RIGHT PARTS FINDING THE

Meet Matt Lenhart, Parts Manager for Nextran Truck Centers in Orlando

Things were different in 1984. Phones were attached to walls. TVs had 13 channels. And semi-trucks were a heck of a lot less complicated. Matt Lenhart, Nextran Orlando’s Parts Department Manager, remembers because that’s when he started his career working on Mack Trucks.

“Every interior was beige. All of them. One color. And across all Macks, there were only two different types of transmissions and three different types of engines,” Matt recalls. “Things have definitely changed.”

They’ve also changed for Matt since that first job. After growing up in Michigan, Matt joined the Coast Guard and received training as a machinery technician, which helped him land in the trucking industry when his service was complete. He focused his career on truck parts, first in outside sales, then behind the front counter, and eventually as Parts Manager.

“We didn’t have computers back when I started,” Matt said. “Everything was on microfiche. Of course, there weren’t as many parts as we have now.”

The increase in parts is tied to innovation within the industry. Making exhaust systems more eco-friendly, making braking systems safer, allowing drivers to see directly behind the truck all require new parts to be created and kept in stock. Matt has seen plenty of innovation since Nextran brought him over to help open and run the parts department in Auburndale in 2000. And even more following his promotion