TD Overhauls Programs Toward Excellence

Peach State Truck Centers: 2025 BEST Award Winner, #17

Norcross, Georgia

2-Time Winner

Peach State Truck Centers operate in the highly competitive heavy-duty truck retail industry. The company's purpose is to make a positive difference in the lives of others, and leaders believe that by creating the best possible employee experience they will enable the best possible customer experience.

For several decades, the company followed a tactical approach to service focusing on process and procedures. To differentiate themselves in the market, leaders drew inspiration from companies such as Disney Parks, Chick-fil-A, and Buc-ee's. The goal: outstanding service, memorable interactions, and a strong company culture that prioritizes customer satisfaction, improving the employee experience and engagement, and first-class service. The company aspires to be "the Disney of truck centers."

"The key to our continued success in behavioral and operational excellence lies in investing more in our employees. This includes education, engagement, and empowerment, allowing our employees to reach their full potential to care for each other and our customers," explains Chief Operating Officer Greg Althardt. "Our VP of learning and employee experience is embedded in our leadership team, helping to share the strategy for engaging and enriching our employees."

The company revamped its talent development programs to be agile, personalized, and innovative. Learner-focused initiatives help mirror desired personalized customer experiences. The TD function tweaked programs to a location-specific approach that managers lead. For instance, the annual business school and emerging leader programs include classwork and activities specific to the employee's location.

TD also embeds learning into the flow of work. An example is the Journey to Exceptional Experiences initiative, which enhances customer and employee experiences with new service standards. Program tactics include:

• Tailoring learning to specific roles

• Increasing learning frequency with prompts, microlearning, quizzes, and recognition

• Allowing for personal reflection

• Integrating learning within processes

• Establishing feedback loops

• Promoting collaboration

• Having a scorecard

Managers tailor learning by outlining overall behavior changes and then training and monitoring behaviors necessary for specific positions such as counter employees welcoming customers within 10 feet or 10 seconds. Managers receive creative license to create fun learning activities that will resonate with their location and employees.

Increasing learning frequency with shorter engagements included activities such as role-playing games, contests, and customer interviews. The TD team created physical passports so that managers could stamp them as employees demonstrate new behaviors.

Structured meetings, daily team huddles, walk-throughs to observe behaviors, and games are all part of daily routines that span the 26-week program, integrating learning into daily operations.

Results show tangible improvements in performance, engagement, and organizational effectiveness. Manager compliance with their training assignments and daily walk-throughs was nearly 100 percent. Training completion rates are almost double from the previous year, and employee engagement stands at 92 percent. Customer Net Promoter Score improved from 66 to 84 in one year, and employee turnover improved by 3 percentage points. Retention has also improved; the company hired 25 percent fewer people than a year ago and 37 percent fewer than two years ago.

View the entire list of 2025 BEST Award winners.