The NCDU Hall of Fame recognition is one where our industry pays tribute to those dealers who make a contribution to our business not just through company success, but through character and leadership impacting our industry as a whole. Over the past 35 years, NCDU’s Hall of Fame inductees have been dealers whose lives and stories have impacted us all.
Kyle Treadway is second generation dealer who took the reigns of the family business and not only improved on the success of the company, but also put his own mark on it as it grew. Shawn Morgan, Kyle Treadway’s sister spoke of the vision and dedication to the family business.
The NCDU is proud to welcome Kyle Treadway into its Hall of Fame.
How did you get into the industry?
My grandparents started the business in 1945. Kenworth Truck Company recruited them at the end of World War II and asked them to relocate to Utah and start the dealership. Kenworth expected an economic boom and thought the dealership would be a great opportunity. They recruited my grandfather because he had been working as the chief operations officer of a national truck fleet.
My dad worked in the business, too. He was 17 when they started and had just been released from the U.S. Army Air Corps. (You basically know he lied about his age to get in.) My grandparents hired him to run the dealership’s parts department. The dealership initially had three employees, all with the same last name: my grandfather, grandmother and father.
I grew up in the business but rejected it and never thought I would make it my career. But after working for a law firm for a few years, I discovered I really disliked the practice of law. I asked my dad, “Can I come work for you until I figure out what I want to do?”
Going away from the family business made all the difference. It made me appreciate the dealer world, and in 1987 I realized I loved the work. My brother and sisters did the reverse path. They joined the business and then left. We have a family board of directors, and they are on the board, though they are no longer involved in day-to-day operations.
How has NCDU benefited you professionally?
NCDU teaches members about best practices and provides networking opportunities. It’s important to have peer support and resources, and NCDU’s peer network has really helped me with career and business development. They have also advised me about running a larger company as our company has grown. I have ridden on their coattails.
What have been some of your biggest challenges?
Relations with the OEMs have always been a challenge that will never end. Another challenge is managing growth and deciding how to structure the business. Our markets are different than the markets for car dealers. They are cyclical and have a smaller customer base.
We are also figuring out our succession plans for when company leadership transitions to the fourth generation. Two of my nephews are in the business and would like to take the helm. That will probably happen in five to 10 years.
What are the major milestones in your life?
The first was in 2000, a decade after I decided I had found my career. My father died of cancer after being diagnosed in 1998. He was still the principal in name, but he couldn’t run the business. After his diagnosis, we stepped in as a team and had to figure out how to run the business and handle the aftermath of 9/11.
I officially became the dealer principal after he died. It was very difficult. I wasn’t prepared, and I aged a decade in one year. Like most businesses, we had a lot of confusion and concern. It was my first economic downturn at the helm, and it was incredibly stressful. We pulled back and became very conservative in our investments, inventory and employment decisions.
The next milestone was in 2014. We had survived 9/11 and the Great Recession of 2009, and we were recognized as Dealer of the Year by the American Truck Dealers Association, a division of NADA. Then, in 2021, Kenworth Truck Company recognized us as the North American Dealer of the Year.
How do you feel about being inducted into the NCDU Hall of Fame?
It was an unexpected honor from a group that I respect. The NCDU Hall of Fame recognizes contributions to the industry, but I have gained far more than I have given. I am a commercial truck dealer, not a car dealer. However, I have great respect for car dealers. They are much larger as an industry than we are, and I’ve learned from them.
What are your biggest accomplishments?
I take a lot of pride in the partnerships we have created with customers, the communities and the other industry stakeholders we are surrounded by. We’ve put time, thought and effort into building our business and helping customers build their businesses. It’s important to me to give back to the community for the support they’ve given us.
In addition to fleet owners and operators, our stakeholders are the manufacturers, component suppliers and aftermarket service providers.
What are the biggest issues facing the dealership industry today?
I see three that apply to car dealerships and truck dealerships alike. The first is consolidation. There are fewer dealer principals, and as the threshold for entering this business gets steeper, the pool of potential dealers becomes smaller and smaller.
Second, our business model is changing. How we reach our customer base has become increasingly different over the last 10 years, whether you are looking at e-commerce or digital marketing.
Third, the labor pool is a problem. It is challenging to recruit, train and retain qualified personnel. Our long-haul trucking customers have a driver shortage because fewer people are willing to sit in the cab of a long-haul truck for 50 hours a week. There’s a breed of person who enjoys solitude and the open road, but that life is less appealing to the younger generation.
Driver shortages domino through so much of our industry. That’s why autonomous driving is important. It isn’t more cost-efficient than having a human driver, but freight demand is mushrooming, and we are not meeting the demand for people to deliver packages. Automation is in trial stages in several states, and autonomous trucks are operating quietly on the open road. All of the long-haul companies are aggressively approaching the switch to autonomous driving.
Where do you see the future of the industry going?
My answer might seem retro, but we’ve always built our business on relationships, and that is more true today than ever. You can have CRM and everything online, but a successful business needs relationships and reputation. You may not shake hands or knock on the door, but you still need to relate to other people. The basics will just have a high-tech flavor added to them.
Some great things are going on out there, and unique experiments are taking place that you can learn from.
Do you have any advice for other NCDU members?
Watch and learn from your peers. Some great things are going on out there, and unique experiments are taking place that you can learn from. Also, help each other. Everyone goes through a crisis sometime – help your fellow dealer figure it out. Finally, keep your eye on the future, and develop people and relationships.
Do you have any last words?
Thank you for this unexpected honor. I value it more because it came from automotive professionals in my home community, and my family and coworkers have all been impressed.
