Rush Enterprises Acquires Orange County Truck and Trailers Inc.

    SAN ANTONIO--Feb. 5, 2003--Rush Enterprises Inc. , which operates the largest network of Peterbilt heavy-duty truck dealerships in North America, a John Deere construction equipment dealership in Texas, and two farm and ranch superstores ("D&D") in Texas, today announced that it has acquired the common stock of Orange County Truck and Trailers Inc. ("Orange County"), a Peterbilt dealer in central Florida.
    The acquisition provides Rush with the exclusive rights to sell Peterbilt trucks and parts from three new locations in central Florida, including Orlando, Haines City and Tampa. Rush now operates 38 truck locations in 8 states.
    The transaction was valued at approximately $5.4 million, with the purchase price paid in cash. Rush intends to operate the acquired company as a full-service Peterbilt franchise, and will begin to integrate their operations into the Rush Truck Center system immediately. Rush had revenues of $784.3 million during 2001 while Orange County had unaudited revenues and pretax income of approximately $59.1 million and $372,000, respectively, for the same period.
    In making this announcement, W. Marvin Rush, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rush Enterprises Inc., stated, "Given the successful southwestern United States expansion of our truck center network, the acquisition of Orange County is exciting because it gives Rush its first foothold into the eastern sunbelt states. We are excited about working with the good people at Orange County and look forward to offering our consistently high-quality products and services in central Florida."

    Certain statements contained herein, are "forward-looking" statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Because such statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, competitive factors, general economic conditions, political factors, cyclicality, economic conditions in the new and used truck and construction equipment markets, customer relations, relationships with vendors, the interest rate environment, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, distribution networks, product introductions and acceptance, technological change, changes in industry practices, one-time events and other factors contained in filings made by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.