Many businesses are defined by their culture, but few have defined their culture as clearly as Truckworx.
“We have a culture contract. In fact, mine is right here,” COO Mike Levering says, swiveling his chair around to point at a document pinned to his office wall. “This talks about the things that are important to us and why it’s important for us to do the right thing for the right reason.”
Doing the right thing is the foundation of the document and the company’s value proposition, Levering says. It spells out the dealer’s commitment to doing the right thing for vendors, customers, employees and the business.
“We keep those four in mind in everything we do,” he says, then he and CEO Will Bruser give an example.
“Maybe a customer comes in and his truck is out of warranty by 2,000 miles,” Levering says, and he’s having engine issues, Bruser adds.
“If the customer has 50 trucks and they were all purchased from Truckworx and he’s a great partner — he just happens to have one of those trucks where the engine blew up outside of warranty — we want to work with him,” says Bruser. “Let’s work with him. With Paccar and Kenworth. Let’s do the right thing to take care of him.”
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The duo refer to it as being the customer’s “easy button.” The one number customers can call at any time with any problem and know they’ll get a satisfactory solution. They acknowledge it’s a high bar to clear, but it is one Truckworx and its 600-plus employees take pride in surpassing.
It’s also manifested an impressive streak of industry accolades. Truckworx was named Kenworth’s North American Dealer of the Year in 2023 and 2024, Bruser nabbed the 2025 ATD Truck Dealer of the Year, and the company is now a finalist for the Successful Dealer Award for the second time (2018).
“I think people are recognizing that we do what we say we’re going to do and what’s the right thing for the right reasons, and then we do it,” Levering says. “We have great people, with great attitudes, and that’s being noticed.”
Truckworx’s culture contract helps make that happen, but it’s not the only ace in the company’s hand. Since rebranding as Truckworx in 2012, Bruser has anchored the company’s sales and marketing efforts around the brand name and the level of service it provides. The company’s 17 locations are found across Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, but the company’s reputation extends far wider.
In its service bays, Levering says Truckworx has customers from other states who choose to have their vehicles serviced at Truckworx when passing through the company’s region.
In its parts department, Bruser adds Truckworx has dealer associates embedded full time into parts facilities for several large fleets, including one carrier that doesn’t even run Kenworth trucks. He says the Peterbilt-running customer sought out Truckworx due to its reputation and expertise servicing Paccar MX engines, and the relationship grew from there.
So did Truckworx’s remote parts management service.
“We started with two [fleets], then another company heard about it and then it became a little bit of a word of mouth thing,” Bruser says. “It’s all about trying to change the relationship [with the customer] from a transactional model to where you get to know the customer, understand their business and find out where you can add value.”
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The Truckworx brand draws attention other ways too.
“We recently had a gentleman apply from Utah,” Bruser says. “He had been online hearing all this great stuff about Truckworx and wanted to join. We just interviewed him for our Jackson [Miss.] store.”
That applicant notwithstanding, Bruser says most hires at Truckworx come through word of mouth. People hear about the Truckworx’s internal culture — like its voluminous training opportunities, workplace family nights, holiday charity drive, community service time-off programs — and want to join.
Customers are the same. They see the company’s customer events, accolades and five-star reviews online and want to be part of the experience.
Bruser is proud of the sterling reputation Truckworx has built but acknowledges the work it requires to sustain its level of excellence. He thanks the company’s entire workforce for their commitment to the business and their customers. For their willingness to do the right thing every time no matter the obstacles.
“You have to answer the phone every time. All day, every day,” he says.
You also have to be willing to evolve, and Truckworx is doing that as well. The company is expanding its mobile service and fleet solutions operations based on industry demand while expanding technician and management training efforts to support its network.
Bruser believes Truckworx has the capacity to add more locations in its AOR and says new brick-and-mortar stores will require more leaders to shepherd its culture, empower its employees and bring wins to its customers.
“If you’re a good human being and you’ve got a great work ethic, you’ll do well here,” he says.
The Successful Dealer Award is sponsored by Automann, Interstate Billing Service, National Truck Protection and Premium 2000 and Procede Software. The 2025 Successful Dealer Award will be presented Sept. 30, at a private awards banquet in Nashville.
