Custom Truck Sales (CTS) recently celebrated its 50th anniversary as a Kenworth dealership with five customer events that attracted nearly 1,000 customers at its dealerships in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
A tour of Kenworth T680 and T880 trucks, specially painted in the dealer’s colors and decaled with its 50th anniversary logo, tied the five events together by offering customers a closer look at Kenworth’s latest on-highway and vocational truck offerings. Events were hosted by Custom Truck Sales locations in Regina, Saskatoon and Estevan, Saskatchewan; and Brandon and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
“It’s appropriate that we chose to honor my grandfather and father’s decision 50 years ago to become a Kenworth dealer with a tour that featured four of Kenworth’s newest and most innovative Class 8 trucks,” said Custom Truck Sales President Brent Leach, who’s been with the company for 30 years.
Brent’s grandfather, Arnold Leach, organized a group and approached Kenworth to obtain the franchise in 1965. Brent’s father, Don, left his job at the provincial gas company and joined his father to start the dealership. Today, Brent’s brother, Ken, is vice president; his sister, Wendy Williams, is one of the company’s operating directors; and another brother, Rob, is a non-operating partner.
“Grandpa Leach was selling trucks for another OEM, but became a Kenworth dealer because his experience showed him that Kenworth made the industry’s best trucks,” Brent said. “Back then, the Kenworth LW924 and the Kenworth W923 had a strong reputation among oilfield explorers and vocational customers for handling the 40-below temperatures and the area’s diverse environment. The W900 and K100 cabover also were the truck of choice for Canadian long-haul truckers. Grandpa Leach just knew Kenworth represented our family’s future.”
Flash forward 50 years and the Kenworth T680 and the Kenworth T880 are now drawing serious attention from CTS customers with aerodynamic engineering and design and with well-thought-out driver comfort and productivity enhancing details, Brent added.
“The Kenworth T680, with its industry-leading aerodynamic design coupled with the PACCAR MX-13 engine and driven through the Eaton Fuller Advantage 13- or 18-speed automated transmissions, provides our customers potential fuel economy savings they find very compelling,” he said. “Plus, the T680’s roomy cab, comfortable sleeper and other driver-focused features helps fleets to retain and recruit drivers.”
Custom Truck Sales is part of the Kenworth dealer network of more than 360 locations throughout Canada and the United States and is also affiliated with PacLease.