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It’s common to see tool trucks on display at mobile tool distributor shows throughout the year, and the Mac Tools Fair back in February was no different. Of the trucks on display, one of them belonged to the Mac Tools team, FMT Sales.
The FMT Sales group is headed by Shaun Arcand — a mobile tool distributor of six years. To create the team’s new addition, he worked with Tim Herr at Herr Display Vans to build the perfect truck to fit their needs. When the Mac MD6 truck joined their fleet, it brought them up to four tool trucks total, not to mention their storefront location.
Custom configurations
Since the truck was being displayed at the show, Arcand notes that Herr pulled out all the stops. Keeping their diverse customer base of heavy duty, small engine, mining, agriculture, automotive, body, and truck and trailer shops in mind, the truck is loaded with shelves to hold an abundance of tools. Additionally, in a nod to this sales team’s location in Fort McMurray, Alberta, the sales counter is wrapped in the Canadian flag.
Pat Burns, the truck’s driver, also notes the pocket doors in the walls.
“It gives me much more visible space to show off new items and have things kind of tucked away but be easily able to pull out and display,” Burns says. “There's a bunch of nice little features like that in this truck that I didn't have in my old truck.”
A few upgrades in this truck include a television connected to the desk where Burns can run ads and display flyers from the comfort of his service station as well as a fridge and microwave tucked away underneath the desk.
That’s just the inside of the truck – outside, Arcand notes there’s an under-glow lighting that comes down from the roof to light up the side panels.
“If you pull into a shop at nighttime,” Arcand explains, “you can click on the LED lights to light up the whole panel. It looks nice for advertisement.”
Smooth operations
When it comes to organizing and displaying all the tools and equipment, Burns not only groups them by category but also tries to keep the stock separated by shop – heavy duty, automotive, collision, etc. He notes that this way the customer can see everything in one area, and he’s able to easily find the products too.
The truck’s wide body also helps with organization, granting Burns some extra space to configure his stock as well as creating a more comfortable space all around for anyone who climbs aboard.
However, what really keeps operations running smoothly, not just for Burns, but the whole FMT Sales team is having a home base. Arcand explains that the whole team meets up every morning to check-in. With overlapping customer bases and customers who move from shop to shop, the morning meet-up allows all the sales reps to keep each other updated and swap products if someone needs inventory that isn’t on their truck.
“[This] really works for us as a team,” Arcand says.
