The name had to change. Everyone knew it. It had even happened before. The company had started in 1947 as Rutrough Mack, and still had that name when Frank Ellett bought the dealership in 1981.
He kept the name for seven years, but when the opportunity came up to acquire a Freightliner dealership, Ellett knew a change was necessary.
Virginia Truck Centers was born.
The company moved forward with three names for a while, but as its AOR and footprint continued to expand, leadership realized another change was in order. They needed to unify the business.
“We wanted our employees to portray excellence and customers to think of excellent customer service, so when we found out ‘Excel’ was available, it made all the sense in the world,” says Russ Ellett, Frank’s son and current president at Excel Truck Group.
Since launching the name in 2015, Excel has done nothing but live up to the name. Today the company has more than 800 employees spread across its network, with a 12th store set to open this month, and, in 2024, has been named a finalist for the first time for the Successful Dealer Award.
Becoming ‘Excel’ was the business “committing to be the best truck and trailer dealer we could be for our customers,” says Scott Duvall, marketing manager.
Excel Truck Group's sales department works hand in hand with customers during purchase events to ensure they make the perfect choice for their operation.
How does the company represent excellence? It starts internally.
Excel Truck Group uses an internal culture built on training, information sharing, continuous improvement and community to produce engagement, and supplements that with a tremendous working partnership with its OEM partners.
And those aren’t just buzzwords. Excel has established business units within the company that support each area, as well as biannual leadership meetings, store outings and other events designed to bring its workforce together and strengthen the operation.
Fixed Operations Director David Fairbanks can speak to both points. Fairbanks spent time with both of Excel’s OEMs before joining the company and says the dealership “embodies partnership in everything we do.”
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He adds, “It was one of the things that drew me here when I made the change.”
The commitment to partnership can be seen across the company.
Excel was a pilot dealer for DTNA’s Elite Support program in 2011 and serves on the OEM’s dealer advisory council. Leadership also actively participates in its state trucking associations, ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council and other industry organizations, which Senior Vice President Greg Witt says are vital to keeping Excel apprised of customer challenges.
Excel Truck Group regularly holds customer appreciation events and open houses at its locations where employees and customers have the opportunity to interact, strengthening relationships for the business.
“We have to know what’s new, what’s coming,” Witt says.
Excel also spends a lot of time with its customers. Witt says the business has a seven-person customer experience team that spends every day communicating with customers during service events to drive throughput and uptime. The company’s sales team is out in the field daily too, as Witt says Excel likes to see their customers’ equipment in action to best understand how the dealer can support their unique needs.
“We want to know what keeps that customer up at night,” he says.
Adds Fairbanks, “When we learn what is changing in their business, we channel that down through our staff.”
And investment in its workforce goes a long way to ensuring Excel can continue to do that moving forward. For its shops, Excel has a three-person training team and holds an annual skills contest to keep technicians engaged and motivated to learn. The company also is building a dedicated training facility in South Carolina that will enable Excel to offer all Cummins and Detroit Diesel training modules — a first in the DTNA network, Duvall says.
Then there’s the company’s apprenticeship program.
Developed for new technicians, Corporate Service Director Justin Sutton says Excel’s apprenticeship program is a highly detailed, multi-year training program. Training starts the day a tech is hired and while it “never really ends until they retire.” Sutton says the program focuses on approximately an employee’s first year. A monthly map measures a technician’s progress through the program, and regular check-ins with management ensure no technician falls behind.
Excel's multi-faceted technician mentorship and training program is a major differentiator for the dealership in recruiting and retaining a talented shop workforce.
Apprentices also are provided $4,500 in tools, which Sutton says become theirs after three years at the business.
But the company doesn’t rest on its investments. Excel surveys employees and customers to ensure their efforts are succeeding as intended and feedback is acted upon. Ellett says Excel excels because it never lets an opportunity to improve pass it by. It never forgets it must “live up to the name.”
“I think we’re aggressive and humble, which I know sounds like a contradiction,” he adds. “We aren’t boisterous, but we work hard to get the job done.”
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.
