America, Freightliner’s parent company. Te council meets with Freightliner executive management every quarter to talk about the state of the industry, the company’s products, and new ideas for the truck, aftermarket parts, and repair sectors. “It gives us as dealers a voice in helping


guide them in what their direction’s going to be,” Mytty said. “I think it’s important to make sure that Freightliner as a large company understands what’s going on in the industry so they can make good decisions to help our customer base.” Mytty’s youth has sometimes been an issue.


“Trying to advertise and market nine


different names was nearly impossible,” Mytty said. “So a few years ago we made the choice to rebrand as Truck Center Companies. Te goal was to make sure customers understood it was the same company, the same people offering the same good services.” Tat’s especially important given that one


of the company’s major pushes as a network of Freightliner dealerships is to build the “Elite Support” brand. “It’s all about the customer experience from


the time they drive into our lot to the time that they’re finished and back on the road,” Mytty said. “I think it’s a focus on communication with the customer, making sure we understand what they need and making sure that along the repair process, they’re kept in the loop. Any time someone comes in and wants a part or needs service it’s generally not a good thing. It’s put them in a bad situation, and our job is to try and make the best of it.” Maintaining that focus on service has


required some creative problem-solving over the past few years. Industry conditions have created an increased demand for parts and repairs at the same time that fewer and fewer people are choosing careers in truck repair. “Te technician shortage is no secret,”


Mytty said. “It’s a career that is going to be here a long time and the pay is very strong, but I don’t think people in general understand our business. I think that for years, people


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have thought you need to go into different fields—computers, whatever it is. Mom and dad worry about their kids getting their hands dirty. Te industry has changed so much—every repair pretty much involves a laptop anymore—but the image hasn’t changed with it. As people in the trucking industry, it’s part of our responsibility to change that image and make people understand what it’s about.” On a more practical level, in January 2014


Truck Center Companies developed the Technician Acceleration Program, a full-time, 12-week training course for new technicians who have had at least some schooling or training in truck repair but have not gotten any experience in a real-world repair shop. It’s a significant financial investment for Truck Center Companies, but Mytty said it’s necessary—and so far, it’s paying off. He estimated the TAP has had about an 80 percent success rate so far. “We figure that it costs us about $30,000


per individual to put them through the course,” Mytty said. “But if we’re not growing techs on our own… the industry is not keeping up. We have to find a way to take care of ourselves so we can take care of our customers.” Mytty also represents Freightliner’s


central region—Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri—on the dealer council of Daimler Trucks North


He went to work full-time at Omaha Truck Center straight out of college, was managing a number of dealerships by age 27, and was still in his early 30s when he bought the company. Mytty said people who met him for the first time sometimes made the mistake of assuming he didn’t know what he was doing. But his age also been an asset, he said, because he learned early in his career, during the economic downturns of 2001 and 2008, how to manage a business through hard times. And as many dealership owners are approaching retirement age, it’s good to have some younger people in the ownership arena, he said. While Mytty focuses on strategy and


planning, Cygan said one of his goals is to streamline how Truck Center Companies’ nine dealerships operate. “With nine locations, in some areas there


are nine different ways of doing something,” he said. “I want to be able to supply the skeleton of how the process should work, and any features they want to add to the skeleton to make it their own is their choice. People here are open to different ideas, so it’s been a lot of fun.” As hard as Truck Center Companies


works to take care of its customers, it works just as hard to take care of its community. Te company has been a major supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation for more than two decades, raising more than $2 million over the years through its annual golf outing fund- raiser. Te 22nd annual golf outing, held last summer, raised $225,000. Mytty is a member of the board of directors of the Nebraska Make-A-Wish Foundation. “It tears at your heart, but it’s also great to be involved in it,” he said. NT


NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 4, 2016 — www.nebtrucking.com


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