A Different Approach to Parts and Service for the Trucking Industry

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Luke MacKenzie (00:00):
However, they want to buy from us.
We want it to be really easyand frictionless, and we think
by focusing on those areas wecan continue to solidify
ourselves as the best partnerfor our customers when they're
looking for heavy-duty parts andservice in Canada.

Jamie Irvine (00:15):
You're listening to the Parts for Trucks podcast.
My name is Jamie Irvine,National Sales Director at Parts
for Trucks and your host.
In future episodes of the Partsfor Trucks podcast, you are
going to walk away with tools,strategies and knowledge to help
make your job easier, cut costsand elevate your already

(00:35):
stellar performance in theheavy-duty trucking industry.
In this episode, we wanted togive you an overview of what
Parts for Trucks can do for you.

Introduction (00:52):
Welcome to the Parts for Trucks podcast, where
we explore the latest trends,technologies and strategies in
the heavy-duty trucking industry.
Each episode you'll hear fromindustry experts to help keep
your trucks on the road and yourbusiness thriving.
Now let's get into gear.
Here's your host, jamie Urban.

First, let me give you a quick overview of our
company as it stands today.
At the time of recording, whichis in early 2025, we are coast
to coast with 32 locations, butwe are growing.
So if you're watching this alittle, later these numbers may
have expanded.
We have two distributioncenters right now one in the
east, one in the west, 16 partstores, we have 12 parts and

(01:35):
service locations, three trailershops and over 650 dedicated
heavy duty professionals workingevery day to support the
Canadian trucking industry.
Now, that's all fine and good,but how does this translate into
something for you, thecustomers of Parts for Trucks?
Well, let's get into it.

(01:56):
In this episode, I'm going toshare with you three interviews
one with the president of ourcompany, Luke McKenzie.
We're also going to talk to oneof our branch managers that
really has a Luke McKenzie.
We're also going to talk to oneof our branch managers that
really has a parts focus.
And we're also going to talk toone of our service managers who
can talk to us about how thingswork in our service shops.

(02:16):
I'm really looking forward tosharing all three of these
conversations with you today inthis episode, so that you can
get a better idea of what Partsfor Trucks can do for you.
I'd like to introduce you toLuke McKenzie, president of
Parts for Trucks.
Luke, welcome to the Parts forTrucks podcast.
Hi, Jamie, Thank you.
So, Luke, let me ask you aquestion, and this might not be

(02:38):
the question most people willexpect, but I think it's an
important one to really set thestage for our conversation today
.
Why does Parts for Trucks exist?
I'd say I like that question.

We try and talk about it every time we have the
team together, because sellingheavy-duty truck parts and
service is not the mostglamorous job in the world, not
the most glamorous industry tobe in, but we love it, Our team
loves it and we like to talkabout why it's really important.
So Parts for Trucks is here todo two things.

(03:12):
The first one is trying to helpthe Canadian transportation
industry be more efficient andmore productive and stronger,
and we think that's reallyimportant because you know, as
Canadians, you know a strongtransportation industry helps
everybody.
You know our customers are outthere, they're.

(03:33):
You know they're plowing thestreets, they're dealing with
the refuse, they're buildinginfrastructure, they're
transporting critical mineralsand fuels, they're hauling
groceries to the grocery store.
And if we can make thatindustry more productive, more
efficient, reduce costs for thewhole supply chain and we play a
little small part of that wefeel like we're helping

(03:55):
Canadians and the Canadianeconomy be stronger.
The second reason that we exist,I think, is to be a strong and
growing Canadian company andwe're really proud that we're
building a big national playerin this industry in Canada
that's headquartered right herein Canada.
We're not a public company outof Atlanta, Georgia, or out of

(04:17):
Dallas, Texas, or something likethat.
Our head office is here in'reand we're trying to build a
company that creates, you know,great opportunities for our team
members, right?
We love talking about storiesabout team members who have
started out working in awarehouse for us and, are you
know, over the years haveprogressed and now, are you know

(04:38):
, in some of the most seniorpositions in the company.
It's exciting to be to be ableto provide that for our team
well, that's a great answer.

Um, speaking of our coast to coast network that
we've now built, let's talk alittle bit about how parts for
trucks coast to coast reallyhelps our customers.
So think about it from grandfalls, newfoundland, to surrey,
british columbia, coast to coast.
Now we we have this network ofparts and service centers.

