Anyone who operates Macks or Volvos on the West Coast has probably been in one of David Thompson's dealerships. He's owner, president and CEO of TEC Equipment Inc., Portland, Ore., which operates a string of nine full-service sales and parts facilities plus two used truck centers along a thousand-mile corridor from southwest Washington down to San Diego and east into Nevada.
Thompson worked as a truck driver to pay for school while he earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Iowa. In 1976, he started Thompson Equipment Co. and opened a used truck center in Portland. In 1983 he founded TEC Equipment, and in 1990, acquired his first franchise, a factory-owned Mack dealership in Portland. Today his dealerships represent Mack, Volvo, and GMC light and medium-duty, as well as Sun Valley Car Carriers and Boydstun Car Carriers.
Today, employing 550 people and covering 32 million people in its areas of responsibility, TEC has the economies of scale that allow it to offer a large menu of services. They don't just offer insurance; they have their own insurance brokerage, TEC Insurance, with three locations. TEC Financial services has four locations. Fuel is offered at three locations and will be rolled out to the rest, offering prices 10 cents per gallon less than truckstop prices as an added benefit for customers. All facilities offer extended hours. If you break down, they can provide you a truck out of their rental business.
According to Thompson, TEC was the first dealership in the West to open its parts and service departments 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company employs Russian and Spanish-speaking employees to meet the needs of growing immigrant communities. TEC locations have lounges with free laundry, showers, pool tables and TVs, and California locations have quiet/sleeping rooms, doggie condos and outdoor barbecues.
"What we try to do is become one-stop shopping," Thompson explains. "Our franchise areas – with the exception of a gap in central California – one touches the next so we've got you covered all the way down the coast."
All the operations are centralized in the Portland headquarters, including credit, collections, accounting and senior management. Thompson gives a lot of the credit for his success to that management, which he points out includes a high number of women in a field traditionally dominated by males.
The right management is also key to establishing new facilities, he says. "We don't go start a new store until we have the key people in place. You hire the best you can and they take care of your business for you."
The company has a string of awards from Mack and Volvo, including 2002 Volvo Dealer of the Year and 2002 Mack Class 8 Distributor of the Year. Last year, they were No. 46 on Oregon Business magazine's Oregon Top 100 Companies and also a finalist in the magazine's "Best Company to Work For" award.
The latter is easy to understand, with unusual employee programs such as a home loan program that provides down payment assistance for first-time home buyers; and a tuition program that pays up to 100 percent of employee tuition for secondary education depending on grades earned. TEC boasts seven ATD Academy graduates, three of whom are women, including COO Kathy Mahaffy.
"David Thompson stands out as a remarkable individual and leader in our industry," wrote Ronald Remp, ATD Volvo Line Representative, in his nomination of Thompson for Dealer of the Year. "His passion for the business and his reverence for the people who work for him have enabled him to grow from one used truck center in Portland, Ore., to 11 Volvo/Mack dealerships throughout Oregon, California and Nevada. David takes a 'can-do' attitude one step further. For him, it is always 'Will do.' "
Introducing the 2007 Truck Dealer of the Year Nominees
