EDITOR’S NOTE
BY SARA SCULLIN
EDITOR
920-568-8394
Sara@VehicleServicePros.com
Published by Endeavor Business Media, LLC
PO Box 803
1233 Janesville Ave
Fort Atkinson, WI 53538
920-563-6388 • 800-547-7377
Printed in the U.S. Volume 26, Number 9; October 2018
VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHER -
TRANSPORTATION Larry M. Greenberger
LMG@VehicleServicePros.com
PUBLISHER Kylie Hirko
262-473-9497 Kylie@VehicleServicePros.com
EDITOR Sara Scullin
800-547-7377 x1394 Sara@VehicleServicePros.com
MANAGING EDITOR David Brierley
920-563-1622 X1566 David@VehicleServicePros.com
ASSISTANT EDITOR Vesna Brajkovic
800-547-7377 x1645 Vesna@VehicleServicePros.com
ASSISTANT EDITOR Stefanie Von Rueden
800-547-7377 x1602 Stefanie@VehicleServicePros.com
MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Cortni Jones
800-547-7377 x1391 CJones@EndeavorB2B.com
MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Diane Braden
800-547-7377 x1364 DBraden@EndeavorB2B.com
MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Mattie Gorman
800-547-7377 x1636 MGorman@EndeavorB2B.com
INSIDE SALES Kaylee Kidd
800-547-7377 x1362 KKidd@EndeavorB2B.com
PRODUCTION MANAGER Connie Wolf
800-547-7377 x1679 CWolf@EndeavorB2B.com
ART DIRECTOR Eric Van Egeren
LIST RENTAL REP Elizabeth Jackson
847-492-1350 x18 ejackson@meritdirect.com
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Debbie Dumke
ENDEAVOR BUSINESS MEDIA
CEO – Chris Ferrell
Chief Revenue Officer – Scott Bieda
EVP – Gloria Cosby, Aviation, Technology and Transportation
VP/Group Publisher – Transportation – Larry Greenberger
Director of Finance – Jessica Klug
Director of Digital Sales – Joel Franke
VP, Marketing – Gerry Whitty
VP, Technology – Eric Kammerzelt
VP, Production Operations – Curt Pordes
FOUNDER RUDY WOLF
Subscription Customer Service
877-382-9187; 847-559-7598
Circ.ProfDistmag@omeda.com
PO Box 3257 • Northbrook IL 60065-3257
Article reprints • Brett Petillo
Wright’s Media 877-652-5295, ext. 118
bpetillo@wrightsmedia.com
Professional Distributor (USPS 017-300), (ISSN 1553-6211 print; ISSN 2150-2080
online) is published ten times a year in Feb., March, April, May, June, July,
Aug., Sept., Oct. and Dec. by Endeavor Business Media, LLC. 1233 Janesville
Avenue, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538. Periodicals Postage paid at Fort Atkinson,
WI 53538 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to Professional Distributor, PO Box 3257, Northbrook, IL 60065-3257. Canada
Post PM40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Professional
Distributor, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.
Subscriptions: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the U.S.
to qualified subscribers. Publisher reserves the right to reject non-qualified
subscriptions. Subscription prices: U.S. $47 per year, $91 two year; Canada/
Mexico $69 per year, $128 two year; All other countries $101 per year, $191 two
year. All subscriptions payable in U.S. funds, drawn on U.S. bank. Canadian
GST#842773848. Back issue $10 prepaid, if available. Printed in the USA.
Copyright 2018 Endeavor Business Media, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recordings or any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission from the publisher.
Endeavor Business Media, LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims any
liability to any person or company for any loss or damage caused by errors or
omissions in the material herein, regardless of whether such errors result from
negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever. The views and opinions in
the articles herein are not to be taken as official expressions of the publishers,
unless so stated. The publishers do not warrant, either expressly or by
implication, the factual accuracy of the articles herein, nor do they so warrant
any views or opinions offered by the authors of said articles.
Thanks for the inspiration,
year after year
Your tool shop on wheels is what our readers
look forward to, and what we love to cover.
You’ll notice this issue of
Professional Distributor
has a different look to it.
We wanted to mark our 25th production
year in this – the October
issue – by checking in with a few
memorable mobile dealers from
years past. Though it’s always
fascinating to see how time and
technology continue to impact
the mobile tool trade, it was not
an easy task to select just a few
faces from the great many people
who have graced the pages
of PD through the years.
In preparation for the issue,
we paged through many old stories
and proud truck pictures.
Right away I couldn’t help but
notice something: Whether a
franchise seller or independent,
all the profiles we’ve done over
the years (and we’ve done a lot)
tend to have a few things in common.
You can bet all the mobile
dealers we’ve ever featured possess
a commitment to hard work,
a pioneering spirit and a fierce
loyalty to their customers.
It’s worth repeating: Hard
work. Spirit. Loyalty. These are
no small concepts for someone
in business (any business), then
or now. It’s these traits that continue
to spell success for many
mobile distributors waging war
against convenient – but faceless
– online retailers, for example.
When I talk with shop owners
and technicians along a wellworn
route and they tell me they
can’t get a better deal than they
can from their “tool guy,” or “he
Photo courtesy of Mac Tools
For more industry photos and notable
events, see the tool truck timeline on
page 40.
shows up regularly, and we know
everything about each other’s
lives,” it’s clear that relationships
are number one.
12 Professional Distributor I October 2018 I VehicleServicePros.com
Back in 1993 when the first
edition of PD mailed, there were
no smartphones or social media;
at that time, the World Wide Web
had barely been invented. It’s now
2018. Yes, Amazon Prime delivers
products just about anywhere
in two days with free shipping,
but guess what? In all corners of
the country a handshake, service,
warranties, financing and
relationships still win out over a
click. But it takes work, perseverance
and a winning mindset. And
of course, your own brand of personality,
which our four featured
mobile dealers have in spades.
We hope you’ll enjoy this
special issue of Professional
Distributor. Share with us your
plans to keep business driving
forward for the next 25 years.
We’ll be ready to come along for
the ride.
/VehicleServicePros.com
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
/www.endeavorbusinessmedia.com