Bruckner's—A Family Legacy of Excellence Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment recently qualified for EV certification. The certification is the first to be awarded to a Mack dealership in Texas, so TADA visited with Brian Bruckner, president of Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment, about the family business and that accomplishment. Brian went to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and earned a B.A. in general business. The Bruckner family legacy started when B.M. “Bennie” Bruckner, Sr., lost a job at a local Amarillo power plant in 1932 during the height of the Great Depression. He had a wife and two young children. At that time, the Texas panhandle was dealing with dustbowl conditions, and the wind blew enough dust to hide the sun for days. Times were tough for everyone. But Bennie was a mechanical wizard who could fix almost anything. He had always worked on the side fixing cars for family members when they had a car problem. As a result, it was natural for Bennie to start Bruckner’s Garage on Sanborn Street in a shop behind his house. His wife kept the books, and a 16-year-old cousin living with them became the first employee. The company soon moved into sales and began to sell industrial engines. The franchises for the truck lines he sold didn’t last past the end of World War II, but he had a big break in 1948 when he was given a Mack truck franchise. It was very successful, and Bennie became known across the country as one of the best Mack truck dealers in the U.S. When Brian’s dad, Ben Bruckner Jr., was still in a bassinet, Bennie put the bassinet on his workbench. Ben grew up working in the business, was a shop foreman while he was in high school, and went to Texas Tech in Lubbock. Like many of the men of his generation, Ben served four years in the army, was honorably discharged, and returned to work in the family business in the early 1950s. He served at Fort Huachuca in Arizona as a signal corps member and brought back the knowledge he learned about supplies and inventories to modernize the business. Ben never retired; he died in 2011 when he was 82. Bruckner’s Truck & Equipment became a third-generation family business when Bennie started giving Brian summer jobs to do when he was 12. By the time he graduated from college in 1990, he had worked everywhere except the lot and sales. Brian worked in sales and leasing for 10 years, then was promoted to general manager of the Amarillo, Texas, dealership. He has been full-time for 32 years and began his current role as president in 2007. His younger Brian Bruckner 18
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