Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/712830
T he fi rst decade of Action Truck Parts was one of change. Nick Seidel hopes the second is one of opportunity. Now in its 11 th year of operation, Action Truck Parts has come a long way since Nick's father Ben Seidel and Acme Truck Brake and Supply's Bill Dudek partnered to open the business in 2005. Nick, now vice president and sales manager, has been with the company from the beginning. In looking back at those early days, he says the business has always been one focused on opportunity. In fact, he says that's the reason it exists in the fi rst place. "My dad owns a fuel injection company and in the early 2000s he was building a new facility for it [in Bolingbrook, Ill.] and realized he was going to have a large amount of warehouse space available," Nick recalls. Unsure of how to best use the space, Ben began investigating options and was eventually directed to Dudek. Dudek's Acme Truck Brake and Supply was thriving across Chicagoland in Elk Grove Village, Ill., and it didn't take long for the two successful entrepreneurs to see potential in Seidel's available space. Within two years of meeting, the Bolingbrook store opened. Two years later it would undergo its fi rst change. "[Dudek's] main location became incredibly busy," and required his time and attention, Nick says. Eventually the partners determined it would be best to manage each location separately, so Ben Seidel bought out Dudek to become sole owner of Acme Truck Parts. It didn't stay that way for long. The Seidels were soon ap- proached by Canada's Traction Truck Parts, and in November 2007 the Bolingbrook store became one of Traction's fi rst United States facilities. It would remain with Traction for nearly six years, and when it changed again, it was Nick who took the reins. "Over the years I worked my way up and when we started talking about another direction that's when I became fully involved," he says. His fi rst move was to grow relationships within the indus- try to give the business its best chance at success. When the facility sliced "tr" from Traction to become Action Truck Parts in 2013, it did so as Chicagoland's newest VIPAR Heavy Duty distributor. It has since taken off, acquiring a new facility in Rockdale, Ill., last month, and Seidel is optimistic the business could grow even larger in the coming years. He attributes his optimism to a staff eager to help its cus- tomers, and burgeoning supplier relationships that continue to help Action Truck Parts gain a foothold in the vast Chicagoland marketplace. Once customers are exposed to Action Truck Parts, Seidel says he wants them to feel compelled to come back. "We know when a customer comes in here he's probably mad. He has to spend his money to fi x something. We know he doesn't want to be in that situation, but we want to make sure we can calm him down and make sure to get the right [part] the fi rst time," he says. "We want every customer to be happy when they walk out the door." Source: Google Maps, Action Truck Parts Action Truck Parts at a glance Action Truck Parts offi cially opened its second location in Rockdale, Ill., on July 1, and the company hopes to expand further in Chicagoland in future years. Action Truck Parts An inviting, easily accessible showroom greets customers at the Action Truck Parts location in Bolingbrook, Ill. DOTY Finalist By Lucas Deal, Editor lucasdeal@randallreilly.com 12 T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | A u g u s t 2 0 1 6