WINNIPEG, Man. – Volvo Trucks has selected Barry Searcy’s Volvo Manitoba Truck Centre as not only the 1999 Dealer of the Year for Canada, but the facility has also been awarded the Dealer Excellence Award, making it the highest ranking Volvo dealership in the continent.

For John Oades, the general manager, and the rest of the 52 employees, the news came as a tremendous honor. He explains the Volvo Manitoba Truck Centre really started from scratch when it opened its doors in April of 1997.

“Barry (Searcy) came from a trucking background which was critical to our success,” says Oades. “He looked at all of the dealerships he had to work with in the past and what he didn’t like, he changed. Common sense goes a long way.”

At the start of each year, Volvo’s corporate braintrust sets goals and objectives for each dealership – both on the truck sales side and for the parts and service operations.

“Winnipeg has a strong core fleet base,” says Oades. “We try to work with and help all of them.”

He says providing value added services to the customers has always been one of Searcy’s key principles in the operation.

“We stay on top of the technical advances in the industry,” adds Oades, “and we help our customers do the same by arranging training sessions both on Volvo products and those of our suppliers.” n