Above, the trucks at Harrison Truck Center are detailed and polished before they go off the lot. Below, Nathan Brandt, the branch manager for Harrison Truck Center in Marshall, stands by his trucks.

MARSHALL — When driving on Highway 59 North, keep your eye out for the start and progress of construction at Harrison Truck Centers truck sales and repair.

The company, which sells and services new and used heavy trucks, will more than double its shop space.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth,” said Nathan Brandt, who is the branch manager and service manager. “Our parts business has taken off. Our sales are great. Service has picked up a lot. We’ve outgrown our current building.”

Construction will begin soon.

“We’re adding 12,000 square feet to the south side of the building,” he said. “And then the original building will be completely renovated. So that’s about 9,000 square feet. It will be offices, parts showrooms, a conference room, we’ll have new restrooms for customers. For the employees we’ll have separate locker rooms for men and women. There will be a new tool room, mechanical room. It’s a huge commitment from our owners.”

The owners — President and CEO Brian Harrison, Chief Operating Officer Chad Harrison and Chief Financial Officer Dustin Petersen — have four locations in Iowa: Clear Lake, Des Moines, Mount Pleasant and Waterloo, and four in Minnesota: Fairmont, Faribault, and in 2014 and 2015, Mankato and Marshall.

The new and improved Marshall plant will “match other stores,” said Brandt. “There’s been a lot of expansion going on at the other stores too. There will be an entirely new building at the Mankato location.”

The current Marshall building was built in 2005. It was formerly Western Freightliner. An addition was built “about 2013,” Brandt said, “but we’re maxed out here.”

Harrison Truck Centers is a dealership for new and used Freightliner, Western Star and AutoCar trucks. Brandt said Freightliner is the No. 1 heavy truck manufacturer in the United States.

Brandt said the trucking industry is changing.

“The trucks are getting smarter — it can recognize if you cross the line; we’re starting to see hybrid vehicles,” he said.

Brandt said a double-wide trailer will be available in the parking lot for employees to work out of during the construction period.

The Marshall plant has 30 employees currently, adding six in the last year.

“We have eight technicians now and we’ll add 14 shop bays (in the addition) and six more shop bays in the current building,” Brandt said.

HTC is an “elite” dealership, which means certain standards must be upheld.

“We’ve been inspected every year and the last three years we’ve been certified as an elite dealer,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”

The technicians are graduates of tech school and then have continuous education through HTC.

“We have our own Freightliner corporate trainer,” he said. “He works out of Waterloo (Iowa) and we have a training center down there.”

Employees who have graduated from tech school get the additional training at HTC ” and then they’d be a factory-certified technician and that’s our goal,” he said. “It’s a commitment on our part.”

Over the next year, after the renovation and addition is completed, the Marshall location will add employees.

“A half-dozen more floor technicians, more parts people,” he said.

Brandt said the plant is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“We are hoping to get it to midnight,” he said. “We plan to develop a second shift.”

The new, expanded building will be beneficial to the employees, he said.

“It will be streamlined, more efficient and easier on our employees to do their work,” he said.