Advice for approaching a tool truck

[BIG BACCHUS]

Tell them you think your toolbox is old.

 

[anndel]

I always buy from my Snap On driver because he gives me 20% discount off MSRP and Snap On online price on everything I buy.......so far. I'm eying a Heritage box for my home garage.

 

[bigredjeepone]

Snap-On is a disease . . . but I ain't lookin for a cure . . . just more satisfaction.

You get what you pay for, bottom line. I have used just about every brand of tool out there, because I started out poor . . . well I have three kids and a wife so I still am, but point is, the quality is there. The design is there. You buy a good 3/8" ratchet, you will never purchase another one unless you choose too. Had a worn out 936 and got a brand new 80 to replace it. No questions asked.

There wrenches are better balanced, their sockets are thinner and fit fasteners better. I like MAC also, but literally every MAC tool my grand father had as a diesel mechanic, the chrome fell off of. I doubt the new stuff is like that, but I have a tool box full of flaking chrome MAC that MAC says sorry, it ain't covered and I am not putting anywhere near anything that it can damage.

 

[OCD]

There's two magic words that seem to turn even the most ******* tool truck driver, into your next best friend. Doesn't matter what brand, doesn't matter where you are. Just go on the truck, no need to introduce yourself, just look him in the eyes and say "tool box". Nothing else. You will have his full undivided attention.

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

keep your pants on, and bring lube if you buy lol lol

 

[Wamsutta]

Dress up like this guy and walk on the truck.

 

[Vinko]

Who buys your tools, you or the company? I ask because there is an industrial sales department in Snap-on that is separate from the tool trucks and if qualified the cost of tools is way less..

lg
no neat sig line

What kind of qualification does one need to get an industrial account? Is there a minimum charge per year? I've thought about this since our driver of 35 years retired. We're not an automotive shop. But he was a good guy. We currently buy tools from McMaster or from an SO driver who now stops by. But route is being sold (it was in limbo for the past few years when our old guy retired).

Anyway, these days I'm finding it more difficult to purchase an SO tool given the costs. Esp. since we don't need the financing and the financing is a good chunk of the price.

 

[Vinko]

Snap On Industrial usually used to be a pretty good deal, 4 years ago it was 25% off most anything and 40% off of "industrial" tools. (If you're not familiar with Snap On Industrial tools, they're sockets, ratchets etc. that have a black "industrial" finish on them, instead of being chrome dipped. I'm assuming they're cheaper since the cost of chrome plating is taken out. Of 3 different Snap On trucks I've been on, I've never seen any "industrial" finish tools, so I'm guessing they're exclusive to Industrial customers.) Sadly about a year ago I noticed our discount went down to 10% across the board. I asked my Snap On rep if we'd fallen below a spending threshold, since I only place a couple of orders a year, but he said they lowered the discount company wide.

I used to see a lot of black oxide finish tools on the old truck GEX was I think the part no prefix for the combo wrenches. There were shops that used them. Less and less.

My understanding -- and this info might be out of date -- that it was about 30-33% markup from the driver. At least my old driver told me that as he understood it (and again, maybe this pricing structure has changed) each stage (manufacturer, distributor, truck) figures in to be about 1/3 the cost of an SO tool. Not including Bluepoint or any of the other brands he carried like Sunex or Gear Wrench or Mayhew, etc.

 

[AndypCT]

great advice

 

[FunkyfullWidth]

Tool truck guys deal with this all the time. Don't waste their time and they'll want to deal with you. Put a list together, check the website to have an idea of what things cost. When you get a price from the dealer don't be like holy **** that's expensive. That's a sour taste for a first meeting. They want to deal with people that know what they're paying for (Great quality tools and customer service.), not some joe schmuckatelli that claims the same thing for 250 is 20 bucks at harbor freight.

 

[Davefr]

Dress up like this guy and walk on the truck.

...or this guy:

 

[MattPersman]

Dress up like this guy and walk on the truck.

Way too clean the guy isn't even smoking or a ratty beard


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[Lassen Forge]

There's two magic words that seem to turn the tool truck driver, into your next best friend. Just go on the truck, no need to introduce yourself, just look him in the eyes and say "tool box". Nothing else. You will have his full undivided attention.

So true!

If you are on an SO truck and add the word Epiq to that... Um Hmmm! Add "And I want to expand that in the future"...

Every time I needed to walk onto a truck, I did. Don't waste your time. One driver once wanted to know what I did, which kind of threw me (What I did was step up to your truck with money to buy tools), I figured he was having a bad day or something. But he got over it when I walked out with a lighter wallet and a bag of goodies.

But yeah, fist full of dollars the first time, a plan on what you want in the future and what payments you can make, and you may have a new best friend every couple of weeks.

And if you have to knock someone for asking about how to go about buying tools from a truck... then you just don't understand...

 

[Snap_cap]

The Snap On web site *****. I'm trying to look up pullers so I can find the parts numbers I need for a couple of SO bars I have lost some pieces to. i don't want to buy new but having the numbers would help. I have to go thru almost 800 puller sets to find one looks like mine. Entering the number of what i have doesn't work. The web site ***** big time. Ugh. They don't want be to know what I am doing. They want me to have to ask the tool truck guy.

The hard copy paper catalogs are cool. Have always been hard to get tho. When I was buying from the truck the guy would only have the catalogs for a few weeks before he ran out. The price list was even harder to get than the actual catalog.

Dysfunctional and irritating, not intuitive, S-L-O-W and apparently no one in Kenosha actually owns a camera to take pictures of the tools they produce.

Try this trick: find your existing Puller set or closest equivalent, click on it and then click on the 'Sets/Members' tab; it usually (but not always, see above) will provide individual part numbers for everything contained within the set.

You can order the paper catalog off their website, there is a link under the 'Shop By Category' bar on the left side. In my experience the truck will only order enough for their route, with only a couple spare copies.

 

[bczygan]

Maybe try sneaking up on the truck.

Camouflage:

 

[PeterT]

Wait until the guy is about to leave, and throw your body in front of his truck,, he'll stop and you can negotiate a nice price on some tools

 

[dkroth]

Way too clean the guy isn't even smoking or a ratty beard


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And his shirt is tucked in. And he's wearing a belt and his pants are sitting at his waist instead of half way down his ***.

Pant legs are probably hemmed at he correct length instead of being bunched up on top of his feet. And his shoes/boots are probably laced and tied.

 

[Hybridss]

"Approaching" a tool truck? To do what? Kiss his ring?

This wraps up my thoughts on Snap On Trucks perfectly.