Richard "Dick" Ryan of South Carolina was named the national Truck Dealer of the Year at the American Truck Dealers annual conference in Phoenix Saturday.

"I've had a wonderful career," said Ryan, president and CEO of Carolina International Trucks in Columbia, S.C., who began in the business as a sales trainee for International Harvester Co. in 1972. "And I've really loved it."

The award, co-sponsored by ATD and Heavy Duty Trucking magazine, recognizes excellence in dealership performance, industry leadership, civic contributions and community service.

"After 20 years as a dealer, Richard is still focused on growth," said Kate Miller, president and group publisher of Newport Business Media, which produces Heavy Duty Trucking. "He is actively preparing a professional succession plan with his top leadership team that includes a family management commitment by preparing his daughter to lead Carolina International Trucks."

Ryan started out as a sales trainee, progressing through sales and marketing roles and branch management to become the national manager of heavy-duty truck marketing. In 1993, he purchased a dealership that was just emerging from bankruptcy. He ran the dealership for a year for International before purchasing it -- on April Fools' Day, in the middle of the early '90s recession. "All my friends at Navistar said, he hasn't got a prayer," Ryan recalls.

But it was no joke. Since then, Carolina International Trucks has been profitable every year and is now the top dealership in the market area.

Eric K. Jorgensen, president and CEO of JX Enterprises in Waukesha, Wis., was named the runner-up for the national award. Like Ryan, when he took over the dealership, in this case from his father, who had started it, he had to overcome numerous challenges.

As the new president, Jorgensen faced extreme management and market challenges, necessitating quick responses and a significant restructuring of the business. His focus on developing a mission statement and credo and a professional executive team enabled him to grow internally, build a 550-unit leasing fleet from an initial 54 units, and found a thriving financial services subsidiary with a current portfolio balance of $46 million.

The other nominees were Richard Kane, owner of Grand Truck Center in San Antonio, Texas; Erick Miner, president of Central Illinois Trucks Group, Inc., in Normal, Ill.; and Craig Young, president of Young Truck Sales, Inc., in Canton, Ohio.

The winner and runner up were chosen by a panel of professors from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

Click here for the biographies/news releases of all the 2011 nominees for the ATD/Heavy Duty Trucking Truck Dealer of the Year. Read about the nominees and their thoughts on industry issues in the May issue of HDT.