(05:05):
How do we go about helping ourcustomers?
Let's break it down by a fewcategories.
So, first of all, talk to meabout access to products.

We're a distributor and is the majority
of our business.
The way I look at it is.
Our job is to go out andpartner with the best
manufacturers or providers ofthe parts that our customers are
looking for, figure out whatthe best solutions are out there
in the marketplace for ourcustomers and work with those

(05:35):
you know, good vendor partners,to bring the right products and
have them in the right spots Inall of our different locations
across Canada.
You know we've all gone througha ton of supply chain issues
over the last couple of years.
There's been lots of change inwhere products are coming from
and more offshore products ordifferent solutions for problems
.
We see ourselves as the curatorfor our customers to say we've

(05:59):
done all the work.
We understand what problems youhave as a fleet or as a
customer and we've got somethingto serve your needs.
And being a growing nationalcompany allows us to have all
that access.
No matter what vendor or whatpart of the world the product
might be coming from, we've gotthe ability to access that, get

(06:21):
it for our customers and have itwhen they need it.

Yeah, and that's so important because it ties
back to why the company exists.
If we are able to provide ourcustomers with the right
products the first time, theproduct that's going to keep
them on the road longer, helpthem lower their total cost of
operation, avoid unscheduleddowntime that has a trickle down
effect into really helping usto accomplish our mission to

(06:44):
support the industry.
Now you got to have parts, butthen you also have to be able to
fix the equipment.
Talk to me a little bit abouthow our company provides
services to our customersnationwide.

It's been a real key strategy of ours to be
committed to not only sellingthe parts and doing the
distribution side, but alsorunning service and repair shops
.
It does two things for us as acompany, I think, that are
important to our customers.
One is they're always lookingfor help with service.
You go anywhere in the industryand there are not enough

(07:18):
technicians out there, and it'stough to find reliable service
partners.
If you're tied into aparticular brand of truck
manufacturer dealership group,there's not a lot of
coast-to-coast support, and sowe think that that's a real
advantage to our customers isbeing able to talk to one
service provider and be able toget a certain consistency of

(07:39):
service, no matter where theyare across Canada.
And then being involved inservice gives us a lot of
insight into what our customersare looking for.
So whether we're putting thepart on or they're putting the
part on, having that sort ofintimate knowledge of what the
technician needs to do a goodjob, what a service shop needs
to keep trucks on the road andget them back on the road faster

(08:00):
, allows us to do a better jobas a parts distributor as well.

Yeah, that's a great point because I think that
in my past times when I'veworked with a parts-only company
, we were always missing thatpiece.
We didn't have the ability justto pick up the phone and talk
to someone and say, hey, listen,what's the upstream diagnostic
issues that come with thisproduct, or what are you seeing
with failure analysis at theshop level?

(08:24):
That really guides us in ourdecisions around products and it
also, I think it helps us, froma strategic position, make more
informed decisions that help usto position the company to take
care of our customers at thehighest level possible.
Now, all of this can't happenwithout access to good
information.
Talk to me about how, as acompany, we're able to bring

(08:46):
information to our customers.
That's really valuable.

I think everybody recognizes that in our
organization there's a ton ofreally critical experience and
knowledge and informationtrapped in the experienced,
long-term employees that we'vegot working in our shops or
working on our counters or inevery different part of the
organization and it's a realconstraint on our business and

(09:15):
our ability to sell to ourcustomers and our customers'
ability to buy from us isoftentimes, in this industry,
you got to talk to somebody whoreally knows what they're
talking about.
Google is not much help to theheavy-duty industry today, like

(09:35):
it would be in a lot of otherdifferent industries, and get it
on whether it's internal toolsfor our sales, for new
salespeople, new counter peoplein our own organization, or
whether it's external tools allthat product knowledge and
product data and informationbasically digitized so that we

(10:09):
can apply all those great toolsout there like e-commerce or AI
or whatever it is that ourcustomers are looking for us to
help provide to them so thatthey can do a better job making
the right part selection, sothey're not making mistakes,
doing it twice.
We want them to do it right thefirst time.

