The Tool Truck Killer!

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

 

[skfarmer]

Not saying its right or wrong, better or worse but there will be no mistaking the impact. They are gunning for a slice of the pie and they will get it. People are changing the way things are purchased and the truck will need to adapt or go the way of sears and the dodo bird.

The truck used the advantage of pay by the week and do delivery and exhange once a week. Every day more on more business is done on the smart phone and delivered to your door in 48 hrs. Not the shop, dealership or arranged location but wherever you happen to be. May not be today or next year but changes are a coming.

[jabberwoki]

Should call it the quality killer . False economy at it`s most perfect incarnation.

[slip knot]

Just a sign of the times. I agree with Harlan, if the tool trucks don't adapt they will be gone soon. Todays workforce is mobile. they bonce jobs on a dollars pay difference. you think a $1000 toolbox aint gonna get cut for a $500 one.

[bmwrd0]

Harlan is right here. The days of the truck being the only serious game in town are long gone. Many of the kids coming up don't care about where a tool is made anymore, they seem to love Carlyle and that can be had from any NAPA on the PM parts truck.

[Jamesyarbrough]

Those trucks are littered with imports at premium prices. Im for it. I hope they all go out of business.  Buy a tool and mark it up 200%! Thats crazy.

Those icon boxes are too high $$$ if you ask me but id run The us general, as a matter of fact ALOT of techs here use us general boxes and carts.  They hold up just fine for THOUSANDS less.

As far as the icon hand tools...i think they are over priced as well. You can get an sk 3/8 set standard and metric short ajd deep for less than you can buy the icon sockets for and have a case, ratchet, and extension.



Maybe its the beer kicking in but if it aint sk id just assume buy pittsburg. 

[highland512]

Just a sign of the times. I agree with Harlan, if the tool trucks don't adapt they will be gone soon. Todays workforce is mobile. they bonce jobs on a dollars pay difference. you think a $1000 toolbox aint gonna get cut for a $500 one.

Hell its even less than that, I have seen entire carpenter crews leave a company and go down the street to another for +$0.25 an hour. Its sad really, you hate to invest in anybody because you know they will be leaving at a moments notice.

[skfarmer]

Should call it the quality killer . False economy at it`s most perfect incarnation.

not picking a fight cuz i don't want one. i value your opinion as much as anyone's  but i don't get what you are trying to say.

it's not been until i have gotten older that i have realized how important it is to save for the future. i figured it out about 10 years too late and about 10 years sooner than many people my age.

guy number one spends 100 bucks a week on the truck and saves little or nothing. at the end of his career he sells  his  tools at 75 cents on the dollar and has very little saved.

guy number 2  spends 50 bucks a week getting the best bang for his buck no matter what the brand and invests 50 bucks a week. at the end of his career he sells his tools for 50, 25 or even 10 cents on the dollar  along with what he has saved.

which one of those guys has a false economy?

now i love good quality american made steel as much as the next guy and will buy it as often as i can. i also despise shitty cheap junk made in china and avoid it as much as possible. saying both of those things, someplace in the middle there is the good stuff that is good to excellent quality at a fair price that is made in all corners of the world and sadly some of it from china.

again, i am not saying any of what is happening is right or wrong because that is debatable. what i am saying is i watch my wife and kids order things on their phone and most often in a day or 2 it is on the doorstep.  i think not that long ago the trucks were chuckling as sears, one of their main competitors slowly slid away.  the tool trucks are going to have to figure out how to deal with hf because hf is not going away. it is one of the few retailers that is growing and growing fast. not because of the crap the are offering because much of it is still there but along side of it are products that are getting better every day. and not just a little better, a lot better.

refusing to see what is happening in plain sight won't end well for the trucks.

[goodfellow]

Totally agree with you Harlan. I've seen it happen, not only over the course of the last two/three decades, but more so recently with younger mechanics and technicians opting for value branded tools and equipment. Back in the day we didn't have the options -- either high-end tool truck, value brand Sears/Wards/SK etc., or lower end weekend warrior tools from the local hardware or often auto parts store.

