Estevan – Custom Truck Sales Ltd. is in the final stages of preparing its new home in Estevan.
The Kenworth dealer for Saskatchewan and Manitoba first established a presence in Estevan in 2001, with a 7,600 square foot building on Escana Street. In 2008, that building was expanded to 15,700 square feet, according to Josh Leach.
Leach is the fourth generation working in the company, which was founded in 1965 by his great-grandfather, Arnold Leach, and grandfather, Don Leach. His father, Brent Leach, is the current president, while his brother, Daniel, works in accounting. Josh Leach is manager of parts and service operations for Brandon, Swift Current and Estevan. He met with Pipeline News at the new location on March 19, as contractors were putting the last items into place.
Commitment to providing the Estevan community and surrounding area with the best parts and service facilities was the reason for the expansion, according toLeach.
Our slogan is ‘Your success is our business,’ and this new facility exemplifies our commitment to our customers Leach said.
“The Estevan market is an extremely important part of our business,” Leach said.
New facility
Estevan has been primarily a parts and service location, as there was no room at its current facility for display of new or used inventory. That soon won’t be the case, as the new location, on Shand Road, is nine acres in size. Considerable volumes of fill were brought in when the facility was built for it is initial occupant, Millennium Stimulation. However, that company, a fracking operation, went bankrupt in 2016 when the downturn pummelled pressure pumping services in southeast Saskatchewan, and indeed, the entire industry. As a result, the Shand road facility was vacant for over a year and a half.
The location is just off the start of the Estevan truck bypass, conveniently accessibly for highway traffic in addition to local business, much of which is in the oilfield.
Substantial renovation of the existing facility began last fall, converting it from a frac operations shop to a heavy truck dealership. A 6000 square foot addition was built on the south end of the building, providing a new front door, sales office, drivers lounge and parts and service counter. It Includes a 4,000 square foot parts warehouse immediately behind the parts counter for an increase in parts inventory levels.
Some reconfiguration took place inside, as well. Masonry walls partitioning the interior bays were removed, allowing for a much more open service area. There are eight bays with room for 13 trucks.
The pre-existing offices will be used internally, with the new northeast entrance as the public entrance.
Their sales person, Lenny Janz, comes to Estevan several times a month, and will have an office in the new area of the building, beside the parts department.
The importance of inventory
Like many other companies in the oilpatch, Custom Truck Sales noticed a lull in sales when oil prices dropped. “We definitely saw it in the slowdown. You could feel it,” he said.
Many trucking firms have told Pipeline News that they have held back on new purchases of trucks during the downturn. The result is a growing pent up demand for new equipment once these companies can afford it. That’s something Leach said they are prepared for. Their sales staff, for instance, has a keen sense of what’s going on in the industry.
When sales do pick up, having inventory in place will be important.
“When there’s a run on equipment, you have to have it on the ground. The customer can’t wait,” Leach said.
“People still come in, saying, “I need to have this, now,’” he said. Thus, it’s important to have inventory on the ground.
“I think we’ve done a good job preparing ourselves in having the inventory, not just in trucks, but in parts, too,” Leach said.
While in Manitoba, quite a few of their new trucks are custom orders, specific to fleet requirements, in Saskatchewan he noted that about half their sales are from inventory, and the other half are custom orders.
As such, Leach said they’ve been looking back at popular oilpatch configurations that have sold in the past, and have those in place today for the new opening. In the oilpatch, he noted the Kenworth T800 and W900 are predominant when it comes to popular models they sell.
“They’re built so well for the oilpatch,” he said.
The decline in new truck sales conversely meant that trucking firms were needing more parts and service. While some companies parked equipment, especially if a service issue had come up, many have since been bringing those idle units back into play. And when they do, there’s work to be done on them.
While Custom Truck Sales covers the entire trucking industry, from agriculture to highway hauling, Leach said the oilpatch, for them, is huge. “Not only for our business, but for the entire province and Canada,” he said.
At their Regina, Swift Current, Estevan and Brandon branches, the oilpatch is predominant.
In fact, the Swift Current location of Custom Truck Sales opened in 2015, a totally new facility, in part to service the patch in southwest Saskatchewan. That location also sees agriculture-related business and significant highway traffic.
Currently they have 12 people working in Estevan. “They’re excellent people,” Leach said, noting that in a smaller city, you get a real sense of community.
“Everyone knows each other. Our staff at the Estevan location fully embody that,” he said. For instance, Curt McWilliams, the service manager, has been in Estevan since they first opened 17 years ago and has been with the company for over 20 years. Jennifer Prybylski, Blaine Boyle and Charlie Johnston, who are all involved on the parts side, have over 35 years of combined years in service with Custom Truck Sales. The entire Estevan team provides this same level of dedication with a combined 80 years of service to the dealership and serving the Estevan community, Leach said.
When asked if they would be hiring more people, Leach responded, “We’re always looking to hire.
“The more, good, qualified techs we can get, the more we can service our customers.”
The renovation is expected to be finished in late March, and they intend on moving into the new facility in April. Leach said they’re looking for an early May start in the new facility.
“It all comes back to this: we owe it to our customers and our staff to have the best facilities, and to make sure they’re taken care of,” Leach concluded.
