Bob Arlotta founded Long Hill Auto Service in Millington, New Jersey, in 1986, wanting to find the satisfaction of repairing cars correctly without having to work for somebody else. Starting his own shop gave him control over the jobs, parts, and quality of work he experienced day in and out. Now with five employees, he's proud of how he operates -- and that includes his absolutely massive showstopper of a toolbox setup.
Quality and quantity
Although he’s been loyal to Snap-on since he was 16, he had to do his fair share of customization to get all of his boxes the way he wanted. His latest addition came in roughly eight months ago, and Arlotta couldn’t be happier with the replacement.
“The box I had, what I’d do is I’d take pieces of boxes and put it together,” he says. “There was a lid that opened up on the top that was covered by a chest, so I was losing a lot of room because it wasn't designed that way. And then down the road, [Snap-on] actually designed a box almost exactly the way I had made my box and it became an EPIQ series box.
“I get more room out of it, even though the footprint of the box is the same,” Arlotta says. “I'm getting more cubic inches out of it because it's designed with no lid on the top and the cabinet is accessible, so it's actually designed the way I wanted it."
Opening up
Arlotta’s favorite thing about the setup, aside from its far more accessible configuration, is the drawer size. He keeps his inventory of tools and accessories purposefully and clearly organized in the over 30 drawers attached to his system.
“There's wrenches, specialty tools, fuel injector tools, and so on. It's all by categories and it's actually labeled. I'm not the only technician that uses the box -- everybody goes in my box – so there’s no guesswork if they need to borrow a tool. They know exactly where the tools are.”
For technicians working on their perfect tool setup, Arlotta has just one piece of wisdom.
“The only advice I would have is to start fresh right from the beginning with a quality tool like a Snap-on because generally what happens is you trade them in," Arlotta says. "Even the techs here, they'll buy something because it's cheaper, or they'll go to school and get cheaper tools while they're in training. And they always end up trading them in for Snap-on, so you lose that money right up front. So you might as well start out fresh and do it right, right off the bat."
The shop's shining star
As impressive as Arlotta’s boxes may be to fellow technicians, they’re a certified jaw-dropper for customers.
“There's lighting in the top box when we open [it] up, it almost turns into a showcase, and it'll light up the whole shop if you leave the doors open at the top. The box is glowing all day long, so it's almost like a showpiece when you come to the shop.”
With a system as big as Arlotta’s, it might seem overwhelming to try and keep up with all of the box’s contents with multiple people coming and going all day long. Thanks to his organization and dedication, however, it’s a breeze.
“Every night, I do inventory on it before I go, and you can easily see that something's missing when all the socket rails are full, all the wrench rails are full, all the screwdrivers are full.”
Of course, new boxes and new options are coming out constantly, so Arlotta won't say that he's totally done changing his setup. "I mean, it's possible, but as of right now?" he says, "I would have to say I'm very satisfied."
