Penske Truck Leasing in Spartanburg Reopens After 2017 Tornado

As Mikel Daugherty sat in front of a computer in his office in Penske’s Spartanburg location, a familiar tone from his smartphone caught his attention: A storm was on the way.

“I could see the wind blowing the trees really hard. All of a sudden, the building started shaking,” said Daugherty, branch service manager.

Seconds later, the fury of a category F-2 tornado burst into the Penske facility, causing severe damage. Outside, trees snapped like twigs, and commercial trucks were tossed like toys. Yet remarkably, no lives were lost.

Penske Spartanburg's fueling stations destroyed in a storm.

Now, some 20 months after the tornado struck, associates and customers gathered for a grand reopening of the newly transformed facility to celebrate its recovery and renewal. “It was really spectacular to see everyone pull together as a family,” said Dave Reifsnyder, district manager. “That’s what Penske is all about, pulling together as a family and knowing how important the associates are to the organization and the organization is to the associates.”

The full-service truck leasing, consumer, and commercial truck rental and contract truck fleet maintenance facility is located at 747 Simuel Rd in Spartanburg. A devastating tornado hit the facility October 23, 2017. No associates or customers were seriously injured, but the facility sustained substantial damage.

The company commemorated the official reopening with an associate and customer celebration event in late June. While the facility underwent extensive renovations to its rental building and a complete rebuild of the maintenance shop, Penske found a temporary home at 4241 Orchard Park Blvd. in Spartanburg.

“After surveying the damage, we knew immediately that we needed time to rebuild and in order to continue servicing our customers at the level they’re used to, we established a temporary maintenance shop,” explained Joe Hill, senior vice president for Penske’s Southeast Region. “None of our technicians lost even one hour of work due to this storm and we were able to continue assisting our customers without disruption to their schedules and businesses.”

The rental portion of the facility has been completely restored and the brand new maintenance shop is now connected via a breezeway. The shop has three truck service bays with lift technology. The new wash bay is now automatic and the facility boasts a new tire carousel and state-of-the art high-speed fuel island.

Read more about the moments during and the aftermath of the storm at blog.gopenske.com.

Visit pensketruckrental.com/locations/south_carolina/spartanburg/483510/ or call 864-576-0225 for additional information.