
Vander Haag’s started as a junkyard on the heels of the Great Depression and, since then, has grown to 11 locations across the country with seven salvage yards keeping the chain in used parts.
But that’s not all.
The company’s services have grown too, along with its customer’s needs. And Vander Haag’s unwavering commitment to those customers helped the company to win the 2024 Trucks, Parts, Service Distributor of the Year Award Tuesday at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week in Grapevine, Texas. This award was sponsored by Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network (CVSN, Cummins, High Bar Brands, Interstate Billing Service and Procede Software.
"It's an honor to be in this room," says Joe McIntire, chief product officer, in accepting the award. "It's a big deal to take this back to our team. It shows the hard work they put in every day."
Vander Haag’s has more than 360 team members that work hard to maintain the relationships so important in the heavy-duty business.
“We’re all trying to take care of the customer,” McIntire says. “We’ll figure out how to get the customer the part he needs, how he needs.”
Consider Vander Haag’s state-of-the-art website. It allows its customers to find parts online and not have to talk to anyone if they don’t want to.
“Everyone wants to communicate differently,” McIntire says. “I have customers that Snapchat the part they need.”
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Vander Haag’s designed its own CRM system in house to best address customer needs. The company doesn’t specialize. It does it all, bumper-to-taillight. New, used, rebuilt, all makes and models, which is a lot to keep track of. Using the system, an employee can look up a water pump, for example, and give a customer all available options to fit any budget. On its website, chat to assist feature ensures when a customer puts a product in their cart, they’re making the correct purchase.
“It’s a vital part of our organization and our industry,” McIntire says.
Not only does the company keep an eye to the future as far as customer communication, but it also looks to future technology in the trucks. It partnered with ClearFlame in 2022 and is working with it on ethanol-fueled trucks.
“Just being involved at that level has been eye-opening,” McIntire says. “It’s been good to be part of that world and understand how it’s changing.”
He says the company is staying abreast of ever-changing emissions regulations and trends and is ready to go in whichever direction the industry takes.
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“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about our industry, it’s that we’re very adaptable,” McIntire says. And to continue to be successful, businesses have to react to market changes the right way and be able to pivot. Success means being able to think through all of the regulatory options possible and have a plan for each one.
“I don’t think anything is guaranteed anymore,” McIntire says.
Vander Haag’s also is active in industry organizations, such as HDA Truck Pride, the CVSN and more, and is involved in advocacy for the Right to Repair.
“Associations are important,” McIntire says. “Associations are powerful. Right to Repair is a good example. If everybody joined forces and is going with the same message, there’s nothing stopping us.”
The company also has sights on continued growth in new parts segments in the coming years,, continuing to grow local markets and help their customers be profitable. But McIntire stresses the company wants to do it the right way.
“We’re not satisfied. We’re not going to settle,” McIntire says. “We’ve got 11 [locations] and we’re not good with that.”
Growing and keeping a productive company culture is critical to successful growth, but it’s difficult when a company gets a certain size. McIntire says the company spends “a ton of time, energy and resources” to make sure everyone feels valued and gets time to reset.
“Creating culture and maintaining a positive culture is hard. It’s difficult. It’s not something you go in and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’” he says. It’s something every person in the company works at every day. “We want people to like where they work and enjoy coming to work and talking about it.”
A great company culture is one of Vander Haag’s best recruitment tools. McIntire says the company has several married couples working for them, and even multiple generations of the same family. It also offers referral bonuses, additional vacation time, tool incentives and plain cold, hard cash.
“When you make it a place people want to work, they tell their friends and family about it,” he says.
McIntire says when a company takes good care of its people, those people want to take care of the customer. When customers reach out to Vander Haag’s, he says, they typically aren’t having a great day.
“They’re in a spot where they’re not making money,” he says. “So they might be fired up. You have to take care of that.”
Supporting customers also means supporting vendors. McIntire says the company brings vendors on ride-alongs so they can see customers on their turf. They also host training with vendors and customers to get everyone up to speed on the latest equipment.
Other finalists for the 2024 Distributor of the Year were First Call Truck Parts, Freedom Truck & Trailer, San Diego Friction (Wetmores) and The Service Company.