Edward A. Kyrish, president of International Trucks of Houston in Houston, Texas, has been named 2002 Truck Dealer of the year by the American Truck Dealers and Heavy Duty Trucking.

The Truck Dealer of the Year award, presented April 14 during the ATD annual convention, recognizes truck dealers for excellence in business practices, industry contributions and community leadership. The winner is chosen by a team from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Kyrish learned a lot about customer satisfaction from his father, who owned a retail grocery business in a small town where he had limited capital and much larger competitors. Today Kyrish has 10 locations, five of them in Houston, including separate lease/rental facilities.
"If a customer has a complaint, I'll get out of a meeting to go see what's wrong," says Kyrish. "I guess we have an attitude of it's our fault until proven different."
The three finalists in the competition were:

• Marshall Cymbaluk, president/general manager, Kenworth Northeast, SeaTac, Wash. His company owns nine locations selling International and Kenworth trucks. The dealership has been honored numerous times by Kenworth, International and Caterpillar, including Kenworth Dealer of the Year in 2000.

• John P. Niebauer Jr., president and CEO, W.W. Engine & Supply, Kylertown, Pa. When he was 19 years old, Niebauer was severely burned over 40 percent of his body and was not expected to live. After spending nine months in the hospital, he beat the odds, and decided to spend his life working with the trucks he loved. Today, he operates nine full-service sales and parts facilities, but he is still in daily contact with all locations and personally oversees the sales of all trucks.

• Terry C. Young, president, Volvo and GMC Truck Center of Carolina, Charlotte, N.C.
  After working for 19 years with the Volvo organization and progressing to the position of executive vice president-commercial operations, Young had the opportunity to realize a dream and bought the factory-owned dealership in Charlotte, N.C., in 1995. Since then, the operation has grown and now includes four full-service sales and parts facilities plus two full-service leasing operations.

Other nominees were Art Bickford, chairman of the board, Bickford Motors, Snohomish, Wash.; John W. Muchmore, president, North Jersey Truck Center, Saddle Brook, N.J.; Thomas B. Reynolds, president and general manager, Peach State Truck Centers, Norcross, Ga.; David Weiger, president, Palm Peterbilt-GMC Trucks, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and Ken V. Yacobozzi, president, Chicago Mack Sales & Service, Summit, Ill.

To read what these top dealers have to say about the state of the industry, read the March issue of Heavy Duty Trucking, the April issue of RoadStar, or the May/June issue of Truck Sales & Leasing.