Saying Hello, Saying Goodbye

Welcome to Montana Peterbilt's new blog.  We're in the 21st century now, so I thought we should keep up with the times.  I'll try to update this weekly, but forgive me if I slack every once in while as sometimes I get busy selling trucks!!

Montana Peterbilt is a year old now, and it's hard to belive.  Amazing how time has flown by! We're doing pretty good considering the economy, but I definitely do see signs of improvement, especially in the used truck business.

Since this is my first entry, I thought it appropriate to include in the title "Saying Hello"  for obvious reasons, but also "Saying Goodbye"  for reasons I'm about to elaborate upon.

Mitch Edwards 1962 - 2009

Mitch Edwards was the Service Manager in our Billings location until May of this year when he died suddenly from complications of Crohn's Disease.  Mitch was more than just an employee, (an outstanding one at that) he was also my friend. I, along with a whole bunch of other people here in Montana miss him.  Mitch was one of the main reasons for the success of the Billings store.  Many customers made it a point to tell me that he was the reason they came to our store.  Mitch was the kind of guy who could tell you "no", and you'd still love him.  Randy Stewart, a good customer and a good friend, told me at Mitch's funeral that, "He was the kind of guy who could tell me why he was charging me an extra 8 hours labor, and although I wouldn't like it, I'd still like the guy".  I heard many other similar stories at the service that day, and I'll be the first to tell you that it was hard keeping my composure while watching burly mechanics and truck drivers tear up.

Replacing Mitch was something I had never contemplated, but now faced head on.  Six months before his death I jokingly asked him, "Who will I replace you with when I promote you, or you drop dead?"  kind of ironic huh? He didn't bat an eye and responded without a moments hesitation, "Allen Higgins, he's your man." and so that's what we did.  Once again, Mitch was right. 

Allen has been on the job now for about 60 days, and except for the occasional whining, (just kidding Allen), he's doing a great job.  Mitch would be proud.

So, it is with this first entry that I'd like to say "hello" to all of you. Hopefully you'll keep reading this for a long time. To Mitch, I would like to say "Goodbye.  Don't worry, we're doing ok.  Allen is doing fine. He's keeping the shop busy and Dick's keeping it clean. Although it will never be the same without you, I think you'd be very pleased."