Business & economy, In the community

Major expansion coming to Ontario’s Peterbilt service center

A $4.5 million construction project is underway to double the capacity of Ontario’s Peterbilt truck operation to service customers.

The new service center at 588 SE 1st Ave. should open in June, according to Will Biorn, vice president of operations for Jackson Group Peterbilt, based in Utah.

The two-story building, roughly triple the size of the current operation, including 10,000 square feet for parts warehousing. The center will also have a 2,500-square-foot showroom for parts.

Biorn said Jackson Group has been in Ontario about 10 years.

“We’ve had great growth and customer retention in Ontario,” Biorn said. “We’ve just outgrown it.”

He said the new center will have eight service bays compared to the existing eight. He said that will have reduce turnaround times for repairs.

“Our goal with these buildings is to increase our serviceability,” he said.

He said the existing service building would be used for parts storage and more parking will be paved.

He said the significant expansion in parts storage will cut shipping time for needed parts.

“Our goal is to be as close to a 100 percent fill rate off the shelf,” he said. “We spend a lot of time having the right parts in the right place.”

He said the Ontario outlet also would likely have used trucks for sale.

The family-owned company was founded in 1977 and has grown to 34 locations across eight states. The Jackson Group has been owned since 2005 by the founder’s son, Blake Jackson.

The company has a truck sales outlet in Caldwell, Idaho, and is currently building in Boise what will be the largest truck dealership in Idaho.

Peterbilt in 2023 named the Jackson Group the North American Dealer Group of the Year. The company also won the award in 2008, 2013 and 2020.

A construction crew works on a new service center for the Peterbilt truck service operation in Ontario on Jan. 10, 2025. (LES ZAITz/The Enterprise)

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