Even this podcast is an extension of that effort
to make information available.
You know, as time goes on, weare building this library of
content that people will be ableto consume.
We'll have subject matterexperts.
We'll have both internally,from within our company, as well
as with our vendors and othersubject matter experts.
This is a great opportunity forus to aggregate all of this

(10:49):
data and to make it available toour customers in multiple
formats so that whatever theyneed they can get access.
So, whether it's our e-commerceplatform with a lot of detailed
product information, it's thepodcast, it's the how-to
articles, the internal training,the external training, there's
a major effort here by Parts forTrucks to really empower our

(11:09):
customers, and this ties back toour why.
We've talked about products,we've talked about services and
information.
Is there anything else thatcomes to mind that Parts for
Trucks is able to do, now thatwe've expanded to this
coast-to-coast footprint?

Sure, I think it kind of builds on both parts.
The other piece is developingtalent for the industry, for
ourselves and just the industryin general.
Right Again, I mentioned itbefore, one of the big
constraints that our customershave is just having the talent
available, whether it's to sellthe part, source the part or,
most importantly probably,install the part, the technician

(11:43):
shortage that we're allfamiliar with.
We're of a size now where we candedicate some key resources and
some key corporate investmenttime in trying to solve that
problem, not just for us buteven for our customers in some
cases.
So that takes the form for usof internal technician training
and mentorship programs yeah, ofinternal technician training

(12:07):
and mentorship programs.
Yeah, rather than just relyingon the provincial trade schools
and this more traditionalprocess of apprenticeship and
licensing of technicians, we'retrying to really dedicate some
internal resources, full-timetrainers We've got a couple
across Canada now that arereally focused on helping
develop our technician group,get through the licensing
process, be able to do more andbecome more productive, more

(12:29):
proficient, more efficient,basically build capacity to do
more service.
And I think over the nextcouple of years we'll have the
opportunity to expand that intoour customers and help our
customers with that same problem, luke.

Let's talk for a minute about the importance of
really maintaining our Canadianvoice.
And so now Parts for Trucks isin a unique position to be able
to advocate on behalf of theCanadian trucking industry and
the interests that are importantto Canadians.
One example would be theongoing fight for right to

(13:07):
repair.
So we are part of theindependent service channel, and
without the independent servicechannel, there really would be
a major constraint on theindustry and I think that would
hurt us.
So talk to me a little bitabout how Parts for Trucks is
now uniquely positioned toadvocate on behalf of the
Canadian trucking industry.

Absolutely.
I think, as an aftermarketdistributor and service provider
, it's clear that the right torepair, the right choice about
where they want to source theirparts, or you know who they want

(13:53):
to deal with to provide partsand maintenance for their
vehicles.
You know it would be asignificant cost and
availability issue if theaftermarket didn't exist.
And so you know, through ourmembership in our Buy Power
Buying Group and the CommercialVehicle Solutions Network, which
is a great advocate for rightto repair both in the US and

(14:14):
Canada, you know I think we'retrying to do our part to help
support that movement Right,because I think it dovetails
nicely into our, you know, ourdesire really to be helping
Canada's transportation industrybe more productive.

So we've been talking to Luke McKenzie,
president of Parts for Trucks,and, as we were talking about
the various ways Parts forTrucks supports its customers, I
wanted to share with you aconversation that I had with one
of our branch managers, mattPounder.
Now, matt has a deep backgroundon the operational side of the
business.
He's a parts person through andthrough.

(14:48):
He really understands howthings work at the parts level,
and so I wanted to share thatconversation with you.
Now I'd like to introduce youto Matt Pounder, branch manager
for Parts for Trucks in theCentral Region.
Now he has worked for both ourMontreal and Ottawa locations.
Matt, welcome to the Parts forTrucks podcast.

(15:08):
So glad to have you here.
I'm happy to be here.
Thanks, jamie.
So today we get to talk about asubject that is close to my
heart, which is parts.
I've been in the parts businesssince 1998.
My mentor always told me thatyou don't just sell them what
they ask for.
You sell them what they need.
This is something our partsdepartments, coast to coast, are

(15:29):
striving to do and, matt, I'mlooking forward to talking to
you about how we help ourcustomers.
Let's kick off the conversationfirst by talking about how we,
as a group on the parts counterreally work to help our
customers get the specific partsthey need.
Walk me through how it workswhen someone comes to Parts for

(15:53):
Trucks.

