Kerlin Bus Sales and Leasing Earns Dealer of the Year Designation

High Point, N.C. – Thomas Built Buses recognized Kerlin Bus Sales and Leasing of Silver Lake, Ind., with its 2008 national Dealer of the Year Award. Since 1963, when Kerlin sold its first Thomas Built Bus, the company has been focused on delivering superior customer service.

The Dealer of the Year awards, which include four regional winners and one national winner, are presented each year to Thomas Built bus dealers who show outstanding performance in customer satisfaction, customer service and support, financial strength, and overall relationship with Thomas Built Buses. Thomas Built’s president and CEO John O’Leary presented the awards at the annual Thomas dealer meeting in Winston-Salem, N.C. in October.

“Thomas Built Buses is fortunate to have a loyal dealer organization with more than 800 years of combined bus industry experience,” said John O’Leary, president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses. “Since joining the Thomas dealer family more than 45 years ago, Kerlin Bus Sales and Leasing has been a consistently high performer and a model for excellent customer service.”

Kerlin’s long-standing focus on customer service remains at the forefront of the organizations success. Kerlin offers an extensive network of affiliated service centers throughout the state of Indiana, resulting in outstanding service coverage. This service strategy, along with an in-house automated sales management tool for customer follow-up, results in consistently high industry service rankings and most importantly, long-term relationships with their customers.

The 2008 national Dealer of the Year was chosen from among the top-performing dealers in Thomas Built’s four regions. Regional dealers of the year were:

• Quality Bus Sales of Maybrook, N.Y. (Northeast region)

• Carolina Thomas of Greensboro, N.C. (Southeast region)

• Kerlin Bus Sales and Leasing of Silver Lake, Ind. (Central region)

• Warner Industries of Regina, Saskatchewan (Western region)

Gold, silver and bronze awards for dealership excellence also were presented to selected dealers to honor and recognize outstanding performance in service, parts support and bus sales.

Thomas Built Buses (www.thomasbus.com) is the leading manufacturer of school buses in North America, with more than one-third of the market. Since the first Thomas Built bus rolled off the assembly line in 1936, the company has focused on delivering the smartest and most innovative buses in North America.

Thomas Built Buses, Inc. is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America LLC, the largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer on the continent and a leading manufacturer of class 3-8 vehicles. Daimler Trucks North America produces and markets commercial vehicles under the Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star and Thomas Built Buses nameplates. Daimler Trucks North America is a Daimler company.