ATA Featured Member: Desert Fleet-Serv

Desert Fleet-Serv opened its doors for business in January of 1995 with two employees, an infusion of personal money and an SBA loan. Today, the company employs 23 employees and operates 14 service trucks to provide regular “on site” maintenance and repair services to businesses that operate fleets of diesel trucks.

Owners Tom and Kim Cooper both grew up in the east and moved to Arizona in the 1980s. Tom began his career as a salesman for an oil company in New Jersey before going into what was to be a 12-year career in sales with the Tennant Company – a manufacturer and supplier of industrial cleaning equipment. Kim grew up in a family- owned business started by her grandfather that distributed fuel, oil, gasoline and propane to retail and commercial businesses throughout New England.

“I remember bagging ice in the house, the smell of gasoline and learning a lot about doing whatever it takes to be successful,” said Kim.

To ensure Desert Fleet-Serv’s customers have their trucks up and running at all times, the company’s services encompass everything from preventive maintenance to very large repairs at the customer’s convenience, no matter the location or time. A web-based software program specifically designed for Desert Fleet-Serv tracks all upcoming services and DOTs, as well as automatic e-mail reminders, cost per mile calculations and electronic scheduling.

“Our passion is to build partnerships with our customers and gain their long term trust and confidence,” said Kim. “Building excellence begins at home, and the practice of caring for employees is an integral part of Desert Fleet-Serv’s culture.”

Desert Fleet-Serv joined the ATA in March of 2008 because they felt it was the voice of the trucking industry and Arizona businesses.

“Desert Fleet-Serv has benefited from the ATA training, programs, informative speakers at annual meeting and getting to know members through various events such as the golf outings,” Kim said.

Desert Fleet-Serv plans to significantly grow the company over the next three years by investing more into the business and its systems. They feel that the ongoing training of employees is critical and on schedule for 2011.

“The key issue is that it’s all about people, our ability to attract and keep them. We try to treat people the way we like to be treated…we try to charge them [the customers] a fair price and stand behind our work,” Kim said.