Big-Time Boxes: Jason Nau, Cornwell

Technician Jason Nau, owner of J and J Fleet Services in Delaware, has been in the automotive industry since he was 17 and has been the owner of his shop for 10 years. From starting out on the floor as a technician to moving into managerial and leadership roles on the corporate side of things, Nau has worked tirelessly to get where he is. Now at 41, he’s earned himself a toolbox setup that blends his expertise and personality into one cohesive station he can lean on when performing repairs.  

 

When you step foot into Nau’s shop, you might first notice the size of his Cornwell Platinum Series toolbox, a staggering 20’ long. Or maybe your eyes will be instantly drawn to the artwork on the box. A Joker-themed wrap, with a bright green body and purple accents on every drawer, plus his company logo on both ends. It’s hard to look away.  

 

“The design is definitely a huge talking point,” Nau says. “It’s led me into conversations with people, and you can connect with [them], and then all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘Hey, by the way, I take care of this company over here, and I need help.’ It’s huge for networking.”

Nau has had his current setup for around three years, and more than just the wrap makes the box unique.  

 

According to Nau, his box was part of a limited run Cornwell offered, and not many other people have his particular design setup. There’s a box on both the left and right, and then in the center, a power drawer that matches equally with those boxes. The top drawer, handles, and everything align all the way across.  

 

“The power drawer is completely modular,” Nau explains. “I can have it set up any way I want to contribute between all the different brands of battery tools and power tools. It’s got hook designs so you can hang tools, and you lock on other attachments like your battery bank.” 

 

When organizing, Nau keeps one side of the box separated for metric sizes and the other side for standard sizes. Wrenches are kept in magnetic trays to stay neat and readily available. 

 

Not only does this help Nau keep things running efficiently, but it also allows his shop to continue operation if he were to be out one day and someone needed to borrow something or take over in the middle of one of his repairs. If you keep your tools organized, your fellow technicians should be able to get a quick lay of the land and take over when needed. 

 

“Organization is key, 100 percent,” Nau says. “As a business owner, when I see a [technician] that does not have [their] stuff organized, I automatically know that person is going to be a problem. If they can’t keep their stuff cleaned and organized and everything else, that’s the same thing that they’re doing on a vehicle. They’re not going to have things organized in case you’ve got a situation where you have to have another [technician] pick up where they left off.”

For young technicians looking for advice on getting their setup started, Nau says to keep your focus on gathering tools.  

 

“As you grow within your tools, that’s when you start upgrading into the toolboxes,” Nau says. “The thing that I see with guys that come in and out of my shop is that they have these huge $10,000 toolboxes, and then you go to look, and they have one drawer that’s filled while all the rest are empty.” 

 

Nau has practiced what he preaches, working his way up to the current box he now has after researching pricing and shopping around beforehand. While it can be fun to have big, flashy boxes, it’s not always practical when you first start out in the industry.  

 

“The toolbox doesn’t make you the money,” Nau explains. “The tools make you the money.”