Diesel Stories Podcast Recap: Troy Willich on Looking Out for Your Customers

On one of our more recent episodes of Diesel Stories, Jacob and Chris sat down with Troy Willich, CEO and Co-Founder of TDI Fleet Services. Besides being an all-around fantastic individual, Troy has an additional claim to fame: he was Fullbay’s very first customer!

Troy started out as a heavy construction mechanic in the National Guard, eventually moving on to be a reefer tech in Texas. He had a steady job and several side gigs, and as he tells it, “I got so busy with my side work, I had to make a decision.”

Troy ended up starting his own business in 1997. In 2001, he expanded into trailer repair; his existing reefer customers were pretty pleased about that, and a few years later his company started working on trucks.

Troy was quite upfront in sharing how Fullbay has helped his shop. “We built a check-in inspection,” he says, describing how it’s helped TDI’s techs build trust with their customers. These inspections allow techs to spot potential problems long before they can get out of hand and cause a problem. “It’s a moneymaker, and it’s also looking out for your customer,” he adds. “A lot of times drivers are not being verbal or telling their fleet operators what’s wrong with their trucks. You might be the only set of eyes they have.”

The conversation ranged from the future of the industry to how independent shops can better serve fleets. Some of the topics the guys touch on include:

• Why he opted for fleet work vs. a breakdown service
• Why it’s so difficult for independent techs to get reefer training
• How supporting small and medium-sized fleets with PM work can be a cornerstone of your business
• Troy’s thoughts on hydrogen as a long-term solution for energy in transportation
• How Fullbay has made it so much easier for TDI to stay on top of data and communicate with customers
• What advice he’d give to himself, given the chance, in 1997

We know we’ve already said Fullbay a lot in this recap, so we’ll stop in a moment, but honestly, we can’t ask for a better rep than Troy. “We preach it,” he says. “We’re a Fullbay shop, and we live in Fullbay, and we stay in Fullbay.”

To hear more about Troy’s adventures in the industry and why he feels fleet management is so important, head over to the podcast and give it a listen!