When people need repair work done on a truck or a tractor-trailer, or if they are looking for a new truck to buy, many people over the years have gone to Aber’s Truck Center on Claremont Avenue.
Aber’s was established in 1950 by Miles and Alene Aber. Mr. Aber was working at a local alignment shop when he decided he wanted to start his own business, said Mrs. Aber. On August 5th, 1950, he opened his own shop, Aber’s Wheel and Frame Alignment, behind what is now the Surrey Inn.
Over the years, the main change for the company was its growth, said Mrs. Aber. “The big change was increase in volume,” Mrs. Aber said. “When we started we didn’t have any of the dealerships until 1961.”
The shop started out small with Miles and Alene as the only employees. In 1951, the business began to grow when the Abers purchased a one-ton truck and built a small crane operation on the back. The company had its first wrecker and started to receive service calls for AAA on a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week basis.
In 1954, the company moved to a new location to what now houses the wrecker and crane division. The business continued to grow and in 1961 the company changed its name to Aber’s Garage and became a GMC dealer in light- and medium-duty trucks.
In three years, they built on to what is now the wrecker and crane building.
In 1979, the present truck center was built and it became a service and repair shop for all makes of trucks. Mr. and Mrs. Aber’s sons, Larry and Dan, were the first mechanics along with Mr. Aber. Mrs. Aber said all of her children became involved with the business. “As Larry and Danny got older they started working in the shop,” Mrs. Aber said. “They’re all mechanically inclined.” The International Truck franchise, medium-duty trucks, was purchased from John Kestner in 1984.
The company changed its name again in 1988 to Aber’s Truck Center after it started selling tractor-trailers through the Volvo franchise.
The wrecker and crane division grew from a self-made wrecker to a service of five small wreckers, four semi-wreckers and six cranes. Also, in 1998, another division was added to house the equipment. The wrecker division still is a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week and accepts AAA, Montgomery Ward, Sears, All State, ERS, Good Sam and GE Financial Signature for services.
Aber’s definitely has grown over the years, increasing from two employees to 69, but it still is family owned and operated. Mrs. Aber is retired but she still is active with the business, but her sons operate most of the business. Allen and Jerry operate the wrecker and crane service, Danny manages the dealership, and Larry was active in business until his death in 1996.
Aber’s has become a third generation business as Mrs. Aber’s grandchildren became involved. “They all grew up with it, “ said Tami Yuncker, Mrs. Aber’s granddaughter and the human resource manager for Aber’s. Yuncker said the business is trying to keep up with today’s technology by developing a Web page.
Aber’s has been a successful business over the years and it has shown this by being a finalist for 2000 Ashland Small Business of the Year Award and is nominated for the 2001 award.
Mrs. Aber said honesty and integrity made Aber’s a success. “We’re well known in the community,” Mrs. Aber said. “We never expected it to be this big.”
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