Matt Pounder (15:54):
Yeah, great question.
Step one I think part of thebiggest thing with identifying
what a customer needs is reallyjust listening and understanding
fully understanding what thecustomer is looking for.
So oftentimes they're notcalling in or coming to the
counter with a whole lot ofknowledge or about the parts

(16:19):
that they're looking for.
So they won't have part numbers, they won't have necessarily
everything that you need toidentify a part.
So really asking good follow-upquestions and understanding
what they need is the key really.

Yeah, I would totally agree with that, that
act of listening.
I think sometimes it's easy tomake assumptions, right, but
when you're on the counter andthe counter is a dynamic place
You've got people coming intothe store, you've got the phone
ringing, so sometimes there canbe this proclivity to kind of
rush and to judgment.
But I think that that slowingdown just a little bit, asking

(16:56):
that one or two extra questionsIs this for a truck, is this for
a trailer?
Why is this part needing to bechanged?
You know what are you guysworking on, you know with this
vehicle, like what's thevocation, just getting a bit of
understanding can go a long way.
Okay, so after you've takenthat step of active listening,

(17:16):
walk me through kind of the waythat most parts people will
approach, trying to identify notjust the part number but the
right type of product, right,maybe it's quality, maybe it's
performance characteristics.

How do our parts people do that?
An original part, an OE part,or someone who's a little bit
more price conscious, somethingin interchange for that, an
aftermarket product, goodquality but at a more affordable
cost?
So we run through those optionswith the customer, give them
the pros and cons to each, Isuppose, and they'll base their

(18:07):
decision off that.

Yeah, and I think that's an ongoing effort in
education right, and especiallywhen you're dealing with
owner-operators or you'redealing with smaller fleets,
they may not have as manyresources available to them, as
much data available to them asmaybe a larger fleet would.
So I think the parts personplays a really important role

(18:29):
there fleet would.
So I think the parts personplays like a really important
role there and that's reallywhere a relationship is forged,
isn't it Between the customerand people on our counter,
because as the customer grows inknowledge themselves because
this parts person's helping them, then they make better
decisions and this has apositive impact on their
business and I think that'swhere the trust and the bond

(18:50):
comes from between customers andparts people on the counter.
What do you think about that?

Yeah, definitely.
And you talking about thedifference between the larger
fleets and the owner operators,like you say, there's
relationships to be forged onboth fronts.
So the larger fleets are goingto call in or send an email with
30 part numbers give me Xamount of each ready to go easy
peasy.
There's still a relationship.

(19:17):
They still want that teameffort between the two of you,
so to speak.
And then same could be said, ormaybe a little bit more work on
that owner-operator side whomight need a little bit more of
your help, a little bit moredirection.
That is another relationshipthat's extremely important to
grow and build off of, just asmuch as the large fleets

(19:40):
Relationship is very important.

So let's talk about how our parts people
develop and hone these skillsand get this knowledge.
So let's first of all talkabout kind of a traditional
pathway through our companywhere someone might start as,
like, a delivery driver orworking in the warehouse and
then end up on the counter.
How does that pathway work andwhy is that such a good way to

(20:03):
learn the parts business?

Yeah, definitely so.
Starting in the warehouse, asas people typically do, that's a
good way to get your hands onthe parts, kind of see what's
coming in, what you carry,delivery driver, kind of on the
same level.
You're going to go out, you'regoing to see the customer base.
Still have your hands on thoseparts.
Great way to learn.
Moving into the counter that'swhere you're really going to get

(20:28):
the brunt of your knowledge.
If you don't already have some.
That's where you're reallygoing to get the brunt of your
knowledge.
If you don't already have some,that's where you're going to
find it.
That kind of trial by firementality, where you're living
it.
You're kind of put in aposition where you need to find
what the customer is looking for, whether that be on your own,
through catalogs or whatnot, orwith the help of the team around

(20:49):
you.

Yeah, and the more experienced people on the
counter.
They're such an invaluableresource to our younger, newer
parts people, because they'vebeen there, they've seen that
and they cannot just teach them,maybe, what the part number is,
because a lot of thatinformation they've memorized,
but they can actually teach ourparts people how to find it on
their own, and I think that's animportant piece to it.

