How Will the Independent Service Channel Survive the Next 10-Years?
Learn what the independent service channel needs to do to survive the next 10-years from an industry leader who is designing technology that is part of the solution.
Episode 116: The way we buy and sell heavy-duty parts has been rapidly evolving, and the things that are driving these changes are expected to intensify over the next decade. If heavy-duty parts distributors and repair shops want to not only survive, but thrive, they need to quickly adapt, or risk being put out of business in the next 10-years.
In this episode, we discuss what the independent service channel must do to make the transition to a digital sales channel, and how consolidation, demographics, and technology are major challenges but also is an opportunity for those that are willing to make changes to the way they do business.
Our guest is Tyler Robertson who is the Founder and CEO of Diesel Laptops. Tyler has developed the industry-leading apps Diesel Parts and Diesel Repair and he is working to take a big bite out of the $34bn in heavy-duty parts sales over the next few years so he is the person we need to talk to about how the independent service channel will survive the next 10-years.
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Complete Transcript of Episode:
You’re listening to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report. I’m your host, Jamie Irvine. And this is the show where you get expert advice about heavy-duty parts that keep trucks and trailers on the road longer while lowering costs per mile. Do you sell heavy duty parts? Will you be able to be in business in 10 years without an e-commerce platform? That’s a pretty big question. And the future of your business is at stake. In today’s episode we’re going to answer that question. My guest today is Tyler Robertson. He is the founder and CEO of Diesel Laptops. Tyler has developed the industry leading apps, Diesel Parts, and Diesel Repair. You’re going to learn a lot about those if you haven’t already, by being on the show, heard about those apps. You’re going to hear a lot about them today, but we’re going to be talking about it in the context of the future of parts distribution. And Tyler is someone who is taking a look at that $34 billion in heavy-duty parts that are sold every year. And he’s making moves to take a big bite out of that so he’s the man who can answer our questions about the future of parts distribution. Tyler, welcome back to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report. So glad to have you here.
Tyler Robertson:
Awesome Jamie, it’s always great to have a conversation with you.
Jamie Irvine:
So let’s get into it right away. Will you be able to be in business in 10 years if you are a heavy-duty parts distributor without an e-commerce platform?
Tyler Robertson:
Well, I’m going to say no with a little bit of yes, but I’m going to explain that to everybody here, because what I look in our industry is everyone says we’re 10 to 15 years behind the automotive industry. And that’s pretty much true when it comes to safety, technology, emissions, and I think parts as well. So when you really look at it today, how many independent parts retailers are there in the automotive industry? Very, very few. And the ones that aren’t are very specialized. They’re in antiques or certain segments or junkyards. They’re really in their little, little, little corner because frankly they got pushed up by all the big guys that came in with all the money. And I think that’s part of the conversation too, is those big guys, publicly traded companies with thousands and thousands of stores and tens of thousands of employees. They are coming for HD. There is no doubt about it in my mind.
Jamie Irvine:
So we recently did a poll on LinkedIn and we asked this very question, 86% of respondents said, no, you will not be able to be in heavy-duty parts distribution without an e-commerce platform. 14% said, yes. What are the 14% who said yes not quite understanding about the future of heavy-duty parts distribution.
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah it’s maybe that same 14% that were sitting around a Blockbuster boardroom when that whole thing was going down. Right? They don’t understand that it’s not just, they’re going to say, well, we have inventory, we have knowledge, we got relationships. I agree you have all of those things, but what the internet has proven time and time again, pick a segment, toys, books, clothing, it doesn’t matter, people pick convenience. And at the end of the day, people that have the convenience and the option to click a button or tap a button and have something magically show up at their doorstep, same day even now, or two days, which is a long delivery time. Now it’s a reality in a lot of industries and as much as just want to keep fighting it off, it’s a very, very difficult thing to do. And as I said earlier, it’s not just those traditional automotive parts retailers that are coming. It’s the e-commerce guys that are already there and doing this, looking for expansion.
Jamie Irvine:
So I think of, of the situation of many of the independently owned heavy-duty parts companies, let’s say you’ve got four stores, you’re kind of a regional player. Maybe you’re in one or two states. How much time do you have to start the whole transition to a digital sales channel? Is it too late for that kind of a player? What’s the situation from your perspective?
