Fleets of service vans are important to any plumbing professional business, especially when the company services a large area like Nashville, but promoting a company can be much more difficult. Unless, of course, you rely on what people recognize from the past.

“I really enjoy rebuilding old cars,” said Andrew Ward, president of Republic Plumbing. “Over the last couple of years we rebuilt our 1965 F-100 Ford truck and people pull over all the time to talk about it.”

Ward, who founded Republic Plumbing in 1988, considers himself a history buff and said they restored the original color of the truck for its historical value. “The truck was really to attract attention, and so far it has worked.”

Using this marketing technique, Ward mostly drives around in the F-100 to do estimates and other small work — but his service vans carry the bigger loads. Republic Plumbing currently has 5 Econ-line 250s to drive around to job sites. Each contains large wooden shelves that Ward and his associates built themselves in order to maximize the amount of space inside the vans. A pipe and ladder rack rests on top of the vans, allowing Ward’s crew to carry 10-ft. pipe.

All the trucks have the Republic Plumbing red, white and blue logo, which Ward decided on four years ago. Modeled after the Betsy Ross flag, the logo stands out on the side of the white vans, making it easily recognizable from a marketing standpoint. Ward recalled it was an easy choice. “Like I said before, I’m kind of a history buff and like the old-style flag.”

Ward was formerly the president of the Nashville PHCC for 2 years and is currently on its board of middle Tennessee. He is also a member of the QSC.

Although Ward is proud of the F-100, he has no plans of slowing down or stopping this marketing tool. His love of cars won’t let him.

“Right now we have another truck, a ’57 F-250 we’re restoring,” said Ward. “We plan to have it ready by next year.”

Republic Plumbing knows the history of its cars, and the history of a car is important to know — especially if it can help your company’s future.