(21:10):
Now, the company has investedin a lot of resources, so let's
talk first about theinteractions we have with our
vendors on training and thenwe'll talk a little bit about
the learning management systemthat we've put in place.
So when you were learning thebusiness, how valuable did you
find the work that you did?
When, let's say, a vendor cameto one of your stores and put on

(21:31):
a lunch and learn or a trainingprogram, how important was that
to enhance your knowledge?

So yeah, they come in with so much knowledge of
their part.
It really kind of acceleratesyour ability to learn and then
your ability to help a customerand upsell or sell that product
accordingly.

Yeah to what they need, right, and so that's where
the vendor relationships thatour company has developed over
many, many years really comes toplay.
It's one of the assets that wecan bring to our customers.
Another thing is the internaltraining that we're doing, right
, matt.
So we've invested in an entiretraining department, we have a
learning management system, andthis kind of collaboration

(22:14):
between our vendors and theinternal training that we do is
really helping our parts peopleto really understand the
business and serve our customersat a higher level.
Let's talk about a timerecently where we went above and
beyond to help a customer, andthis isn't something that's
really a one-off, this is kindof the norm, but I'd like you to

(22:35):
tell that one story ofsomething that happened recently
that really illustrates how weserve our customers at the
highest level and we try to makeit easy for them to do business
with us.
Share that with us.

One that's top of mind.
That kind of happened quiterecently.
We had a big snowfall here inOttawa, in the Montreal area as
well.
So Jesse, the OSR here inOttawa, one of his customers was
waiting for some wiper armsthat they needed in anticipation
.

Kind of important when the snow is coming.

Exactly yeah.
So they had some downed trucksthat absolutely needed these
wiper arms and waiting for themall week.
So Friday afternoon comesaround, jesse's leaving the
branch.
He communicated with thewarehouse staff, with the parts
staff when these wiper arms comein, just call me.
Whatever time it is, just sohappens they show up that night

(23:28):
on a Friday Right.
So before leaving Saturdaymorning he called, uh, called
his customer and said listen, Ineed to go grab him.
I'm going to bring him to you.
Is there anything else that youneed right now?
And they said we're completelyout of def.
I need def.
You know what I mean.
So he he called into the branch, made sure you know again they
work together.
Everything was ready to go andhe was able to bring those wiper

(23:50):
arms and the depth to acustomer that absolutely needed
it.

Yeah, and so this is exactly what I think is so
great about the way that weoperate right.
We don't just sell you what youask for.
We give you what you need.
We're willing to take thatextra step to make it easy to do
business with us and get youwhat you need when you need it,
and I just think it's a goodexample.
It's just a great story, sothank you for sharing that, matt

(24:16):
.
So, matt, thank you so much fortaking a few minutes away from
your busy day to talk to usabout how things work on the
parts counter.
Really appreciate you coming onthe podcast.
I have a feeling you might beback on future episodes.

Looking forward to it.
It was a lot of fun, and thanksfor having me on, jamie, I
appreciate it.

Well, as we discussed with Matt Pounder,
branch manager at Parts forTrucks, you don't fix equipment
without parts, but then youcan't have the parts installed
without the service side of thebusiness, and so now we're going
to talk to one of our servicemanagers who can give us a
perspective on what they do atthe service level to take care

(24:56):
of our customers.
I hope you enjoy ourconversation with Sam LeBlanc.
I'd like to introduce you toSam LeBlanc.
He is a service manager forParts for Trucks in our eastern
region out of our Monctonlocation.
Sam, welcome to the Parts forTrucks podcast.

Sam LeBlanc (25:13):
Thanks, great to be here.

So you are working in the service department.
What I'd like to do is I'd liketo start our conversation off
by asking you this how do youand your team help your
customers to identify the rootcause of failures that they're
experiencing with theirequipment?

Well, first off, when we get an issue that comes
in, usually have a good chatwith the customer to make sure
that we're actually going to bediagnosing what the concern is.
You'll have some units thatcome in that sometimes have more
than one issue and maybe theydon't want to fix certain issues
but they're concerned aboutother issues.

