Warner Truck Centers – will begin operating in the first phase of their 32 acre Truck Center in the Gateway Commercial Center – on Monday, March 18th. Bart Warner commented, “The move to Southern Utah has been a long time in coming, but when we finally made the move we wanted to do it right. We’ve got some great customers now in Southern Utah who deserve the kind of service we offer in Salt Lake – and others in Salt Lake and Southern Idaho who expect the same wherever they go. So now – with this facility and the incredible people we have hired to work there – we believe we can deliver. Scott Saxton will be the Branch Manager and Milan Tripp, an experienced Freightliner service manager will run the shop”.
The Freightliner dealership will occupy 3 buildings utilizing over 35,000 square feet on 7 acres of the total 70,000 square feet of facilities on 32 acres. The remaining property and buildings will be used to house other heavy truck users and industry vendors. Quality Tire, a Michelin tire distributor, currently operating in Salt Lake, Montana and St. George is planning on moving into the Warner Truck Center in April. Talks are underway with several other vendors to provide other services such as Body & Paint repair, a Café with hot food, a Truck Wash and trailer repair and refrigeration services are also in the plans. Hot showers and a driver’s center with wireless internet and big recliners will be available in the first phase. “We’ve had five local mechanics in training in Salt Lake and at the factory in Portland for past three months that are now fully certified in all Freightliner chassis and Detroit Diesel work. They will also be a fully certified Cummins and Cat repair facility. Right out of the shoot we plan on offering extended hour and Saturday service to fill a need that we believe exists in Southern Utah. The initial parts stocking level will be almost $500,000, which will give us the chance to have the part our customers need in stock”.
Another major focus will be motorhome repairs. Freightliner Custom Chassis, owned by Daimler Trucks of North America, produces over half of all the chassis for all of the motorhomes manufactured in the U.S. The service brand for providing warranty mechanical repairs is known as Oasis. Freightliner of Utah was awarded Oasis’ highest honors last year in customer satisfaction as one of its’ top service centers in nation at the Freightliner dealership in Salt Lake. “We plan on continuing that reputation of fast, quality, competitive service in the Truck Center in Hurricane”. In addition to mechanical repairs, Buzz said that, “we hope to be able to provide coach (interior) repairs as well as body and paint work for motorhomes. This will be possible with the 100′ Binks downdraft paint booth on site that can produce paint work that looks like original factory paint”.
Talks are in the works for several other trucking companies who have expressed interest in being located in the Hurricane Truck Center, the results of which will be announced soon. At this point in time, there is still plenty of space to park, stage or store tractors and trailers in secure fenced, well lit paved or gravel parking areas. We believe there is a fairly strong demand for a reasonably priced parking area such as this in the area – especially so close to all of the services that a heavy truck user might need. There will also be ground available to lease, sell or build to suit for facilities for other heavy truck users at very competitive rates. Hurricane City has been very supportive of this development and has already been approved conditional use by for any heavy truck use in the center.
The new center is located at 229 North 5500 West, Hurricane Utah 84737, in the Gateway Commercial Center – take exit 16 onto Highway 9, then turn left (North) onto Old Highway 91, then about a mile down the road turn left on 5500 West and you are there. Curren Christensen with NAI Utah Southern Region, assisted Warner Truck Centers in acquiring the additional 70,000 SF facility, on just over 16.5 acres, adjacent to their existing property. For questions, visit their website at www.warnertc.com.