Tyler Robertson:
Well, it’s not too late because HD’s just not quite there yet. Yeah. There’s a lot of e-commerce stores. You can pop up and have some categorization and find the things you’re looking for. The real pivotal moment in my mind really happens once people can look up their own parts. That was really one of the big changes that happened in the automotive industry is when all of a sudden ACES came out there and PIES and retailers had access to this information. And e-commerce logistics started becoming a thing that the avalanche to the dam kind of broke. And I think you’re going to see the same thing on HD. People still have that problem. I can’t quite find what I’m looking for. I’ve got to call a dealer. I need to talk to an expert and they have all their challenges as well. Those experts are retiring. The baby boomers are leaving. All these other things are going on. And to me, that’s when the dam breaks and they got to figure it out. So I would say they’re not too late, but they got to start putting some effort and some thought and some research into how do I keep my business alive for the next 10 years? Because I can tell you having a brick and mortar store and waiting for the phone to ring or people to show up at your doorstep probably isn’t gonna cut it in the next 10 years.
Jamie Irvine:
So for people who may be are unaware, you used a couple acronyms, ACES and PIES. If you want to go to auto care.org, that’s where the ACES and PIES definitions can be found, and you can learn all about it, but just for people listening, maybe they’re driving in their truck right now. What really is the ACES information?
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah so if you go on a website like Rock Auto, I can easily go on there and I can say, what year, make, model I have and what components do I need. And then it spits out all the components. If I need a tie rod or any of the steering component, it’ll tell me. And not only just what one part number it’ll tell me a whole bunch of manufacturers that make that same thing. So they do that because they get information. The ACES information is what it’s called from the manufacturers. And they provide it to all the retailers. Some retailers choose to prop up websites. Some retailers choose not to use it, some choose to use it on internal tools, but that’s what allows us to look up stuff. And that’s never really existed in HD, but as I keep talking about, the automotive guys have used it for years. And they’re the ones now that are doing it with HD parts and trying to figure this out because they know the data is the key to win in this game, in the long-term and really growing their business.
Jamie Irvine:
And PIES is very important to e-commerce because it’s a different set of data points. What is the PIES information and how does it correlate with an e-commerce platform?
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah that’s the other piece of it you need, so you may know what it fits, but what is it, how much does it weigh? What are the dimensions? How many in a box, how many in the crate, how many in a pallet, what materials that made out of, and you have to have all that stuff to even calculate shipping charges. And there’s other reasons to use that information as well. So you really need both sides of it to really figure out what that part is and how I can ship it and what size box and shipping charges and logistics. So both are critical pieces. And it’s just funny. Our whole world comes down to data, bits of data that you need to transact and grow a business. And that’s really what it comes down to heavy truck parts world.
Jamie Irvine:
Let me ask you something. So let’s think about it from that perspective of that store owner. He’s got four stores, couple states. Has he been insulated a little bit because heavy-duty is behind where automotive is? What I’m trying to say is, is that if that data was magically available tomorrow, would that accelerate the whole e-commerce thing? And is that why we’re not quite there yet in 2021 and we’re still looking 10 years out?
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah. I mean, it would accelerate it and what people need to realize, if you’re selling parts today, who are you competing against? You’re probably competing against people in your geographical area, right? Those are the people that you’re competing against every day, selling parts to the same customers. Once the data is out there and people can look up their own parts, or if easy ways to buy those parts. Now you’re competing against the entire internet and your competition just changed dramatically. And it can no longer be about, we have the best people and we got the relationships because ease of business is going to win nine out of 10 times in my opinion.
Jamie Irvine:
We’re going to take a quick break. We’ll be right back. Would you like to advertise on the Heavy-Duty Parts Report? Head over to heavydutypartsreport.com/contact and fill out the form. Spots are limited and on a first come, first serve basis. We’re back from our break and before the break, we were talking about the future of parts distribution. We’re talking about the e-commerce component of it. I want to move to another big subject. And that is the way that demographics are playing a major role in what the future of parts distribution is going to look like. So, Tyler, how is baby boomers retiring accelerating this whole trend towards a digital sales channel and having e-commerce in heavy-duty parts distribution?
Tyler Robertson:
So I’m going to compare this again to the auto industry. So the auto industry, the average hourly wage of a parts counter person at an auto parts store is a little less than 17 bucks an hour. Now that’s 34 grand a year. That’s that’s okay, money. It’s not great money, and they’re not taking super talented people to do this. They have all the look up tools. And that’s why when you call the auto parts store, you know, you joke, you call them for a wiper blade and they’re like, what color is your car? How many cylinders? Right? Because they’re going off a script and a guide to do that. And they’re able to pay people those wages and do those things because they have the tools to do that. So translating that to the HD world, I think if anyone is sitting here, that’s ever bought a part or work with somebody, who’s the best parts person they have?
