Show me your truck: Ricardo Ortiz, Mac Tools

June 3, 2016

This 24’ wide body Freightliner provides extra room for inventory and customers.

Erica Schueller

Toolbox storage. Ortiz can fit three large toolboxes on his truck, with one of the positions high enough to fit a box and hutch combination. Seen here, two Mac Tools tool carts are stored in the area where one larger box would fit.

On-truck air. Ortiz has an air compressor stored on the outside of his truck, providing him the ability to demo pneumatic tools right on the truck.

Distributor name: Ricardo Ortiz

Affiliation: Mac Tools

Location: El Monte, Calif.

Sliding pry bar storage. This compact storage solution pulls out to neatly display Ortiz’s pry bar selection, and tucks easily away.

In February 2016, Mac Tools distributor Ricardo Ortiz officially updated his ride to a 2016 M2 Freightliner 24’ wide body after working with Summit BodyWorks to come up with a customized design and layout for almost two years.

The truck utilizes many outside compartments for additional storage, including a battery storage slideout, a Cummins air compressor and 8 kW Onan diesel generator, along with an additional 48" lighted external storage box for other items.

Battery storage slideout. The truck features a lighted external battery box with slide-out tray.

Ortiz's route, based in El Monte, Calif., is a predominantly Hispanic area and nearly all of Ortiz’s customers speak Spanish.

Ortiz got his start fixing cars in high school, where he took automotive classes along with college courses. “I was doing that to stay out of trouble. The school would pay for all my stuff. I grew up in a hard neighborhood,” Ortiz explains. “The easiest way to get an education faster was I would take college classes in high school, and the school would pay for my books, and I would get credits to graduate.”