Sep. 1--OGDEN -- A Nebraska company is taking over Flying J Inc.'s truck service center business as Flying J continues to shed assets in an effort to work its way out of bankruptcy.

Bosselman Inc. said Monday it has signed a long-term lease to operate Flying J's network of J Care Service Centers, which offer repair and maintenance of freight trucks at 15 locations in 11 states.

Expanding Bosselman's reach to 25 locations in 18 states, including an Ogden location, "will greatly benefit both existing and new customers," said Chuck Bosselman, president of Grand Island, Neb.-based Bosselman Inc.

Bosselman said Flying J officials approached his company about six months ago with an offer to take over the service centers, and he saw a golden opportunity to expand Bosselman's geographic reach.

"We've been looking to expand for a while, and this will definitely increase our truck stop presence pretty heavily," he said.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Flying J officials could not be reached for comment Monday. Peter Hill, a New Yorkbased spokesman for Flying J, could not confirm the transaction Monday morning.

Bosselman said the management change begins today. He said his company will keep all existing employees who pass its screening criteria. "We want to keep the people who are already there."

He said the service centers will begin operating under the Bosselman Boss Shops brand. Customers will have expanded access to roadside service, quick-lube oil changes, tires, and chrome and other accessories for their rigs, he said.

The sale is the latest in a recent string of divestitures for Flying J Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware last December, along with its Big West Oil petroleum refining and Longhorn Pipeline subsid- iaries.

The company agreed in July to merge its network of about 270 travel plazas with industry leader Pilot Travel Centers in exchange for $100 million in financing and an unspecified amount of cash.

About two weeks later, Flying J gained bankruptcy court approval to sell its Longhorn Pipeline, a 700-mile pipeline carrying gasoline and diesel fuel from the Gulf Coast near Houston to El Paso, Texas. Magellan Midstream Partners LP paid about $350 million for the pipeline full of fuel.

Bosselman started in 1948 as a fueling station in Grand Island. It has since diversified into travel centers, restaurants, motels, fuel transportation and distribution, environmental services, condominiums and farming.

Flying J was founded 20 years later and has similar roots. Founder O. Jay Call grew the company from a single gas station in South Willard to a multibillion-dollar enterprise encompassing everything from oil exploration and drilling to fuel retailing and restaurants.

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