Tool truck brands in the future.

[shoggoth80]

In my immediate area, I still see Snap On trucks. One driver stops by work on Monday mornings, and sometimes, some of the guys buy something for themselves (not work). Rarely though. I haven't seen a Matco truck since I left Firestone. I haven't seen a MAC truck since I left the mom & pop shop. The only Cornwell truck I've ever seen, I had to chase down, and drive about a half an hour to meet. If I worked independent vs. fleet, I would probably see tool trucks more often... but they've been sparse in my neck of the woods lately.

 

[smittyjones]

And when your Amazon tool breaks how do you replace it? I would buy Husky if I didn't have to mail the tool plus pay shipping and handling to get it back. If there was a Husky truck it would probably do pretty good.

Depends on the who made the tool, a lot of them are lifetime warranty and the truck carries it. "Oh, I, uh, bought this a long time ago, from the old tool guy!"

Only thing I usually buy online are specialty tools, like things I'll only use once in a blue moon.

 

[otis66]

I saw a Gearwrench tool truck about a a week ago in South orang NJ.

 

[otis66]

The tool trucks make there money because you can buy tools on time.when I was working full time as a. Mechanic I would have $1000 on credit at a time. No intrest. The only thing I had to get a loan with Snap 0n credit was for my tool box that. Cost me $2500 in 1991. what ever I needed I would walk on the truck and get it on time interst free. You can't do that on Amazon or eBay.

 

[KevinF]

How about this?

 

[nutsnbolts]

Tool truck comes to your shop on Monday mornings, you bust a tool, or realize you need a new tool on Monday afternoon. Do you wait till next Monday, or do you go online to buy what you need, most likely in equal or better quality, and more than likely for less money, and have it delivered by Thursday??

Until the tool trucks can compete in this scenario, they will continue to dwindle.

BTW, my father bought a Craftsman 3/4 drive socket set in the late 60's, a couple months ago the ratchet mechanism quit working, Took it back to the store, they didn't have a rebuild kit in stock so they handed him a new ratchet which he says works better than the old one ever did.

That is really great to hear! I only have one question about this though...will the new one last 50 years? I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just think this is a legitimate question about today's tools. With everything being disposable, it would suggest that our tools are not designed to last a lifetime anymore either. Everyone is buying cheap tools because the high quality tools are so expensive, but if the good tool companies all go out of business, we will have lowered the standard of tooling technology just to save some money.

 

[pepgj]

The tool trucks make there money because you can buy tools on time.when I was working full time as a. Mechanic I would have $1000 on credit at a time. No intrest. The only thing I had to get a loan with Snap 0n credit was for my tool box that. Cost me $2500 in 1991. what ever I needed I would walk on the truck and get it on time interst free. You can't do that on Amazon or eBay.

Given that the interest is simply built into the cost, buying stuff online via a credit card is essentially the same thing as 'interest-free' truck purchase.

 

[pepgj]

That is really great to hear! I only have one question about this though...will the new one last 50 years? I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just think this is a legitimate question about today's tools. With everything being disposable, it would suggest that our tools are not designed to last a lifetime anymore either. Everyone is buying cheap tools because the high quality tools are so expensive, but if the good tool companies all go out of business, we will have lowered the standard of tooling technology just to save some money.

My best guess (and worth every penny) is that you'll just see a drop in the need for manual tool use in local repair of any kind. Obviously, the TV and shoe repairman are largely gone, cars will follow eventually. Local repair would consist more and more of simply pulling off a large component and sending it out for refurbishment to a specialist facility somewhere.

Complexity+automated manufacture+gigantism in fabrication (ie. bigger and fewer factories) leads down the road of non user- or mechanic- serviceable parts.

 

[Greg85mcss]

We're starting to see that already. It costs less for a customer to replace an axle then to have a cv joint replaced. Many other examples but things move more to throw away
Also I agree about matco' questionable future. I had a ratchet rebuilt 2 weeks ago & the retaining ball flew across the shop the other day when I removed a socket. Glad he didn't have the other ratchet I wanted in stock


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[tremek]

Here in montreal there are really only 2 players Snap On and MAC

Snap On 95%
Mac 5%