Board of Directors — American Truck Dealers Division
ATD Chairman
Gary Gibson, president of Tri-State Sterling Trucks in Cincinnati, Ohio, is chairman of the American Truck Dealers (ATD) division of the National Automobile Dealers Association.
After leaving the U. S. Army in 1966, Gibson joined his brother’s Dodge dealership in Athens, Ohio. In addition to cars, the dealership sold medium and heavy Dodge trucks. In 1970, the dealership became a franchised International Harvester full line truck dealership. In 1983, Gary and his brother acquired a Ford, Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Athens, and were awarded a Ford Super Duty franchise in conjunction with that acquisition. That dealership was the first combined Ford Super Duty and International Harvester full line truck location in the country.
In 1990, Gibson sold his interest in the dealership to his brother and moved to Cincinnati to work at Tri-State Ford Truck Sales, a Ford Dealer Development location owned by Ford Motor Co. Gibson entered the Ford Dealer Development program and became the dealer principal in August of 1991. He completed the buyout of the dealership from Ford in 1995. The company’s name was changed to Tri-State Sterling Trucks in 1998 as a result of Ford’s heavy truck business being sold to Freightliner and the former Ford product being renamed Sterling. Today, Tri-State Sterling sells new Sterling, Ford and Mitsubishi Fuso trucks and is one of only 12 Ford dealerships nationwide that is franchised only for Ford 450 Series and higher. Gibson also owned the Freightliner dealership in the Cincinnati market from 1997-2000 before selling it to Fyda Freightliner.
Gibson has been active in the industry for many years. He joined the ATD committee in 2001 as Ford Line Representative. In 1995, Mr. Gibson was instrumental in forming the Ohio Truck Dealers Division of Ohio Automobile Dealers Association and was elected its first president, serving in that capacity for some eight years. Gibson also served on the Ford Heavy Truck National Dealer Council from 1987-1989 and the first Sterling National Dealer Council 1999-2001. In addition, he has served on numerous advisory boards and committees of truck and component manufacturers.
Gibson has earned numerous awards during his tenure in the truck retail industry, including the Most Profitable Ford Dealer Development Store in 1995-1996.
Gibson and his wife Sally reside in Loveland, Ohio. They have three children – all of whom work alongside Gibson at the dealership.
Founded in 1970, the ATD division of NADA is the only national organization representing dealers selling new medium- and heavy-duty trucks. More than 2,400 members of ATD receive full association services from NADA.
The National Automobile Dealers Association, founded in 1917 and based in McLean, Va., represents approximately 19,000 franchised new-car and –truck dealers holding nearly 43,000 separate franchises.
Board, by state
Board, alphabetical by last name