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founding of the business and was described as being the heartbeat of the company. e Knox family attributes the support of the staff in filling the giant void that Greg le. Sharon Gallagher's son, Tim, had also been working at KWS for some time prior to Greg's untimely death and became instrumental in filling that gap aer his passing. Tim Gallagher now works as the Shop Foreman at Bruckner Truck Sales in Tye / Abilene. e family was beyond thankful for the staff and the burden they shouldered during this difficult time – a time of many tears. Merle and Carolyn were le alone at the helm. It was decided that their oldest son, Matt, who was living in Minnesota working as a truck driver at the time, would move to Texas to help them run the family business. "It was a good professional opportunity. I looked forward to the new challenge, and I suppose in the end, it all kind of worked out. e timing was such that I was able to get my kids graduated from high school, and a year later, I made my way down south to pitch in and try to pick up where Greg had le off. I never felt like I could fill his shoes though. He was such a workhorse. Even though I am the older brother, I have the utmost admiration and respect for him," said Matt. e new trio, Merle, Carolyn and Matt, dusted themselves off, picked up the pieces and found the ability to capitalize growing on their proven foundation. Since that time, KWS has expanded into many different areas and they now serve 18 city contracts, 1 Air Force Base, 4 State Parks, 10,000 residential customers, and maintain 300 Roll-off containers. eir fleet currently consists of 25 trash trucks and 7 roll-off trucks. KWS's area of coverage is now North - Paducah, TX; West - Toyah, TX; South - Concan, TX; East - Hico, TX; and most of the rural residents in between. e majority of their customer base is the rural customers and communities outside of Abilene. e Knox family was able to build their business and flourish thanks to hard work, service-oriented business ethics, and the Knox Waste Service staff who carried on the reins aer Greg's passing. But the Knox family is also quick to brag on Mack Trucks, and the personnel, service and support at Bruckner Truck Sales as being essential in keeping their trucks moving. According to Merle Knox, "We run Mack trucks because of our relationship with Bruckner's. Having trucks on the road is crucial in our business as it is for anyone else, and Bruckner's makes sure that we are kept on the road." Matt Knox also appreciates Bruckner's capacity and ability to service Mack Trucks. "When we put a Mack on the road, we can rest assured that Bruckner's is going to take care of us," said Matt. "It starts from the time we order our trucks and continues throughout the sales and rigging process. Wesley Barton makes sure that we are up to speed on everything that goes on. Even aer the sale, BTS has a readily available parts inventory for our Mack Trucks as well as our other brands of trucks. e communication from the service department is excellent. Bruckner Truck Sales of Tye / Abilene is the real reason we buy Mack 7 B R U C K N E R M A G A Z I N E • N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 Feature Story KNOX WASTE SERVICE