(25:54):
So once we got that determined,that we know what we're looking
, we then start diagnostics andend up finding whether it's a
mechanical fault like a partwiring.
But once you find, once we getto the bottom of it and find out
what the problem is, that'swhere we've got to kind of step
back and investigate a littlebit, if you want to see if it's

(26:16):
just a part failure or ifthere's something that caused
that part to fail.
Because if something did causea part to fail and we just put a
new part on there, it's goingto be good for a while.
But customer is going to be backwith the same issue, not far
down road, and then he's downfor a second.
But the customer is going to beback with the same issue, not
far down the road, then he'sdown for a second time, paying
for the same issue a second time.
What we usually do is you stepback and you figure out what was

(26:39):
the root cause.
Is it just a part or didsomething cause this part to
fail?
And if something did cause thepart to fail, that's where we've
got to go the extra mile andinvestigate a little bit more to
find out if the problem wascaused by a ride height or any
other issues that would affectthe part that failed.
And that way there, when youget it fixed and a customer gets

(27:01):
it back, it's a proper fix fixthe issue and the cause of the
issues.
So prevents comebacks and makesthe customer extremely happy
that we didn't just replace apart so it can fail again in a
couple of weeks.

As equipment has become more complex and there's
more electronics, there's morejust overall, the equipment is
not like it was maybe when youand I started, when things were
a little more mechanical.
I know that the introduction ofsystems like after treatment I
mean we've had it for 15 plusyears and yet still I know that

(27:36):
people sometimes are blaming theDPF and it's an upstream issue
with the turbo or something likethat.
I've seen like with frictionmaterial and brakes.
I used to do a lot with brakesand we'd have customers who
would burn the brakes up in sixmonths and it's like they're
just buying the wrong productfor the application.
So, again, not looking at thewhole picture when making
decisions around parts andservice as equipment has become

(27:59):
more complex, how have youadapted your approach to
diagnostics to really ensurethat you are getting to the root
cause?

We have quite a few experienced tech that's done
quite a bit of training on someof that stuff, and it's not,
like you say, just the fact of,oh, there's a bad sensor that
could be suited because theturbo is not working properly or
is a leaking injector, or so.
To go the extra mile, say, andnot just focus on what the
actual faulty part is, but whatcaused that part to fail and

(28:45):
that comes along with trainingit's where the diagnostic starts
, it's having a goodunderstanding of how the system
works and not just focus on thebroken part but what caused it.

Yeah, and you made a good point too, like the
customer's reaction to doing aproper root cause analysis.
On the one hand you might givethem some bad news and they have
more repairs than they wereplanning, but on the other side
of that coin really is the factthat when that vehicle leaves
the shop one of our shops ourcustomers don't have to worry
about a breakdown in a few hoursor a few days where they have

(29:21):
unscheduled downtime, maybe atow bill or a mobile repair bill
, more parts that they have toput into the vehicle.
That little bit of extra timeand effort spent on identifying
that root cause and helping themfix the problem permanently
saves them so much when thingsgo wrong, when you just kind of
do that shotgun repair approachright.

Yeah, oh, 100%.
And that's what we like to doto separate ourselves from just
say parts changers.
That's go the extra mile forthe customer and actually fix
the root cause of why the issuehappened.
Not just fix the problem, butfix the cause of the problem.

So, for our regular customers that are
bringing their equipment to ourshops on a regular basis, talk
to me a little bit about how youapproach preventative
maintenance with those customersto help them to avoid that
costly downtime that we spokeabout previously.

Yeah, preventative maintenance is always a good
topic to discuss with customersbecause some customers see it as
an extra expense that they gotto fork up when there's not an
issue with the truck or thetrailer.
But to sit down and talk tothem to get them to realize that
preventative maintenance is notgoing to prevent breakdowns to
happen, it's not to prevent anyparts from breaking.

(30:35):
But if it's done properly, whenyou come in for a service and
we look the vehicle over, wemight be able to notice
something that is about to breakor something that's going to
cause a problem and you canschedule it properly.
Instead of having, say, breakdown inside of the road where
you got to do a mobile call, youcan schedule it in once the
customer's done his work shift.

