Four Star Freightliner receives 5 Elite Support awards
Several members of the Four Star Freightliner team were recognized during the 2022 Elite Support Summit held in Savannah, Ga. on December 12-15.
The 4-day summit is a networking event that brings together more than 500 continuous improvement coordinators (CIC), dealer principals, and executive leaders from the Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) network to share best practices and recognize continuous improvement efforts.
Four Star Freightliner’s CICs took home a total of five awards. They all were recognized as influencers in Continuous Improvement and the Elite Support Network. Kelly Hammon (Dothan, Ala.) and Tim Kirkland (Valley, Ala.) received the WOW Award which recognizes 5S Excellence, a methodology that CICs use to identify opportunities for improvement, create organization and efficiency, and develop a process to sustain the new improvement.
Sonny Hartley (Valley, Ala.) and Zack Howard (Midway, Fla.) received the Elephant Award which recognizes Excellence in Continuous Improvement Leadership. Mike Ellifritz (Montgomery, Ala.), Dealer Family CIC, accepted an award on behalf of all seven Four Star Freightliner locations for Leadership in Change Management.
This year, in addition to being focused on Elite Support, Customer Advocates from around the country joined the event to share the customer’s perspective on how the dealership can improve.
DTNA hosted a customer panel which was an opportunity for the attendees to ask questions directly to some of the larger fleets like Prime and SAIA. However, Four Star’s own Jay Morrison was able to secure a spot on the panel for one of our local customers. Brett Phillips, the owner of Sexton Farms, stole the show when he asked, “What are the other OEMs (truck manufacturers) doing that Freightliner should be doing?” Brett’s response: “I can’t really speak to that, because I’m 100% Freightliner and wouldn’t have it any other way!” The crowd erupted with applause, and Brett went on to add, “My local dealer, Four Star Freightliner, has been a key reason for the successful growth of my company.”
As a certified Elite Support dealer, Four Star is committed to delivering unmatched customer service and efficiency every time a truck comes in for maintenance or repair.
Every dealership earning the Elite Support certification must meet more than 100 specific criteria across several customer service areas. To maintain these high standards, Four Star Freightliner has a Continuous Improvement Coordinator at each location that works with the staff to ensure that those standards are met.
