The trucking business never gets easier. Competition is a main reason for that. But technology — even technology designed to drive uptime — can sometimes be burdensome.
Today’s medium- and heavy-duty trucks are complex machines. Supercomputers with engines, axles and drivelines. For carriers focused on earning loads, serving customers and hauling freight, the task of keeping up with new technology is overwhelming.
As one of Peterbilt’s largest dealers, the company has more than 50 years of experience shepherding new technologies into customers’ operations across the Upper Midwest. With 23 locations and more than 800 employees, Allstate has team members who remember the pre-aftertreatment years; the days before telematics and remote diagnostics.
But that doesn’t hinder the company’s focus on the present. It enhances it.
Allstate knows how much trucking is changed and invests constantly to remain on the industry’s leading edge. Success for trucking companies in 2024 doesn’t just require good drivers, it also requires good partners.
That’s what Allstate Peterbilt strives to be and that’s why in 2024 it has been named a finalist for the Successful Dealer Award for the third time (2013, 2020).
“We try to make doing business with us easy,” says President Jeff Vanthournout. “We know when trucks aren’t moving, customers aren’t making money. And we know those moments aren’t enjoyable for customers … . So we try to do everything we can to eliminate those moments for [customers] and, when they do occur, make them as enjoyable as we can.”
Allstate Peterbilt has $45 million in parts across five warehouses, making it one of the largest parts operations in the dealer space.
It’s a strategy that works. Allstate can prove it.
In 2023 it was named Peterbilt’s Service Dealer of the Year and TRP Dealer of the Year. Just three years ago it was Peterbilt’s North American Dealer of the Year for the third time, and it’s been a Best in Class dealer three years running.
It takes a lot to earn those accolades but Vanthournout downplays the effort. He says every award Allstate achieves can be traced back to its simple, servile goal.
“Just do the right thing,” he says. “Sometimes it might cost us money, it might require us to apologize for something, but we want the customer to feel they were treated the way they want to be treated.”
[RELATED: We've announced the finalists for the 2024 Successful Dealer Award]
Truck Sales Director Tom Wentworth remembers when Vanthournout implemented the strategy more than a decade ago. Business has boomed since.
“That was a turning point for the company,” he says. “It was like a chain reaction happened. Customers liked us more. They had better experiences. Employees were happier at work.”
Allstate Peterbilt is known for service excellence, and has the accolades from its OEM to prove it.
The company’s retention rate makes that clear. Doreen Fischer, used truck and marketing director, says more than 20% of Allstate’s workforce has been there at least 15 years. A promotion-from-within culture means employees who stick with Allstate often rise in responsibility and opportunity, and the company’s workforce doubles as its biggest recruiting tool.
“That’s one of the things that attracts people to us,” Wentworth says. “We have a lot of people who come here because they don’t feel they have room to grow in the company where they are.”
Wentworth references Director of Service Operations Kyle Gillett’s team as an example. Gillett says 13 of the company’s 17 service managers were promoted from within. “This is an easy place to work for,” he says.
Adds Director of Parts Operations Joe Bobholz, “I have guys that started as delivery drivers and now they’re leading a store.”
The company’s full line of services make it an easy partner for customers, too.
Allstate offers new and used truck sales, parts, in-shop and mobile service, lease and rental equipment and has an in-house financing company, All Wheels Financial. The company’s parts business is anchored by five distribution centers with more than $45 million in inventory. Its mobile service division has grown from three trucks in 2014 to more than 50 today.
Allstate also features unique services like its Allstate Technical Communication Center. The in-house platform was created to improve intra-dealership communication, drive business efficiencies and increase customer uptime. Coupled with its fleet account management team, Wentworth says the resources enable Allstate to be the partners customers need to navigate a rapidly evolving industry.
Allstate Peterbilt uses its product training and expertise to be a true partner for customers, helping them acquire the right equipment and features to best meet their needs.
“We came to the realization as trucks became more complicated, we need dedicated resources to manage their uptime,” he says. A three-person team, Wentworth says the unit schedules proactive service events, facilitates unit down repairs, communicates parts and service progress, and more.
[RELATED: Premier Truck Group named winner of the 2023 Successful Dealer Award]
Allstate’s commitment to employee training and education is equally robust. The company has a 100% training score from Peterbilt across its service network and uses OEM and supplier training to keep its sales team informed. Allstate also holds customer training events, another key feature of its partner offering.
“The easiest thing we do is sell the truck,” Vanthournout says. “The hardest part is everything else.”
The 2024 Successful Dealer Award is sponsored by Automann, Interstate Billing Service, Karmak, National Truck Protection and Premium 2000. For more information on the award program, go to the award story archive.
