Heavy Duty Trucking, March 2020
TD Truck Dealer of the Year 2020 The annual Truck Dealer of the Year award presented by American Truck Dealers Heavy Duty Trucking magazine and Procede Software honors excellence in business practices industry leadership and community service Faculty members from Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business chose the winner and finalist from a field of five nominees TOP The five Truck Dealer of the Year nominees talk about vehicle specs new technology training and how fleets can get the most out of their relationships with dealers he first concern our customers seem to have is a slowing down of the economy says Oscar Horton president and CEO of Sun State International T Trucks Honored by American Truck Dealers Heavy Duty Trucking and Procede Software as the 2020 Truck Dealer of the Year Horton is quick to add No one is expecting this to be like 2008 2009 or 2010 When we say slowing down we are talking about getting back to a level people really enjoyed before Jim Bland vice president of Transource Trucks and Truck Dealer of the Year finalist agrees We are going to return to a more normal level which I think is still going to be OK He adds It will give us a break and allow us to take advantage of some of the things we havent been able to do because we have been stretched so thin lately A possible slowdown is not all fleets are concerned about We continue to hear about the driver shortage and the need for more uptime says Tim Mitchell president of Kenworth of Pennsylvania and a Truck Dealer of the Year nominee While Mitchell says there is little dealers can do directly to help customers meet the challenge of the driver shortage one thing they can do is focus on reducing downtime and keeping drivers on the road Kenworth of Pennsylvania offers express service bays to ensure customers know within two hours what is wrong with their truck and how long it will take to make the repair Trucks that can be repaired in less than two hours are moved to a quick service bay to be taken care of immediately The advancement of truck technology is also something Hortons customers talk to him about Fleets are going to have brand new trucks that are nothing more than computers but they also are going to have older technology especially if they keep trucks until they accumu By Denise L Rondini Aftermarket Contributing Editor drondini@ truckinginfo com We are going to return to a more normal level of truck sales which I think is still going to be OK Jim Bland HDT MARCH 2020 64 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