Tyler Robertson:
It’s probably that gray hair or no hair that’s been doing it for 20 years that knows exactly how to do things. So they’ve done it forever. And the fact is there’s no school you go to, to learn for that stuff. Usually the career path is, oh, that guy was in our warehouse or delivering parts. Let’s make him a counter guy, have him sit here for five years and he’ll be a great counter guy for us. And that’s a really difficult thing to do. So now you have baby boomers retiring. In an average year, I can’t remember exact numbers but like 2 million baby boomers retire in an average year in the U S, which is a big number. COVID happened and all of a sudden an additional 6 million people retired in a given period. So all of a sudden you have a lot of people that just said, I’m retiring early, I’m done, I’m never coming back to the workforce. And a lot of those are the exact people, the talented people that are on those parts counters. How do you backfill that? How do you train them? There’s no school you go to, to look up parts. It’s all OJT, right? So there’s a problem brewing inside. It’s always been there. I know when I was a parts manager a decade ago, it was hard to find good qualified parts professionals. It’s even more difficult today. And it’s going to get even more difficult tomorrow as the years kind of keep clicking on. So again, data helps solve that problem. You had tools that allow people to look up their own tools or parts and do things. All of a sudden, you don’t need to go pay that parts counter guy, 60, 70, 80 grand a year. You can go pay someone that doesn’t have quite that skillset. And that has dramatic impact, obviously when you’re selling parts to lower your cost base.
Jamie Irvine:
Right so this tracks for me. The statistics are very easy to figure out for people who are studying demographics because they just look at birth rates and we know that the youngest baby boomers will be completely gone from the workforce by 2030. So that’s why this 10 year timeframe is so critical. And so when I was coming up through the ranks, you know, there was a formula to training people in the parts game. You started them as a delivery driver, they would handle the parts, they would get to know the customers. They start to get some familiarity with those parts. Then you’d move them into the warehouse and they would start picking parts. And they’d start to look at part numbers and start to make mental associations between the actual part and the part number. And then you would move on the counter on the weekends. And then eventually they would be moved up to a junior parts person, then a senior parts person. And then maybe one day there’d be like a parts manager that was a 20 year journey to get that person from delivery driver to parts manager. We don’t have 20 years. And so if there’s no clear path to accelerating the training for new parts professionals, let’s talk about your app Diesel Parts. How is that going to play a significant role in solving this issue where we just don’t have the time to train people to solve this demographic issue?
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah. I mean, it’s going to come with technology, right? So I just, I post this on LinkedIn, not too long ago, it was a guy holding up a ticket number. He was at a parts counter and I don’t remember the number. It was like, you know, he’s like number 58. And it was like now serving 30. And the guy’s like, I’m going to be here for two and a half hours waiting on the parts. And it all goes back to the problem. They can’t look things up fast enough and they can’t deploy those parts fast enough. So Diesel Parts that’s our whole intent is we’re an efficiency company when it comes to repair process. And part of that, a big part of that, is the wasted time you have looking up parts or calling around four or five people trying to find the part you need.
Tyler Robertson:
What’s my price. When can I get it? All those things. It’s 2021. You should be able to go onto a mobile app, go onto a website, not need a VIN, go look up the part you need, whether using a tape measure, whether you use an application, look up or use an exploded view or any of these other methods to find the part you need. And then furthermore, that’s what you can do today, furthermore, you should be able to see where it crosses to. We do that as well. And then furthermore, you should see who hasn’t been stock and how soon can I get it? All that should be done in a matter of minutes instead of the matter of 20, 30, 40, 60 minutes, it takes day to answer that question inside your shop environment. And it all leads back to that is causing a problem in the repair side, technicians are sitting there waiting, not working on trucks, decide do I pull it out to work on it? So there’s a big, huge gap of time that’s lost. And to me, technology needs to solve it because there’s not going to be solved by adding more bodies at it. There’s just no more bodies to throw at it.
Jamie Irvine:
That’s right. That’s right. So for people who want to identify parts themselves, they want to use it. Now you could be a parts technician. You could be the repair technician. You could be an owner operator or a fleet person. Diesel parts is available completely free, go to parts.diesellaptops.com or download it on your Apple or Android device. The app is available 100% free. You had to go build this because it didn’t exist in heavy-duty.
