For the next two weeks, TPS will continue sharing in-depth conversations with this year's six nominees, detailing how they found their way to the truck dealer business, how they've navigated the industry, their efforts to lead their businesses and more. These conversations will lead up to the announcement of the 2025 ATD Truck Dealer of the Year Award, which will be announced Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at the ATD Show in New Orleans by Procede Software CEO Larry Kettler and TPS Editor Lucas Deal.
Mark Bergey, Bergey Family Companies, 2025 ATD Truck Dealer of the Year Nominee
How did you get into the truck dealer industry?
Being a fourth-generation family member in our company I grew up in the business, spending time in the shop and doing any job our grandfather, Henry Bergey, found to keep us busy. We lived next door to the truck garage, so my brothers, cousins and I played and worked together for as long as I can remember.
We grew up watching our great-grandfather, Norman Bergey, work until he was 96 years old. We saw how he treated people, his work ethic and his dedication to serving others. I also grew up watching my father and grandfather work together to grow the business.
Unexpectedly, my father passed away at age 36, when I was 12 years old. This tragedy obviously resulted in a loss for my immediate family, as well as a loss for our family business leadership. This in part resulted in my grandfather, Henry, being a pivotal role model for me at a young age. He shared his gifts of entrepreneurship and leading by example, mentoring me in the years to come.
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Growing up I remember my grandfather, telling people “Stay close to the trucking industry because they are the ones that make the world go round”. At the time, our Bergey family members were focused on our auto dealership business, but several leaders in our company helped to strengthen and grow our truck dealerships. These leaders had a significant impact on my career path, igniting a passion for the truck dealership business.
How have you risen in the industry and your company to reach where you are today?
After high school I started working full time for the business working at our parts and accessory store, as well as administrative tasks at the corporate office. When I was 19 I went to Canada and volunteered at a Christian Camp for six months. I appreciated my time serving on their maintenance team, but I was ready to return to my family, our business and our local community. I went on to work in accounting. After that I became the VP of Human Resources, which allowed me to witness the attributes of successful managers, and later became VP of Leasing for our truck centers in 2006.
In 2008, I took on the role of president of Bergey’s Truck Centers, which was a challenging time for dealerships. Initially I focused on financial performance, updating our organization structure and developing a strategic plan for our future. In the years that followed, I was focused on growth through acquisitions, which were acquired through existing relationships with our neighboring dealers.
Since 2017, I have served as the CEO for Bergey Family Corporation, overseeing our truck dealerships and auto dealerships, which consists of 50+ locations throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, with over 1,800 team members employed.
What do you like most about being a truck dealer?
I genuinely enjoy the relationships the truck dealership industry offers. Dealers are tight knit, working together to support our customers across the country, as well as to grow and learn together. There are times we are competing with one another to win deals, but we also have times when we come together for the greater good of our industry. In addition, many of my peer dealers are also family owned and operated, so we can relate to one another about the blessings and challenges of family businesses.
Bergey’s also has customers we have supported for decades, allowing us to build strong relationships while we support their transportation needs. I also enjoy the opportunity to learn from our customers how they are adapting to challenges in the industry, as well as situations we all deal with like improving company culture, retention, communication and leadership development.
Describe your leadership style. How do you pilot your business?
I was blessed to have had the opportunity to watch my great-grandfather, grandfather and father as leaders of our company who were great role models of being servant leaders, putting our team first and empowering them to be drivers of our company’s success. My hope is to continue to carry on that legacy of servant leadership to our team.
In regard to piloting the business, our mission statement is the guiding principle for everything we do. We are driven to serve by treating others the way we want to be treated. In my role as CEO this means being driven to serve my team members, customers and communities with a generational mindset to create success today and for years to come. A key component of this is developing leaders within our company who align with our culture and grow with us to support us in the years ahead. This one of the reasons I am really excited about our Bergey’s Driven To Serve Leadership program that we have developed over the last five years, with over 100 team members participating.
What do you believe is the most important skill for a truck dealer? How have you cultivated that skill?
Like most industries, it all comes back to people and relationships and understanding how you can serve others well. This applies to our team members, customers and our business partners. Over the years I have had the opportunity to cultivate this skill with great mentors from my family members, watching how they treated others.
How do you differentiate your business from your competitors?
I believe our company culture is our key differentiator in the market. We strive to put people over profits, with a long-term vision of what’s best for the business, while working to have a positive influence on our team member’s professional and personal lives. We currently have over 190 team members with 25+ years of service to our company, with an overall average tenure of 9.4 years for almost 1,800 team members.
In addition, part of our culture is embracing change so that we are adapting to the market, while protecting our culture. This is summarized in one of our Bergey’s Behavior, Steady and Improving: Stay the course of our historic success. Seek innovative and superior solutions that support our company vision. Embrace change for the benefit of our customers, our team and our communities.
What is the most difficult part of your job?
Navigating the complexity of the ever-changing industry over the last several years has been a real challenge. Between Covid, supply chain challenges, economic headwinds, government regulations and ever-changing technology we are constantly re-evaluating and asking our team to quickly adapt to stay ahead of the market.
How does ATD help you run your business?
ATD helps to unite and educate our participating dealers, to work together to impact the future of our industry. The government advocacy they provide for dealers has a significant influence on our business, delivering a united voice at the state and federal level. This advocacy is critical for our dealer group as government regulations have become more complex in recent years.
In addition, the insights and learning we received from our ATD 20 Group is always insightful to help us understand opportunities for improvement.
Why do you believe you were nominated for the ATD Truck Dealer of the Year Award?
First, it is an honor to be nominated, as I know how many respected dealers there are in our industry serving their teams, customers and our fellow dealers.
I am humbled to be able to represent the thousands of team members who served our company over the past 100 years. Their hard work, dedication and commitment to integrity has been critical to our company having the trust and respect of our industry, which has led to this nomination.
