DRIVEN TO BE THE BEST

Meet Chad Clancy, Race Car Driver and Director of Operations for Nextran Truck Centers in Kansas City

to Parts Manager of the Orlando location, the position he holds today.

“In every way a truck adapts or changes, a part is involved,” Matt said. “And if your truck doesn’t have the right part to be compliant, you can’t operate it. It’s red-tagged. So we have to make sure we have the parts to keep the customers on the road. Their business can’t survive without having those parts.”

With thousands of parts, 45 employees and 15 delivery trucks in his care, Matt takes his responsibility very seriously. He also understands the importance Nextran places on providing opportunities to its people.

“I usually promote people from within. We’re always nurturing people and moving them up. The leadership team at Nextan has been very good to me, and they’ve helped me grow, so I want to do the same for my staff.”

Having access to the best parts is what keeps trucks up and running. For our company, the best parts are our employees. And with folks like Matt Lenhart aboard, we’ll be going strong for a long time.

Spend a day with Chad Clancy, and you will no doubt ask yourself, “How the heck does he do it?” You see, Chad is a man who wears many hats. In addition to his role as Nextran’s Director of Operations in our Kansas City dealership, he’s an auto mechanic, championshipwinning race car driver, devoted husband to his wife Tracy, and father to Brandon, Kirsten, Lucas and Kaylee.

Chad can do so much for two reasons. First, he has surrounded himself with a great group of people, especially his co-workers at Nextran. Second, he expects a lot of himself. That’s how he was when he started working in the trucking industry back in 1998, fresh out of high school.

“I applied to Westfall-O’Dell to be an Apprentice Technician. The Service Manager asked if I’d rather be a Service Advisor,” Chad recalls. “Within four years, I became a Shop Foreman, then Body Shop Manager. I did a little bit of everything and learned fast.”

In 2014, he was elevated to Service Manager, overseeing a whole department of people dedicated to getting Mack, Volvo and Kalmar Ottawa trucks back on the road. When it was announced that Nextran had acquired Westfall-O’Dell in 2021, he remembers what the transition was like.

“People were a little nervous, but it went really well. It could not have gone better. A very smooth transition,” Chad said. “The parts department has benefited from Nextran’s resources. And so has the customer. Morale is great around here, which makes my job easier.”

But that doesn’t mean Chad is taking it easy. Especially outside of work, where he is either shuttling kids around to various sports activities, helping his family raise show pigs and competing at local fairs, or working on his race car in the garage late into the evening getting it ready for a weekend at the track. He’s been racing competitively since the age of 15. And he’s pretty good. Actually, he’s great. Chad won the 2014 USRA national championship, beating out 900 other drivers for the title. He also considers the track to be a great place to recruit talent for Nextran and connect with local customers, as many of them are part of the racing community.

“You have to be an extremely motivated person to be in racing. I’ve found lots of people for all sorts of positions, from technicians to drivers to people in the accounting department.”

Well, saying Chad is motivated is an understatement. In fact, his enthusiastic attitude recently earned him a promotion to Director of Operations for Kansas City, a position that allows him to have a big impact on the parts and service teams. We already know he’ll be great because Chad’s a winner. And we are so glad to have him on the team.

Whether you’re building a skyscraper in Atlanta, clearing the land for 200 new homes, or just putting a pool in your backyard, the dump truck is your MVP. And a guy like Kevin Westmoreland, owner of Kevin Westmoreland Trucking Co, Inc., is your best friend. Kevin’s trucks, which are all Mack dump trucks and affectionately called the Dog Pound, are ready to deliver the materials and haul away the debris so contractors and homeowners alike can move their projects forward.

“There’s no job that’s too big or too small,” Kevin Westmoreland said. “We can work with you to get the number of trucks and budget all figured out.”

Making it happen for customers is something he’s been doing since high school, when he would work in his dad’s truck shop in Kennesaw, Georgia. When he was 18, he got his CDL and soon after took over the dispatching position, helping his father, Kenneth R. Westmoreland, Sr., run the fleet. Kevin considered it his college education as it taught him several aspects of the business. It also brought him closer to the world of Mack Trucks.

“We’re die-hard Mack Truck fans. I mean, you can’t beat a Mack,” Kevin said. “The height off the ground gives great visibility, and it’s just the best-looking truck. It’s all we have in our fleet. Because they’re all the same, it helps the mechanics with repairs and for getting parts.”

When it comes to parts and maintenance, Kevin counts on Nextran to make sure everything is tip-top. He credits our Atlanta General Manager, Terry Barrows, and Sales Manager, Cameron Freeman with going beyond the call of duty.

“Sometimes, we’re in a bind, and Terry and Cameron will step up to get our trucks in and out of the shop. They understand it needs to get back out on the road. They do an amazing job.”

Since 2015, Kevin has purchased new Mack vehicles from us. Currently, there are 16 in the stable, one of which, a black Mack Granite Multi-Axle Dump, appeared in the Nextran 2022 calendar in the month of January.

“I heard it was one of Jon Pritchett’s favorite shots,” Kevin said with a laugh.

With plans to add four more Macks to the Dog Pound, Kevin Westmoreland Trucking Co, Inc., is growing to meet the demands of its customers. And we’re excited to work with them and help out in any way we can so they’re able to get the job done.