Tyler Robertson:
We spent millions of dollars doing it right? And the crazy thing is we give it away for free! We don’t charge you anything for it. And really there’s underlying reasons for that. And the other one is the sister app to it, Diesel Repair. We said, Hey, that’s another problem. People have fault codes. They don’t know how to fix them. What do we do? Well, let’s build an app to have fault codes and wire diagrams and instructions and torque specs and recalls and TSPs and all these things. And let’s link them together. So very soon I’m actually, if people are listening, they can probably go that. I know they can go to the Android store and download the diesel repair app for free and use it for free. And the iOS version should be out very shortly as well. So, and it’s linking those together, we fully intend to go from a fault code to repair to the part number you need to buy in less than three minutes. And that’s the goal and that’s where it’s all heading to.
Jamie Irvine:
Fantastic. So that actually brings something to mind. Recently, for the first time I had some people commenting, I got called some pretty nasty names about an episode that I aired centered around the diesel repair technician shortage. And I had some people become very passionate about this subject. There was quite a heated debate going on between different listeners about whether or not there even is a shortage what’s driving it. Fleets are saying they can’t find good people. Repair technicians are saying it’s low wages and poor working conditions that is preventing the industry from attracting people. How does this, like, regardless of what the drivers are of this issue around repair technicians, because there’s a shortage of parts technicians, there appears to be a shortage of repair technicians. And again, whatever the reasons are, the reality still is less people in the industry. So how does fewer repair technicians actually play a role in accelerating the need for e-commerce parts purchasing over the traditional distribution model we have today?
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah. I mean, I’ll say this it’s all good for us, right? Because we know there’s these problems and people can debate all they want, the fact is there is a tremendous shortage of diesel technicians. There is going to be a bigger shortage as the years kind of keep clicking on here as well. And it all goes down to wasted time. So I talking to Keith Ely, Kea Associates, one of their key people over there makes the comment, ” I can guarantee you my paycheck, I walk into a shop, less than 50% of your technicians are actually touching a truck.” And you know what? He’s never lost that bet. He’s a hundred percent right because they’re waiting on parts counter, they’re on a computer doing something, they’re trying to find repair information. They’re doing all these other things and not actually touching the truck, trying to get it fixed and doing diagnostics. So this all plays together. You got it. They have a shortage there. We’re trying to work on that problem. That shortage is it’s confounded by the problem that they can’t get their parts quick and efficiently. So there’s all these kinks in the armor that are just causing a problem. And to me, they’re all really related together. And I’m going to go back to the fact, technology will speed up the way things are done and things are repaired. You already see it happening with all the vehicle data coming off vehicles through the internet. Now you don’t have technicians in shops diagnosing trucks, you have experienced professionals in call centers diagnosing trucks, and that trend is going to continue. And if you believe that’s happening, which it is, I have all the data to back that up then now who controls the parts purchasing experience? It’s not the guy in the shop. It’s the guy in a call center somewhere saying, I know what part this guy needs, I’m gonna make sure it’s available when he needs it. So the dynamic is shifting. It’s not gonna shift overnight, but it is definitely shifting in that direction.
Jamie Irvine:
Yeah. That makes total sense. I saw a slide that you put together about some undeniable facts about all of this. I think now’s the time for us to just recap what you had on that slide, because I think it’s just going to emphasize the points we’ve trying to make. So why don’t you take it away Tyler, what did you have on that slide?
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah. So here’s my whole premise. My basis for a lot of these arguments, look at the automotive industry, the big manufacturers, I think many of the big retailers have pushed out all the small independents, right? There’s very few left there. They’re pretty much gone. You now see that on the manufacturer side of the automotive industry, those guys, they are not buying automotive manufacturers. They are buying heavy-duty and technology companies. You look at some of the big ones that have happened lately with Dorman. Dorman who sells 95% automotive goes makes a $330 million investment in the HD business. Buying Dayton. So here’s the thing. They do a billion dollars with automotive companies, the big four. Who do you think they’re going to go to, to say, man, you already buy your automotive parts, why don’t you stock some HD parts. We have all this catalog available to you. And I guarantee you, all those companies are publicly traded. All they care about is growth, right? That’s all they care about. That’s their stock. The shareholders want growth. They’re only going to get it really three ways, build more stores, sell more parts, HD, or go to other countries where they don’t have parts stores, right? That’s kind of their options to grow their business. So I see with automotive company manufacturers and retailers really getting into us, that’s a, that’s a huge part of it. And e-commerce the fact is a huge growth. You look at Amazon. Amazon sells $10 billion a year in automotive parts and accessories, right? It’s just an astounding number. That’s that’s equivalent of what O’Reilly’s does, right? Or Napper, or some of those guys that are out there. And they’re growing 30% a year, right? Just in a remarkable clip. Everyone knows this and everyone’s investing money there. This isn’t this little side game, this is people spending billions of dollars to go build these infrastructures and networks. So I really see that happening. I really see automotive being the ones. We do ACEs and PIES, they know data, they have warehouses, they have logistics and they have relationships now with automotive manufacturers getting into HD parts. To me, it’s just not if, it’s when. And then you couple that with experienced parts professionals retiring, and there’s not a way to train these guys, independents have to figure it out. They need to get either in a real niche and be really, really great at it. They got to jump on the e-commerce bandwagon or figure out another revenue stream besides what they’ve been doing for walk-in traffic and phone traffic. So yeah, there’s a lot going on there behind the scenes that I think a lot of people really haven’t looked at in a certain lens.
