By Jennifer Smith

The Haslam family, which turned its ownership of a single gas station into the largest truck-stop operation in North America, is stepping back from the business.

Pilot Co. Chief Executive Jimmy Haslam III is handing the keys to the company, which has been family-run for more than six decades, to Shameek Konar, an energy-sector veteran who is currently Pilot's chief strategy officer. The transition comes as the business is facing pressure from the coronavirus pandemic and technology shifts that could reduce drivers' dependence on fossil fuels.

Mr. Konar will succeed Mr. Haslam as chief executive on Jan. 1, 2021, Pilot said Tuesday. Mr. Haslam, who also owns the Cleveland Browns National Football League franchise, will become chairman of Pilot's board, while his father, company founder James Haslam II, will become chairman emeritus.

The Haslam family owns 50.1% of the Knoxville, Tenn.-based company, one of the largest privately held businesses in the U.S. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. took a 38.6% stake in 2017. At the time of that deal Berkshire said it planned to become the majority shareholder in 2023 by acquiring an additional 41.4% equity stake, at which point the Haslams would retain 20% ownership.

Pilot's main business is selling fuel, food and other items through a network of retail and fueling locations, including 780 Pilot and Flying J travel centers.

Mr. Konar joined the company in 2017 and helped build Pilot's energy division, which supplies about 11 billion gallons of fuel a year, including diesel and biodiesel. The segment has a fleet of more than 1,500 truck tankers and operates an oil-field services business.

"We're a big fuel company, we're an energy company, we're a big logistics company," said Mr. Konar, who previously was chief investment officer at Castleton Commodities International and Mercuria Energy Trading SA. "We basically unload a truck every 15 seconds all around the country."

Mr. Konar will now be responsible for the company's technology, human resources, financial and legal divisions. In January he will take on management of store operations and development. Pilot President Ken Parent will become senior adviser to Mr. Konar and the younger Mr. Haslam, the company said.

It will be the first time that a non-family member has headed the company, aside from a period when former PepsiCo Inc. president John Compton briefly succeeded Jimmy Haslam III as CEO in 2012.

In 2013 Pilot was rocked by a fraud scandal when prosecutors said sales staff shorted trucking-company customers of rebates they were owed on diesel fuel purchases. Mr. Haslam said the company repaid all its customers in a matter of months, adding "it's a completely different culture we have here now than we had then."

Pilot more recently has taken a hit from the coronavirus pandemic as lockdowns kept millions of Americans at home. "The trucking business is off in the single digits. Gasoline traffic's probably off 20%," Mr. Haslam said.

Demand for diesel, which typically makes up about 80% of Pilot's total fuel sales, "seems to have stabilized," Mr. Konar said. The company is watching for any impact from additional business shutdowns as Covid-19 cases in the U.S. rise.

The company also faces broader changes in transportation that could disrupt a major revenue source as vehicle manufacturers develop more electric and alternative-fueled vehicles, including big rigs, as well as autonomous-vehicle technology aimed at long-haul trucking operations. Mr. Haslam said the business will adapt "to do what's necessary," adding that those shifts won't happen overnight.

"As long as there's road transportation and goods and services are delivered through that," Mr. Konar said, Pilot's network "will provide whatever services and fuel is required by the future of the transportation sector."

Write to Jennifer Smith at jennifer.smith@wsj.com