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Cornwell Quality Tools dealer Bradley Teitler doesn’t like to keep his trucks very long. In the eight years he has been selling tools in the Joplin and Neosho, Missouri area, he is now on his fourth new truck.
“I don’t keep trucks very long once the warranty runs out,” he says. “I sell them off because I get tired of them and want to build something different.”
The mobile tool dealer doesn’t just like to buy new, but he also likes to have his trucks built to his specifications. His current truck, a 2021 Kenworth T370, along with his last two trucks have been custom designed from Herr Display Vans.
Teitler is all about storage and shelving options. As he puts it, more shelves allow for more tools, therefore more customers.
One storage feature that stands out the most on his latest truck is what he calls his “socket and pry bar closets”. These closets are vertical, slide out storage spaces. The socket one offers rows of shelving to easily display each socket, whereas the other one is a wall with magnetic strips to hold the various lengths and styles of pry bars.
Other custom features on his truck include a tailgate light bar, drop sun visor, tinted windows, marker lights, and a blue and chrome steering wheel.
There can never be too many lights. Before selling tools, Teitler was an over-the-road truck driver for 25 years. As he notes, back in the day people would call truck drivers who had a lot of lights on their truck “chicken truckers”.
“We were running like chickens with our heads cut off in the middle of the night because we wanted to be seen,” he says, adding, “Old truckers never die, we just buy smaller [trucks].”
When it comes to organization, Teitler always keeps his truck clean and sorts his tools by type. He has a section for oil changing tools, diesel service tools, general tools, specialty tools, and so forth. Everything is displayed nicely, including the tools on the ceiling which consist mostly of pliers and ratchets.
His desk is behind the driver’s seat. It’s an L-shaped desk with two computer screens, allowing the mobile dealer to search the internet on one, when needed, and have his main selling program on the other for efficiency.
Since Teitler’s territory is rather large – driving over 25,000 miles each year - he decided to bring on another driver eight months ago to help manage his route. By doing so, this has enabled him to spend more time with his customers.
Teitler once worked as a technician for a few years, before truck driving, and still enjoys working on cars, just now as a hobby. Currently, he’s working on building a 1994 four-door Chevy Dually.
This helps him relate to his customers when they're looking for new tooling options. When it comes to selling, he would describe himself as being more laid back and not the pushy salesman type.
“Most of the time, I just tell customers to look around and if they have questions, I’m there to answer them, but I’m not the one to say, ‘You need this or you need that’,” he says.
He does admit he can be a smartass at times, but “it’s all in good fun” he says laughing.
