% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | not reported: fewer than 30 loans in the cohort |
Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.
SBA 7(a) and 504 gas station and truck stop loans approved in Pennsylvania, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 5 | $1.9 million |
| FY2018 | 8 | $4.0 million |
| FY2019 | 10 | $5.1 million |
| FY2020 | 3 | $2.5 million |
| FY2021 | 9 | $9.6 million |
| FY2022 | 13 | $8.9 million |
| FY2023 | 8 | $2.6 million |
| FY2024 | 11 | $10.1 million |
| FY2025 | 8 | $7.4 million |
| FY2026 | 9 | $9.4 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Metro City Bank | 12 | $13.0 million |
| TD Bank, National Association | 11 | $2.4 million |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | 9 | $2.3 million |
| The Huntington National Bank | 7 | $2.2 million |
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| PHILADELPHIA | 11 |
| MONTGOMERY | 8 |
| BUCKS | 7 |
| LUZERNE | 7 |
| ALLEGHENY | 6 |
| LEHIGH | 6 |
| CUMBERLAND | 4 |
| NORTHAMPTON | 3 |
| SCHUYLKILL | 3 |
| BERKS | 2 |
The code is the borrower's industry. Truck stop or travel center cannot be split out. EV charging has no entry in the 2022 NAICS index. Shared code: Truck stops and travel centers sit inside 457120 with gas stations that have no convenience store.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; Loan Analytics loan-outcome cell SA-PA-C01.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a gas station project in Pennsylvania, financed with a USDA Business and Industry guaranteed loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a gas station and truck stop project in Pennsylvania, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.
Start with the data.
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