(30:56):
Drop it off after he's done, wefix it.
He doesn't have any downtimeand he's going trucking the next
day.
When you can get them tounderstand that part of it,
they're usually quite thankful.
And when you give them a billor you give them a check and say
you're going to need a U-jointor you're going to need an
airbag, finish your day, bringit back tomorrow and we'll get

(31:18):
it fixed for you.
They're usually pretty happywhen they can bring the unit in.
It doesn't affect their daybecause they were able to make
plans ahead of time.
And then they get back to unitthe next day or a couple hours
later and they're back ontrucking.
So it's a good approach whenyou can get them to understand
what it can bring to you.

Yeah Well, I mean, like I said, you start adding
up unscheduled downtime.
Right Inside of that you mighthave hotel bills, those mobile
repairs, tow bills.
You might have lost revenuewith your customer as the fleet
or the owner operator whooperates the truck.
This is a work vehicle afterall.
This is not a vehicle that'sjust a spare kicking around.
You know they're relying onthis for their income.

(31:59):
So, yeah, I think it's soimportant.
It sounds to me like a lot ofproactive work is going into
making our service shops capableof performing both root cause
analysis and preventativemaintenance.
You talked about training.
You talked about proactivelytalking with the customers and
identifying issues ahead of time.
So that proactive approachseems to be part of the formula

(32:21):
for success, would you not agree?

Oh, 100%.
Like I say, doing all thatstuff for the customer makes it
easier for the customer.
At the end they come in, theydrop their unit off for an
inspection of what sort and theyknow that they're confident
that once we're done they'regoing to be leaving hassle-free,
don't have to worry about thething breaking down, not done

(32:47):
properly.
So it's at the end of the dayit makes it way easier for the
customer.
Once we've got it scheduled out, they come in for their
appointment.
We check it out.
They come in when we're done.
When we're done we'll let themknow.
They come pick it up and it'san effortless situation.
Basically, just so preventstheir downtime.
They're out on truck more andat the end of the day they're

(33:12):
making more money because ifthey get breakdowns and stuff
like, say, all the costs, thatextra cost that comes with it,
the downtime, it adds up fast.
Yeah, it sure does.

You know that's part of our mission to make it
easier for our customers to dobusiness, not just with us, but
for them to have an easier timeoperating their business and
being successful.
People love to hear stories ofthis kind of thing.
I think that carries a lot ofweight.
Could you share with us onestory recently of how you had a

(33:43):
customer that had an issue, thatcame to the shop and one of our
people went the extra mile totake care of them?

I have a few, but there's one that comes to mind
that happened a couple of monthsback.
A customer came in.
It was a simple light issue.
He had park lights on hisvehicle but his brakes weren't
working.
No brake lights and blinkersworking on and off.
So we brought it in, startedlooking at the unit.

(34:10):
It had a bad module, lightmodule on the unit.
Easy fix, unplug a couple ofconnectors, unbolt it, put a new
one in.
Problem was that module wasbackordered three to six months
oh no so my tech that wasworking on it was kind of
looking at the wiring diagramand approached me and said I'm

(34:31):
pretty sure that if we do alittle bit of wiring to this
thing that we can bypass themodule until we get the new one
in to get them back on the roadinstead of parking the unit for
three to six months, right?
So I had a chat with thecustomer, explained to him what
we're going to do, what we'regoing to try to do, and he said
yeah, this is, if you can, ifyou can make it happen, go for

(34:54):
it.
So me and my tech we sat down,we kind of put a wiring diagram
together so we know what we weredoing.
And we went to town and wiredthe thing so put a junction box
in there.
So it was done properly, it wassealed and we were successful
in bypassing it.
Everything worked properly.
So customer was down, lost hisunit for two days, picked it up

(35:18):
the next day, ran it for fourmonths, then how long it took
for the module to come in.
So essentially the truck wouldhave been down for four months
if we wouldn't have gone theextra mile and try to do
something for this unit becausecouldn't drive it without brakes
or blinkers on the unit.

Yeah, yeah, for the sake of just a simple module
, right?
So I think that's a greatexample of where, again, what
I'm hearing is this proactiveapproach to maintenance and
repairs that we bring to ourcustomers when they bring their
equipment to our shops.
This is one of the ways that wemake it easier for people to do
business with us and to operatetheir business.

(35:56):
Sam, thank you so much fortaking the time.
I know you're a busy man, soI'll let you get back to the
shop, but I really appreciateyou coming on the podcast and
talking to us about how ourservice departments are operated
nationwide, coast to coast.

