Show Me Your Truck: Matt Rowaan, independent

The roomier interior is great for stocking and inventory, of course, but it provides just as much benefit for Rowaan and his customers. Breathing room in a tool truck is always appreciated.  

“One big upgrade is the cubicle on the side,” Rowaan says. “Our old trucks had the layout with the cabinet and laptop in the middle, so you were always standing in the aisle. This one has the more modern LDV look, with a little cubicle behind the driver’s seat, tucked into the corner. It keeps you out of the way. If you’re at a shop with four guys on the truck, you’re not bumping into each other trying to find the newest tool.”  

Building a new beginning  

The new truck is not perfect by any means — for example, Rowaan wishes the till was by the printer instead of the repair station — but the upgrade has certainly paid off. It also gave the team an opportunity to reevaluate and restructure the route, removing or reducing the non-profitable stops and adjusting to better serve the rest.   

“We talked about dropping a few stops before, but now I’ve got to pay for the new truck, so it’s a good time for new beginnings,” Rowaan explains. “Some customers I’ve moved to once-a-month visits. Others just call when they need something or when the new catalog comes out every three months.”

It also allowed them to revaluate their inventory as well. On his last truck, Rowaan had custom shelving to hold some of the chemical products he carried, but there were better uses for that space in the new truck.  

“We don’t sell a wide variety of that line [of products], so I just stock a couple cases of penetrating fluid, glass cleaner, and a few other sprays. If a shop needs more, they call me and I drop it off the next day or have my boss run it out, then I bill it later.”   

Aside from consolidating the chemical products, Rowaan also revamped his power tool inventory and display to align more with what his customers needed.   

“We also downsized our air tool display,” Rowaan says. “We used to have a custom rack, but now we just use the smaller one that came with the truck. We don’t sell much air anymore with the shift to cordless. We’re heavy on Milwaukee, but everyone kind of is.”   

The decline in pneumatic sales might intimidate some distributors, but as an independent, Rowaan isn’t worried about the competition. He gives the example of a customer who just bought a hydraulic flaring toolkit from him. The customer was initially upset at what they thought was a high price, only to find it on a limited-time sale in a competitor’s catalog for around $150 more.

“It’s awesome when you can beat the big-name guy on price,” Rowaan says. “Being independent has its perks.”  

The next generation of customers

Even if he originally didn’t expect to be in this line of work for over a decade, Rowaan has found incredible success as a distributor. In fact, he’s built up a bit of a legacy already.  

“It’s great when second-generation customers come in and say, ‘My dad told me to buy everything from you.’ That’s a pretty cool experience,” Rowaan says. “Some of those folks even buy tools from me for their kids — graduation gifts, birthday presents — after they retire.”  

Being a successful distributor requires a wild amount of time, energy, and effort, but for Rowaan and Toolbox Inc., the reason for success is simple: “We’re still independent dealers, and we treat people how we want to be treated.”