Jamie Irvine:
We’re going to take a quick break, but stick with us because we’re going to give some really specific advice to each level of the supply chain when we get back. Don’t have a heavy-duty part number and need to look up a part? Diesel Parts is a cross-reference and parts look up tool that makes it easier to identify heavy-duty parts than ever before. Go to parts.diesellaptops.com or download the app on Apple or Android to create your free account. We’re back from our break. And Tyler, you’ve done a great job of breaking down the realities of where the heavy-duty parts distribution and repair industry is going. We’ve talked about your apps, Diesel Parts and Diesel Repair, as technological solutions to some of these problems, let’s break it down for our listeners. So we’ve got listeners who are owner operators or vehicle owners, and maybe they’re driving down the highway right now, Tyler, how can they use apps like Diesel Parts and Diesel Repair to their advantage?
Tyler Robertson:
So I’m a member of a lot of Facebook groups, right? Like I love to hear and see what people are talking about. And there are dozens and dozens of Facebook groups devoted to basically truck drivers asking questions on, I have this fault code, what do I do? I don’t know how to remove this part, what do I do? I got quoted 10 hours to do this job, how long does it really take there? They’re asking all the questions. I’m like, man, that’s all the exact stuff that we have. So first of all, if I owned a truck, actually I own five or six trucks, but we just used them for demo purposes, but if I had a truck and actually use it to make money with, I would, first of all, get the right tool that can read all the proper fault codes. We have tools that are a couple of hundred bucks that will do exactly that thing. Diesel Decoder is a great tool, Bluetooth hooks up to your phone. It’ll read all your full codes. You can one tap and instantly see repair information for that fault code. So today we can get you all the way there to the repair information and tell you what part you need to buy or what component. Right? I need an EGR valve. We have another system that tells you how to look up that part number. We’re combining the two. So very soon people will be able to go from that fault code all the way to that. But if you own a truck or a couple trucks, you don’t need a $10,000 diagnostic school to triage. You need a $500 less tool to do triage. Diesel Decoder is by far the easiest, most cost efficient way and it’s tied into the repair information.
Jamie Irvine:
So Tyler, we did an episode on Diesel Decoder. We’ll include that in the show notes, a direct link, so people can learn all about it. And in the show notes, we’ll also have the link to your site so people can go ahead and buy that. So now let’s talk about a repair technician. If you are in a repair shop or you’re a mobile mechanic, how can you leverage these apps? Like Diesel Repair or Diesel Parts to make more money?
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah, so I ran a repair shop before, we had a little bit of mobile stuff, but it was mainly in shop stuff. And the big thing is you want to know what’s going on with that vehicle, right. And really best practice, I’m an ex service manager, I was for five years, I should do a vehicle health scan before I work on it, to see what I’m getting myself into and make sure there’s no gotchas and maybe even sell some more work and I should go work on it and do another scan once it’s done, really just to do a CYA and make sure I fixed the thing. Right? So I should do those things. And there’s tools. We have free PC based software that does those things, the Diesel Decoder can do on demand. We have a dashboard coming up soon where you can see all those things, but if I’m in the repair business, you need to figure out what your baseline is when you’re working on a vehicle and find a tool that will allow you to do those things. Because once you know, you can take that data and put it on a nice web platform. Now you can really easily manage everything going on. And of course, when you have fault codes, those leads the parts and it improves the process again. Amazing how much data information makes a big deal in our industry, but it really does.
