Article Excerpt:
TWST: What is Rush Enterprises?Mr. Rush: Rush Enterprises operates the premier and largest independent network of heavy and medium-duty truck dealerships in North America. On the Class 8 side of the business, we represent Peterbilt. On the Class 4 through 7 side of the business, we represent Peterbilt, GMC, Isuzu, Hino, and UD trucks, which are all different brands that supply the Class 4 through 7 truck market. We sell our medium-duty and Class 8 trucks to a diversified customer base. Applications include fleet long haul, owner/operators and vocational applications such as construction, refuse, oilfield, beverage, towing, utility, and crane. We serve virtually every market in the heavy and medium-duty truck industry. We operate nearly 50 Rush Truck Centers in nine southern states. These stores span from the Atlantic to the Pacific and cover most major interstate highways, including Interstate Highways 10 and 20. We are strategically located to serve large freeway sections that run both east to west and north to south. In addition to selling trucks, we also focus on selling aftermarket parts, service, and body shop services. I like to say 'Trucks don't sell service, but service sells trucks.' We provide our customers a service solution across a contiguous geographic corridor. Consequently, we are able to place ourselves in a unique position compared to our competition. Our competitors cannot offer this contiguous service network. So that we may meet the needs of all customers, we have a large rental and leasing operation that is operated under the PacLease network. PacLease is owned by PACCAR, which also owns Peterbilt Motors Company and Kenworth Truck Company. We are the largest PacLease network in North America, operating over 1,560 units. We also provide a full array of financing and insurance products, using third party sources to help finance and insure our smaller customers. We are also a John Deere construction equipment dealer in the Houston Gulf Coast area. In addition to these larger businesses, we operate numerous other ancillary businesses. For example, we are in the oilfield up- fitting business and are a wholesale distributor of truck parts with a company named Perfection Equipment in Oklahoma City. We also operate a few truck tire stores. And recently, we have undertaken a new business named Chrome Country. With this new location, we are testing the best way to pursue the aftermarket chrome business for Class 4 through 8 trucks. In summary, we really are a distribution and service company. We try to provide a service solution for any truck and equipment customer's needs, regardless of the industry they serve. We perform these services across the southern part of the United States, where we capitalize on our contiguous geographic network of dealerships.
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