[above] Pat Roggenbuck loads a Triangle TL568+ for a service call at Twin Valley Tire headquartered in Milbank, SD. He has been with the company for 23 years.
Twin Valley Tire owner Jamie LaRoche says he almost never receives feedback from his customers on Triangle OTR and TBR tires…and that’s a good thing!
“You very rarely have a customer call to talk about how wonderful the tires are,” the longtime tire dealer noted. “Now, if there is a problem, you hear pretty darn quick!“
LaRoche, who founded Twin Valley Tire in Milbank, SD, in 1988 along with partner Brendan Vansambeek, says there has been only one adjustment on Triangle OTR tires in the three years they have been carrying the brand and that “was more of a customer satisfaction issue than anything else.” Same goes for Triangle TBR tires.
“They are just really, really good tires,” he says. “They run well. No rapid wear. Great performance all around.”
Case in point is the Triangle TB596 (E-2, G-2, L-2) OTR radial that features an aggressive lug design with intensive sipes for maximum handling in snow and ice conditions. Twin Valley Tire has sold many a set to municipalities and companies that deal with lots of wintry mess in the Upper Midwest.“We put a set on our own pay loader, and it is performing like the next size up loader with 40 more horsepower,” LaRoche says. “The traction is amazing and the ride on the road is very smooth. The ride is just as good as the comparable Bridgestone and Michelin offerings.”Twin Valley Tire’s biggest Triangle OTR seller is the TB516 (E-3, L-3) radial with its versatile tread pattern, and the TB598 (E-3, L-3) is very popular for haulage applications. The South Dakota dealer primarily sells OTR tires in the 29.5 size and down.
GOOD MARGINS
Noted that Triangle commercial tires are good for Twin Valley Tire customers. How about the dealership?
“We position Triangle tires as strong second tier, even lower first tier,” LaRoche says. “We’re able to do this because our salespeople have such confidence in Triangle quality. They can sell Triangle for a higher price than some of the competitors from Thailand because they know they will not have any come back issues with their customers.”
He says the fact that Triangle OTR tires are OE for numerous heavy equipment manufacturers (Triangle is the 3rd largest supplier to Caterpillar worldwide) also gives his people a good selling point.
On the TBR side, Twin Valley Tire does well with the Triangle TRD01 fuel efficient closed shoulder drive tire, TRD05 open shoulder drive tire, TRS02 regional all-position tire and TRS01 fuel efficient steer/all-position tire.
3 KEYS TO SUCCESS
Twin Valley Tire now has six stores (four in South Dakota and two in Minnesota) and a retread shop in North Dakota. In Milbank, more than 55 of the town’s 3,200 residents work for the dealership. Their market coverage is “as far as one of our service trucks can travel in one day.” Their fleet includes 18 service trucks and 6 route delivery trucks. Their business is broken down as 70 percent Ag/OTR, 25 percent TBR, and 5 percent consumer tires.
According to LaRoche, their keys to success can be summed up as – hard work and taking care of your employees and customers.
“Hard work can go a long way, even if you are not that smart,” LaRoche says. To gain this much success, it is fair to say that LaRoche and team are not lacking in the smarts department!
LaRoche says they pay their employees above average wages and treat them like family, which has resulted in many longtime loyal employees. Service truck driver Pat Roggenbuck is a case in point – he’s been with Twin Valley Tire for 23 years.
Finally, it’s taking care of their customers. “It doesn’t matter when we get a call, we get a service truck on the road right away,” he notes.
One final piece of customer service advice from LaRoche – “We have lots of farmer customers, and we’ve learned that if you keep their wives running and happy, they are happy.” Amazing how that works!
We appreciate having such an outstanding organization representing the Triangle brand in the Upper Midwest and wish Twin Valley Tire all the future success in the world!
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