Show me your truck: Don Cowden, Independent
Distributor Name: Don Cowden
Affiliation: Independent
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Independent distributor Don Cowden likes to provide his customers with the same shopping experience he expects when he’s making a purchase.
“I spend money when I go to buy things if I’m left alone. So, I want to attract that same kind of person,” says Cowden, of his customers. But he’s quick to add: “If someone needs help when they’re on my truck, I’m definitely right there to help them.”
Based in Sacramento, Calif., Cowden has been a mobile tool distributor for seven years. He went independent in May 2014.
“It’s tough; but it is different,” says Cowden. “There is nobody to blame your success or failure on other than yourself. I like that.”
To know what to stock, Cowden stays in constant communication with his customers. As an example, he didn't put much thought into stocking gloves when he first started out, but has since found great success in offering those consumables. "I do not have a display of gloves but I stock up to 100 boxes at any given time."
“I always have what my customers ask for. You can have a million things on your truck, but if you have things customers don’t want, then you don’t sell anything,” he says. “I follow the advice of my customers.”
About the Author
Erica Schueller
Editorial Director | Commercial Vehicle Group
Erica Schueller is the Editorial Director of the Endeavor Commercial Vehicle Group. The commercial vehicle group includes the following brands: American Trucker, Bulk Transporter, Fleet Maintenance, FleetOwner, Refrigerated Transporter, and Trailer/Body Builders brands.
An award-winning journalist, Schueller has reported and written about the vehicle maintenance and repair industry her entire career. She has received accolades for her reporting and editing in the commercial and automotive vehicle fields by the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA), the International Automotive Media Competition (IAMC), the Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards and the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) Azbee Awards.
Schueller has received recognition among her publishing industry peers as a recipient of the 2014 Folio Top Women in Media Rising Stars award, acknowledging her accomplishments of digital content management and assistance with improving the print and digital products in the Vehicle Repair Group. She was also named one Women in Trucking’s 2018 Top Women in Transportation to Watch.
She is an active member of a number of industry groups, including the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), the Auto Care Association's Young Auto Care Networking Group, GenNext, and Women in Trucking.
In December 2018, Schueller graduated at the top of her class from the Waukesha County Technical College's 10-week professional truck driving program, earning her Class A commercial driver's license (CDL).
She has worked in the vehicle repair and maintenance industry since 2008.