Our History
A History of Outstanding Customer Service and Pride in Our Products
In 1977 Eric C. Jackson saw a great opportunity in his grasp and purchased his first dealer franchise in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since then our dealer group has expanded through Utah, Idaho, Colorado with eight full service locations, observing the utmost quality in the trucking industry.
Eric began his career with Ryder Trucks and was chosen the "Rookie of the Year" during his first year of work. He ended his career at Ryder 7 years later while running the Northern California Divisions which included 14 stores. He left Ryder to become General Manager of Jensen's Inc., a privately owned family conglomerate located in Fairview Oklahoma.
After two years at Jensen's, General Motors offered Eric an opportunity to purchase a small GMC store in Salt Lake City. The purchase was completed in July of 1977. This business has grown into the companies that exist today.
Eric was chosen 1996 Entrepreneur of the Year for Utah. He has served on many boards, started over 50 different companies, and sold over 60,000 trucks in his career over the Western United States. Eric has been married for 41 years to M. Kaye Jackson and has six grown children and 16 grandchildren.
Eric teaches at the BYU Center for Entrepreneurs on a regular basis. He is a runner, hiker, climber, water skier, and world traveler.
Jackson Group’s partnership with Peterbilt comes after a long and prosperous history starting in the early 20th century when in Tacoma, Washington lumber entrepreneur T.A. Peterman was faced with a lumber logistics problem. He needed a way to move large amounts of lumber quickly and efficiently, but because the old methods of floating logs down rivers, steam tractors, and even horse teams couldn’t keep up with the demand he was forced to improve upon the methods for transporting goods. Peterman knew that if he could develop the then nascent automobile technology and build trucks; he could go a long way towards solving his dilemma.
In 1939, he finally started selling his remarkable trucks to the public and found a powerful niche in the flourishing trucking market following the building of the interstate highway system. Since then Peterbilt has expanded as a company and finds its headquarters in Denton, Texas, and has become the standard for reliability and the greatest manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty class 5 through class 8 trucks on the road.
From a small single axle model to world class trucks, Peterbilt now boasts over 30 models throughout its long, successful history. Jackson Group is honored to be a part of this history, and happy to give the public unparalleled service in finding the truck that will be right for them for over 30 years.