Jamie Irvine:
And if you’re using Diesel Repair and Diesel Parts together, then you also are going to drive down your costs just because you’re going to have better information at a much faster rate. You’re not going to be sitting around waiting for other people to give you the information you need to get the parts ordered and get that truck repaired. So leverage the platform to cut your costs, to cut your labor rate costs and to be able to spend more time on labor rates that you can actually charge money for and, and satisfy a larger group of customers. So to me, I see a win-win, win-win there.
Tyler Robertson:
Really three pieces of free software we offer. Diesel Explorer, which is a PC-based software. You get some hardware and put it on a laptop that can read all your fault codes. You have Diesel Repair that tells you how to fix all those fault codes and how to do things. And then you got your Diesel Parts that tells you what parts you need to buy to actually fix your truck. So we’re giving people three free resources. We’re working on putting them together, and it’s gonna be a beautiful thing once it’s all said and done.
Jamie Irvine:
Again, links will be in the show notes. If you’re driving right now, don’t worry. Just go to the show notes to the episode, links will be there. Okay. We started this conversation talking about the future of parts distribution. I want to end the conversation there. If you are a parts manufacturer or a heavy duty parts distributor, how urgent is it to start developing a digital sales channel?
Tyler Robertson:
Yeah. Critical. So there’s no doubt about it. You know, on the, I would say on the parts manufacturer side you need to work through your distribution or figure out what your method is to do e-commerce right. You have to have one. And if you’re dependent on all your distributors to figure that out, you may need to get your hands around a little bit more and help them work together to put a solution together or partner up with somebody or do whatever it is. The parts manufacturer, the other thing I need to say too, is you gotta build your brand. So if you look today, I needed to buy some parts. I have a Toyota Camry. I need to buy some parts. There was four brands displayed to me. I couldn’t tell you the difference in any of the four brands, I just picked the one that was the cheapest, right? You don’t want that to be your situation to your customers. You want them to know your brand. So they need to do everything they can to put their names in front of customers and build value. So they need to do all kinds of things. And there’s a lot of different ways you can do that. Jamie, I know you work with them specifically on that type of thing and you can, you’re a great resource for them. They have to build their brands. So it doesn’t become a price war. It’s gotta be the right product that makes people comfortable and feel safe buying it. And those distributors, they got to figure it out, man. They know, that’s the crazy thing. I guarantee you, everyone who owns a parts distribution company or works there is buying a lot of stuff online and they do it every single day but they have their head in the sand when it comes to their business on doing it as well. So they got to start just investigating resources, start playing with online stuff, start talking to people. They need to figure it out because if they don’t, I do not see how they’re going to make it 10 more years. I think it’s gonna be a really difficult thing to do. People used to say it was inventory and delivery knowledge. Those are the three things that you have a retail store for. The internet and the unveiling of all this information to look up your own stuff, just totally diminishes their value that they provide. They gotta find new values and there’s a lot of ways they can do that. They gotta be important resources for their customers. They got to find a way to do that.
Jamie Irvine:
You know, Tyler, you and I both love the trucking industry and we believe it’s the backbone of society. It needs to be better supported. And so we were just doing our part. So if you’re listening to this, spread the word about what Tyler’s doing over at Diesel Laptops, the resources in the millions of dollars he’s invested in that is for you. It’s to help you be more successful, regardless of what level of the supply chain you are at. And if you’re a listener of the Heavy-Duty Parts Report, or you know people who can benefit from this message, my consulting business is there to help people make that digital sales transition. And as you can imagine, Tyler’s tools is a big part of that. So we are available to you. We are resources available to you. Please reach out to us and make sure that you take action today. That’s the message we need people to understand, right Tyler?
Tyler Robertson:
Absolutely. And by the way, if they don’t know how to get ahold of either of us, they’re not trying hard enough because we are both out there plenty, right? So just Google our names. You’ll find us, right? We want to have conversations. We want to help. I need the aftermarket to be here for a long time. I want us to have a healthy industry. And like you said, Jamie, it’s the backbone. If we learned anything in the last 18 months, transportation’s an integral part of this country and it’s not going anywhere. And we need to make sure we do everything we can to support it.
Jamie Irvine:
You’ve been listening to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report. I’m your host, Jamie Irvine. And we have been speaking with Tyler Robertson, founder and CEO of Diesel Laptops, who will give you a tremendous amount of free tools to make your business better. Links will be in the show notes, but the best place to start off is diesellaptops.com. But I promise we’ll also have all the links for all the resources that Tyler mentioned. Tyler, thank you so much for being on the Heavy-Duty Parts Report. Always a pleasure to have you here.
Tyler Robertson:
It was a pleasure to talk to you too. My man have a good one.