“We have 900 CX [customer experience] people. That’s really the way we see it.”
Excel Truck Group Vice President of Service Justin Sutton is direct. “That’s the way we run our business and what we want our customers to know.”
His colleague Scott Witt, president of Western operations, shares the refrain. “We put our customers first. Everything we do revolves around them.”
“We want to be a customer’s first call. But more importantly, we want to be their only call,” adds Vice President of Customer Experience Bill Reeder.
The message is always there. CEO Russ Ellett says that’s by design.
The company now known as Excel Truck Group has been supporting the transportation industry in the Mid-Atlantic region for nearly 80 years. It’s been led by the Ellett family, first by Frank, now by his son Russ, since 1981, growing from a single store in Virginia to a 13-store network across the region representing five truck and trailer brands apiece, and last year added a five-location heavy equipment operation.
Throughout that time, customer satisfaction has been the company’s north star. That focus led the company’s rebrand as Excel in 2015 and anchors its mission to “provide industry-leading products and deliver outstanding value-added experiences to make Excel the clear choice of our customers,” Ellett says.
“We are committed to being the best truck and trailer provider,” he says.
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That commitment keeps driving the company forward and, in 2026, has helped it to be named a finalist for the Successful Dealer Award for the second time in three years.
“We focus on going the extra mile for the customer,” says Ellett. “Providing value-added experiences so they never need to go anywhere else.”
Except into the field, of course. Trucking is the lifeblood of the American economy, and as a dealer, Excel takes its role as a solutions provider for truck owners seriously.
“We are very KPI focused, and all our KPIs are based on serving our customers,” Witt says. “We believe if we meet all our values, [business] success and profitability will follow.”
Reeder believes the company’s culture enables that formula to work. Excel Truck Group has detailed, specific processes for all segments of its business, but Reeder says it is the company’s culture that ensures its planning is flawlessly executed.
“Culture eats strategy every day. We can have the best plan in the world but if our 900 people don’t believe in it, it’s just words we throw around,” he says. “I believe we’ve taken our culture forward by leaps and bounds the last several years.”
Ellett cites the company’s biennial employee survey as evidence of that. In its 2024 survey, Excel improved the customer service scores across company, netting mid- and upper-90s scores from its workforce. Ellett says the next survey is in development now for this fall, and he hopes to see scores rise even higher.
He describes the survey as a time and energy consuming experience, but says its critical to what the dealer does. “We want to know that we’re always improving.”
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Training is a big part of making that a reality. Excel has dedicated training facilities across its network and leverages any OEM and supplier training it can get its hands on for its technicians, parts and equipment salespeople — with the former participating in skills competitions each year.
But Sutton also notes training across the business goes far beyond knowing the products it sells. Excel Truck Group also trains on soft skills and how to problem solve when faced with unique customer requests.
“[Employees] have the ability to make decisions and make real-time adjustments to standard operating procedures to best fit a customer’s needs, while balancing what’s best for a customer,” he says.
Adds Ellett, “We want our folks in our dealerships to act like entrepreneurs and be able to solve problems and serve customers like entrepreneurs.”
Excel also keeps itself on the forefront of trucking, which Witt says is important so the business is always informed of customer challenges and working to solve them. He notes the company is active on Daimler Truck North America dealer councils, participates in multiple state trucking associations and the ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council.
“If there’s something out there we can support that supports the industry, we want to be a part of that,” says Jeff Parrish, vice president of parts.
That desire to be supportive also comes through on a communal level. Ellett says Excel’s customers and associates are its community and the company’s success is reliant on how that community is doing, so it is vital for Excel to support it any way possible. That is done through local food drives, first aid training events, donations to the Roanoke, Va., cancer center, being the primary sponsor of the Truckers Parade Against Cancer and more.
Excel also works to share trucking’s importance on a broader level. Ellett says educating people outside of the industry not only helps uncover potential talent, it also helps the general population recognize how essential trucking is to their lives.
“We spend as much time as we can in the community preaching how important trucking is,” he says.
The Successful Dealer Award is sponsored by Automann, Interstate Billing Service, National Truck Protection and Premium 2000 and Procede Software. The 2026 Successful Dealer Award will be presented Oct. 6, at a private awards banquet in Nashville.