Now, All right, not a problem, jamie, I was glad to
be on here.

So now you've heard from both the parts
department and the servicedepartment, let's go back and
talk to Luke a little bit moreabout where the company's going
in the future.
Parts for Trucks is a very oldcompany.
It's been around for over 100years.
There's a wonderful legacythere.
I think it's a real honor forall of us to continue this

(36:34):
legacy and move it forward.
Talk to me a little bit aboutwhat our customers can expect
from Parts for Trucks in thefuture.

Yeah, well, like I say, we're really proud of
the legacy that we've built overthe past 100 years and we're
really proud of being aCanadian-owned and operated
business and we're really proudthat we've grown the network
from coast to coast over thelast couple of years.
I guess next for us is reallyinvesting in a couple of

(37:03):
different areas.
We're trying to better supportour fleet customers by having
the right locations acrossCanada in all the right markets.
We've got 32 points of salefrom coast to coast today.
There's still quite a few spotswe'd like to be in to help
better serve our customers invarious geographic areas.
The other thing is reallyinvesting in growing talent.

(37:26):
We have over 600 great talentedcounter folks, technicians,
warehouse administrative folksfrom coast to coast, and one of
the big constraints on ourability to look after our
customers is growing that poolof talent.
So we're really investing a lotin training internally and add

(37:46):
to our capacity to be able tolook after our customers.
And then I think the finalpiece is investing in tools to
reduce our customers' frictionwhen it comes to selecting the
right parts and service fortheir business, and we want to
be the easiest to buy from whenit comes to the heavy duty
industry across Canada, and thatmeans investing in the right

(38:08):
equipment, whether that's theright delivery vehicles to the
right e-commerce platform, tothe right phone and
communication systems.
And we want our customers to beable to buy from us and talk to
us and visit us in any way thatthey want to, whether it's text
, email, online, in person.
However they want to buy fromus, we want it to be really easy

(38:29):
and frictionless and we thinkby focusing on those areas, we
can continue to, you know,solidify ourselves as the best
partner for our customers whenthey're looking for heavy-duty
parts and service in Canada.

You know, as you talk about that, it makes me
think of our conversation withour CEO, corey Miller, in
episode two.
He talked about how that is amission for us to make it easy
for our customers to do businesswith us.
When I now hear what you'retalking about, what the future
looks like right Investment inpeople, locations, tools, but
really, at the end of the day,all of that work one important

(39:05):
piece to the puzzle is also tohave our customers communicate
with us.
So we really want to hear fromyou.
If there's something specificthat we can do to make it easier
for you to do business with us,please don't hesitate to let us
know.
Luke, we've had this greatopportunity to chat and discuss
the company and what people canexpect from Parts for Trucks.

(39:25):
If there's just one thing youwant to leave people with,
what's that one thing?

The transportation industry in
Canada is such an important partof everyone's lives and, even
if it's not a real sexy industryto be in, it's important and
we're really proud of being animportant part of an important
industry and we're reallyexcited about what the future
will bring when it comes to ourability to do a great job,

(39:52):
looking after our customers andkeeping them on the road and
keeping Canada and Canadiansstrong.

Yeah, the trucking industry is the backbone of our
society.
Without it, people's lives andour way of life hang in the
balance, and so it's a greathonor for us to support the
industry, and it was reallygreat to have you on the podcast
today.
Thanks so much, luke.
I have a feeling we'll probablysee you once or twice more on
the show.

Yeah, great.
Thank you, jamie.
Great to be here.

You've been listening to the parts or trucks
podcast.
I'm your host, Jamie Irvin.
In this third episode, we gotto learn about what Parts for
Trucks can do for you.
In our next episode, we'regoing to talk about the only
thing that is keeping 80,000pounds of steel from crashing
into you and your family on thestreets and highways here in

(40:38):
Canada.
If you want to learn what thatis, head over to
partsfortruckscom slash podcastand make sure you subscribe to
either our YouTube channel orthe podcast player of your
choice so that you don't missout on our next episode.
Thank you for tuning into thisepisode of the Parts for Trucks
podcast and, as always, I wantto thank you for being heavy

(41:00):
duty.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}A Different Approach to Parts and Service for the Trucking Industry