in makes the truck go faster and it gives you better fuel economy. The tuning market is a multi, multi-million-dollar market.” There is also a smaller “but growing” market, Dave continued. “We offer free shipping anywhere in Canada.” “It’s a market of young guys, mostly. These are guys who want to drag race their diesel trucks and they’re specifically looking for speed. They want to take it from 400 horsepower to 800 horse power – and it’s not that hard to double the horse power of a diesel engine – but what drives the market in the grander sense is fuel economy. We stick to mostly newer stuff and modern models, 2003 and newer. 2003 was a big year for diesel emissions; 2008 was a really big year. We’re all for a cleaner environment, but a lot of these diesel emission systems are really unreliable. They cause the vehicles to have really bad fuel economy and to run into a lot of problems, which is contradictory, but that’s what makes this such a niche business right now, why we’re so popular. Can you imagine spending 100 000 dollars on a work horse and it’s in the barn every other week? This is a clientele that deserves the best in customer service.” And that is exactly what BC Diesel Truck Repair and Performance offers and delivers to each and every customer online and in their shop. The Dias and the rest of the team at BC Diesel Truck Repair and Performance also understand that it is important to give back to the communities where they do business is part of being a good corporate neighbor. That is why the company sponsors Athletes 4 Kids, which supports kids who can not afford to play sports, because they believe along with A4K that regardless of a child’s socioeconomic status, they should be able to participate in organized sport and BC Diesel Truck Repair and Performance helps provide families with financial assistance so all B.C. children can realize their dream of playing amateur sports. So, it is easy to see that the Dias are focused on keeping you moving and active whether it is at work or play. •
the customer service experience is just as vital. If someone copies down the wrong serial number on an order that means a customer is waiting seven days for the wrong part to arrive, then they have to send it back and potentially wait another seven days – that’s unacceptable. We make sure that our customers get just what they want and in a timely fashion. If someone on our team has a customer on the phone or a customer in front of them they put everything else aside, no matter how busy it is. These are expensive diesel performance parts and most people don’t want to wait long for their stuff.” “People want to get their truck back on the road because time is money.” Ninety percent of BC Diesel’s inventory is shipped directly from Surrey with no middleman for the customer, Dave explained.
“We import a lot from the U.S., which is great because we’re so close to the border here in Surrey. Some of our less popular items we’ll ship directly from one of our suppliers in Alberta or Ontario, but at least 90 percent gets shipped from here – and we offer free shipping anywhere in Canada. It’s appealing for anyone into diesel culture but especially people looking to buy an exhaust system in a box. We’ll ship a five-foot box all the way to Nova Scotia, for example, free.” Dave’s travels as BD’s east coast sales rep molded a Mopar-Challenger child into an expert on diesel culture and its nuances. “There were quite a few fuel seminars from injection shops and things like that, for sure,” he recalled. “My travels still bring me places where I connect with the performance market. With a diesel engine the better it breathes the more efficient and cleaner it runs. That’s where the bigger exhaust and the higher-flow air filters come in. Every bit of tuning people are putting
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2019
57 OCTOBER 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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