Three weeks ago Truck Parts & Service released its finalists for the 17th annual Distributor of the Year award. All of the finalists this year were again selected through open industry nominations, and over the next several months, we will be regularly featuring each business on this website and on the pages of Truck Parts & Service.
Those features began last week, and today we check in with 2018 Distributor of the Year finalist Royal Truck and Trailer.
This is the first nomination for Royal Truck and Trailer for the Distributor of the Year award. The answers below were provided by Royal Truck and Trailer President Ken Bumgardner.
When was your business founded, and by whom?
Royal Truck and Trailer was founded in 1970 as a small two-bay garage by my grandfather, Roy F. Bumgardner.
How many locations do you have?
We have four total locations. Three in greater Detroit area (Dearborn, Warren and Wixom, Mich.) and Gaylord, Mich.
How many employees do you have?
Approximately 155
What is your company’s value proposition?
To offer the heavy-duty market a wide range of quality products and services at reasonable prices.
Do you offer any additional services to complement your parts offering?
Trailer sales, truck body sales, liftgate sales, custom trailer builds, wheel polishing, truck upfitting, general and specialized repair services.
How do you differentiate your business from your competitors?
Our team! It’s true we offer a much wider range of products and services than any of our local competitors, however the real differentiator is our company culture. We think it is very important for Royal to care about its people and for its people to care about Royal. Sometimes the bottom line suffers from doing things that way but I wouldn’t be part of an organization that puts profits over its people.
I tell our team all the time do the right thing and take care of our customer and the money will come. I think that philosophy also easily translates into taking care of the team. I think the bottom line is if the people on your team don’t care about the success of the business it is doomed to fail.
Why do you believe the heavy-duty aftermarket has nominated you for this award?
I would think that it has something to do with the extreme percentage of sales growth we’ve seen the last several years.