Today's young techs are opting for a lot of things HF and even Craftsman to work in the industry. I'm constantly surprised by the number of HF boxes, power tools, air tools, diagnostic and hand tools that I see used in the local independent repair industry. Many of the young folks I talk to are value conscious and realize that they have to save in order to make it to retirement. There are exceptions, but the trend is moving away from the tool trucks and their business models.

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

I prefer the USA made stuff from times gone by, Craftsman, SK, Mac, Fleet, Challenger, etc, and of course, Snap On.  Having said that, HF does offer some pretty good quality stuff...much better than in 1994 when I first bought some of their stuff through the mail.  When you look at the prices of new stuff from Snap On, you certainly can't blame people for going elsewhere.

[stokester]

Those trucks are littered with imports at premium prices. Im for it. I hope they all go out of business.  Buy a tool and mark it up 200%! Thats crazy.

I for one don't wish the local Snap-On or MacTools franchisee to be out of business.  I've done business with them for a number of years and regard them as honest guys making a living.  Quality tools at a premium price but my only regret is that sometimes I did not use the tool as much as I thought I would.

Bottom Line - today we have a choice on where to spend our money on tools

[jabberwoki]

I hear ya I`m just so sick of cheezey china crap. But I do think new USA stuff is too expensive as well.
I just don`t like sending money to china who is not our friend and getting crap in return. There is so much fantastic quality used old tools around for pennies on the dollar. I know this may not be practical for a new tec starting out but harbor fright just bugs me.

[skfarmer]

I have nothing against the guys just making a living on a route.. i am also not a big fan of hf but if i want a good selection of tools in store and often with more than one level of quality. Guess what? I have little other choice.

Yup there is lots of good old tools to be had in sae. How about metric or specialty? I bought a 72 inch us general for 1/÷ of the cost of any used truck box i could find in a similar condition. Was i happy? Did i feel good? Does it matter? In the end i ended up with the storage i needed and after using it nearly a year. I am pretty damn happy with it.

As far as used boxes go. Many of you guys have more used boxes within 10 or 15 miles than i have within 100 or 200 miles. Makes finding a used box next to impossible.

[bonneyman]

Agree with alot of what's been said.

Today's tool buyer ain't anything like us wrench rats of old. Quality is second to price. Brand loyalty is on the decline. Job mobility is rampant. Seems like every time I visit the local mechanics shop there are new faces (though that has slowed a bit of late).
I'm just so glad I was able to complete the sets I have when I did. If I tried doing it again from scratch today I probably wouldn't have half what I've got.

Now that you mention it: if I were starting out again today, I'd find a good welder and have him make me a tool box. Designed with the number of drawers I want in the layout that suits me. It wouldn't be cheap, but it'd last me a lifetime. 

[fatfillup]

Darn, I thought I was the tool truck killer 

Fully agree the truck business model must evolve

[Davethorik]

Tool trucks aren't dying, folks. Yeah, all the truck brands have various imported products, to varying degrees.

Snap-On has bought a lot of smaller companies, and has a strong international presence.

Cornwell expanded into a larger, new warehouse within past couple years and bought Kennedy tool boxes, too. They must be doing something right.

[bmwrd0]

We are all bargain shoppers, and we spend a lot of time searching the internet for the right product at the right price. But, just about everyone on this board is not a newbie just starting out. Who needs a lot of tools quickly, isn't completely sure it is the right career, and so on. When I was in a shop, I avoided the trucks like the plague. Not because the tools weren't good, nor that they didn't have what I wanted. But because I was flat ass broke. So, I spent my nights in trade school, and my weekends scrounging tools. But, I grew up doing that with my dad, and I enjoyed it. Not everyone does, and many have other things they need to do, like spending time with their kids, or their wives, whatever. It is a trade-off.

The mechanics at that shop had a mix. One guy had a Snappy box, the rebuild guy a Cornwell. The service manager had a nice old Snap-on stack and the tech manager had a MATCO setup. The rest had either Craftsman or Harbor freight. Everyone was happy with their choice as far as I could tell.