How Total Trailers Continues To Thrive After Four Decades of Business
A small repair shop that was founded more than 45 years ago has grown into Total Trailers, a thriving multi-generational Great Dane dealership.
When Steve Jones and his father, J.W., opened the shop in their hometown of Benton, MO, they couldn’t have imagined the incredible growth the company would experience.
“It’s pretty amazing just to see how much the operation has grown from where we started, with just two service bays growing to thirty service bays, and a little over 90 employees,” said Jason Jones, CEO at Total Trailers. “My grandpa just turned 98, and my dad is no longer in the business, but I know how proud they are of us. It’s just a great family legacy to have.”
Commitment To Customers That’s Second to None
Jason and his brother, Jonathan, who serves as President of the company, lead the team with the same commitment to customers that characterized their dad and grandpa’s work ethic, developing strong relationships and a positive work culture.
“There are very few customer transactions that we have where they’re just coming in to buy a part one time or coming to buy a trailer one time. Our customers have developed friendships and relationships with many of our employees,” Jonathan explained.
“And we have parts customers that are literally in our office every day. They want to be able to do business with somebody they know and have worked with for years. So, it’s important for us to have employees with long-term tenure who are experienced, develop relationships, and keep customers coming back,” he continued.
Finding The Sweet Spot
Jonathan went on to explain how the dealership remains competitive with each passing decade that brings change and advancements.
“We’re in that sweet spot where we’re a big enough company so we can deal with a lot of the larger fleets, but small enough so our local customers really know who they’re dealing with. If there’s a solution a customer needs, they can walk into our office, and we’ve just got the relationship that can give them the answer right there on the spot, or at least work with them on it. I don’t think you get that from a lot of big corporations,” Jonathan said.
And at the end of the day, Jonathan says it all comes back to the customer’s experience.
“It doesn’t matter if they’ve got two trucks or 200. We want to be easy to do business with, and we want our customers to know that they’re going to be taken care of. Because regardless of fleet size, they just want to get back on the road and make money to support their families, too.”
If you’re in the Benton area and need a pre-owned or new Great Dane trailer the team at Total Trailers is ready to help!
Located outside of the Total Trailers network? Check out our new and pre-owned trailers and truck bodies that are in stock and ready to go from our nationwide network.