Jon Vandehey, president and CEO of Mid-State Truck Service in Marshfield, Wis., is one of the nominees for 2022 Truck Dealer of the Year – a national award that recognizes commercial-truck dealers for business performance, industry and civic leadership and community service.

As with most family-owned businesses, Vandehey began working at his father’s dealership at an early age. From washing trucks and mowing the lawn at the dealership’s Marshfield location as a young teen to becoming president and CEO in 2003, Vandehey has grown up in the dealership and the dealership has grown under his leadership.

Between 2006 and 2020, the business expanded by acquiring three Wisconsin-based dealerships and two Minnesota-based locations. Today, Mid-State Truck Service includes full-service sales, service and parts facilities and dealerships in Wisconsin and Minnesota with 280 employees representing Navistar, IC Bus, Isuzu, Diamond Coach and Collins Bus. Mid-State has grown from annual volume of $1.5 million in 1965 to recent volumes in excess of $150 million.
“Mid-State Truck Service has prioritized service since its inception,” Vandehey said. “Even in the early years with one small volume location, our father recognized that delivering exceptional customer service differentiates ourselves from our competition. That’s why he was insistent that ‘service’ be in our name.”

The dedication to service has led to winning numerous national awards for the dealer and the dealership from Navistar, Idealease and IC Bus Corp., as well as being named Business of the Year by the Chippewa Country Business Council and the Plover Area Business Association.
Vandehey is also a member of the Wisconsin Automobile & Truck Dealers Association Truck Council, where he successfully fought to repeal the Wisconsin sales tax on FET in 2016, is co-chair of the Sales & Marketing Committee of the OEM Dealer Council, and serves on the Vision 2025 Committee.

“Jon has assumed many leadership roles representing all dealers across North America with our OEM,” said Cumberland International Trucks CEO Terry Minor, who nominated Vandehey. “But it is what he does within his local communities and his contributions to the children and less advantaged within those communities that make Jon the ideal selection for this recognition.”

Vandehey and Mid-State Truck Service support numerous charitable organizations, including Toys for Tots with its Truckers for Tots program, YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs. And the dealership donated vehicles with a wheel chair lift to both Regional Enterprise for Adults and Children (REACH) and Chippewa River Industries, which both support individuals with disabilities.

Most recently, Vandehey and his wife, Annette, gave their largest contribution to their community of Marshfield – a $1.25 million gift to complete the Vandehey Waters-Marshfield Municipal Pool, which opened in July 2021.

“Growing up in a large family with a tight budget, free or low-cost community assets like parks, the public library and the municipal pool were the primary means of recreation. Living several blocks from the municipal pool, many summer days were spent there with my siblings. It’s with that background that Vandehey Waters was born,” he said.

The national Truck Dealer of the Year award is sponsored by ATD, Heavy Duty Trucking magazine and Procede Software.

The other nominees are Eric Jorgensen, president and CEO of JX Truck Center in Hartland, Wis., and Kari Rihm, president and CEO of Rihm Kenworth in South St. Paul, Minn.

The nominees were selected by state, metro and national association leaders. A panel of judges from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business will evaluate the nominees and select a winner.

The winner will be announced during this year’s ATD Show opening general session on Thursday, March 10 from 4-5pm. ATD Show 2022 runs from Thursday, March 10 through Sunday, March 13, 2022 at the Encore Las Vegas. The four-day event runs concurrently with NADA Show 2022.

For more information and to register for ATD Show 2022, visit www.atdshow.org.

This is the third article in a four-part series highlighting the nominees for 2022 Truck Dealer of the Year.