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Jordan Dick hates rooting through his toolbox to find the right tool.
“I don’t like stuff laying on top of stuff,” says Dick, who is the shop foreman at J & J Inc. Trash Service in Mount Airy, Md. “I want it to be organized and I don’t want to dig everything out of my box to get something.”
He is getting rid of that problem with his new Iron Giant toolbox from Cornwell that he purchased in November. It’s 192” long, 31” deep, and 70” tall, and it replaces the two Platinum Cornwell boxes he had previously.
“They quit making the two colors that I had for my Platinum boxes, so I had to move on to the Iron Giant,” Dick explains. “But it’s already full. We were talking about adding another section last night.”
In order to get the organization how Dick would like it, he is thinking about adding another 56” Platinum series combo top box and bottom chest.
Dick really likes all the power options in his new box. He regularly uses the power drawers, tops, lockers, and shelves. He is also very impressed with the quality of the toolbox.
“I have 400 lbs of sockets in one drawer, and I could pull that drawer out, and I am 200 lbs, and I could sit in that drawer, and the box won’t tip over, the drawer doesn’t break,” he says.
Dick’s favorite tool is his double swivel ratcheting wrenches from Cornwell. He likes that they’re nice and long, so he can grab two or three of them to get the job done, rather than using several smaller wrenches.
Ninety percent of Dick’s tools are from Cornwell and he makes a special point to say how grateful he is for his tool dealers, Jim and Jeff Walsh.
“I give them both credit. I don’t know where I would be without them. They have been lifesavers,” Dick explains. “Both of them have said, ‘Hey, look, we will cut you a deal on these.’”
This type of kindness has resulted in Dick being an extremely loyal customer, with 90 percent of his tools having been purchased from Cornwell.
When it comes to tool organization, one side of the box is metric, and the other side is SAE, Dick explains. All of his electrical tools are in one drawer, hand drivers in another, and all precise measurement tools in one drawer.
Dick's interest in becoming a technician started young. He grew up on a dairy farm and was helping fixing broken down machinery from a very young age, and his grandfather also owned an auto repair business. When he turned 16, he bought an old ’68 Chevy truck. He put all new body panels on it, built the motor, and put a new set of tires on it that he burned down to the cords on the first night!
Dick has been a technician for 22 years. When he’s not fixing waste management trucks at J&J — which recently opened to the public for vehicle repair as well — he’s helping out at his uncle’s business, Blue Gray Towing and Recovery.
When asked what is his favorite part of his toolbox, Dick breaks out into a laugh and says it’s the custom magnetic mat wedding photo at the top.
“That’s only because I bought the box and I had to kiss up to my wife!”
