august2021 - 44

Designed for efficiency
This Cornwell Quality Tools dealer designed
his truck to fit all his needs inside and out.
By Emily Markham, Associate Editor
W
hile designing his new 2020 Peterbilt 337 24'
truck, Cornwell Quality Tools dealer, Andy
Powell, says the best word to describe his build
for the truck is " efficient. "
Powell says his last truck was a money pit.
" The amount of money I sank into it was more money
than just biting the bullet the first go around and buying a
new truck, " he says. " I was sick of the downtime, the repair
bill, and it never wanting to start in the winter when it got cold
out. The new truck: best investment I made. "
For the Cornwell dealer's new truck, he worked with Trans
Lease and Herr Display Vans. Tim Herr, owner of Herr Display
Vans, gave Powell a few floor plans from other mobile dealers
with 24' trucks. In the end, Powell wound up modeling
his truck after another Cornwell Quality Tools dealer, Sean
Fenton - the nation's number one Cornwell dealer for 2020.
" [Fenton's] floor plan was the best, and it utilized every
part of the truck, " Powell says.
Aside from creating the most efficient floor plan possible,
as soon as Powell was put on the build list with Herr, he started
stocking up on products for the new truck.
" I wanted to set myself apart from my competition. When
items went on sale... I bought four sets of each. Not for the
intention of resale but to have to warranty or in case someone
lost one. I didn't want to have to rob from sets anymore,
so I bought parts boxes and put all of the individual pieces
from those sets into their designated box, labeled them part
number-wise, and adjusted my inventory accordingly. "
Powell explains this has benefitted him tremendously,
especially with the pandemic making it more difficult to get
select items in stock.
To aid in his truck's efficiency, Powell had everything
customized to fit his needs - from the extra workstation, two
mini-fridges, the pull-out drawers, and the vertical display pullouts
to the larger hammer rack, knife display, cordless tool
rack, scan tool rack, and torque wrench rack. Additionally, he
got a custom-built roll-around shelving unit to go in place of
a toolbox opening for extra inventory storage.
For his workspace, Powell has an L-shaped desk with
multiple drawers to hold things like paperwork, money, and
warranty items. He also has his personal refrigerator and
microwave in this space. Across from his desk, the Cornwell
dealer has another workstation for more storage space. This
area is also used for doing repairs on tools.
" This works for me because I have all of those warranty
items right there beside me so I'm not constantly walking by
customers disturbing them while they're doing their shopping, "
he says. " Also, I can quickly get the item that they need
replaced and enter it in the system. "
Powell also decked out the outside of his truck with a
" phenomenal " wrap done by Herr, non-functioning exhaust
stacks, and billboard lights.
" A Peterbilt demands stacks and all the chrome they can
get, " he says. " [But] the thing I like best about this truck is when
I'm out late in the evening, going down the highway, and my
truck is lit up - billboard lights are a must. "
The Cornwell dealer also makes sure to wash his truck
monthly because your truck is the first thing your customers
see, he notes.
" That's your image, " Powell says. " It's me and my customers'
truck. They made this possible. "
With the length of Powell's route, he says he'll likely only be
keeping this truck for around two-and-a-half years. He travels
through Cass, Howard, Miami, Tipton, and Madison counties
in North Central Indiana to visit a variety of businesses including
agriculture shops; trucking companies; auto repair shops
(dealerships/independents); body shops; city, country, and
state highway facilities; wrecker companies; and industrial
maintenance facilities.
For now though, with five years of experience as a Cornwell
dealer under his belt, Powell is content to focus on his
goal of finishing 2021 as Cornwell's number one Hardline
Ironman dealer.
" To me, being the number one Hardline Ironman
dealer is being the best Cornwell dealer in the nation, "
Powell says.
To view more photos of Powell's truck, visit:
VehicleServicePros.com/21224999
Andy Powell
North Central Indiana
44 Professional Distributor I August 2021 I VehicleServicePros.com
http://www.VehicleServicePros.com/21224999 http://www.VehicleServicePros.com
august2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of august2021
