202 - Building a Diesel Shop the Right Way With David Shaefer April 15, 2026 - 00:58:22 Show Summary: David Shaefer shares how he built Cold Front Diesel from side work into a full time operation. He credits his upbringing in his father’s shop for shaping his desire for ownership and freedom. His time in the Marine Corps helped him develop strong leadership skills and a focus on running the business. He explains the importance of investing in the shop’s foundation through facility upgrades and process improvements. David outlines his plans for growth including hiring expanding space and exploring product development. He also discusses how the industry is becoming more technical and requires a higher level of professionalism. He emphasizes training coaching and building trust with customers as key drivers of success. Host(s): Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development Guest(s): David Schaefer II, CEO / Sales Manager Show Highlights: [00:00:00] – David explains the origin of Cold Front Diesel and its unique branding strategy [00:02:00] – Growing up in his father’s shop shaped his view of ownership and freedom [00:04:00] – Meeting his business partner and starting side work while employed full time [00:05:00] – Marine Corps experience forced him into business management and leadership [00:08:00] – Transitioning from side work to full time shop operations [00:11:00] – Rapid growth led to hiring his partner and scaling the business [00:14:00] – Leadership lessons from the military focused on respect and clear vision [00:18:00] – Building a high end facility to match a premium customer experience [00:26:00] – Plans to expand into manufacturing and reach beyond local geography [00:40:00] – Advice on customer trust training and investing in coaching In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. 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You are listening to the Leading Edge podcast. My guest today comes to us from Michigan. This is Dave David Schafer with Cold Front Diesel. David, how the heck are you, brother? David Shaefer: I'm doing great. Doing great, Jimmy. Thanks for having me on today. JImmy Lea: Oh, you're welcome, man. Cold Front Diesel. Where'd you get the name for? Cold Front Diesel. David Shaefer: So since we're up in Michigan, cold front is just kind of a play on the weather. Um, thought it was a unique name and you know, if you Google it, you're, you're not gonna get anything but us or weather. So it's not something that people are trying to fight over. Uh, pretty easy to differentiate us. JImmy Lea: Uh, that's cool. All right, show me. So, so where are you? David Shaefer: Right there, right in the, in the crevice up there. JImmy Lea: I love it. I, so I haven't, I've been all the way from the bottom to the top, went across the bridge to the up, but I didn't get over into the, uh, the pinky area. David Shaefer: Yep. JImmy Lea: When I was up there driving around. So, uh, that's every David Shaefer: vacation area. JImmy Lea: Heavy vacation. Really? They got a lot of camps up there. David Shaefer: Yep. Um, a lot of, a lot of the small lakes and, and the big bay is right next to us, so a lot of people are traveling off here. We have like, right about a mile or two away from us is at one point the third most beautiful lake in the world. So, uh, heavy, heavy vacation area. JImmy Lea: Wow. Third most beautiful lake in the world. Well that's, you know, that's something to stand up and say, hey. David Shaefer: Yeah. JImmy Lea: So what are the first and the second? If this is the third, David Shaefer: I don't know. We're not worried about that. JImmy Lea: We don't have to worry, but we know we're the third best lake in. Right, right. Yeah. You wanna see the third best? Come on and check it out. Well David, I appreciate you being on here and talking about your experience in the automotive aftermarket. Uh, and I really want to get into this with you and your history, your past. How did you start? In the automotive aftermarket. David Shaefer: So my, my dad, uh, was a mechanic as well, and he eventually started his own shop. And, uh, so I grew up in that. He started it in about 2001. So, um. I, I kind of grew up seeing that, you know, that was a majority of my, my young life is, is kind of watching him do that, being involved, you know, when I turned 16, I got a key to his toolbox into the shop and, um, you know, that was, uh, that was my place to kind of go and, and hang out and tin around trucks with friends or whatever. Um, so kind of knew that that was something that I wanted. I saw that, you know. Maybe he didn't make the most money in those years, but he was always present. So maybe he worked a lot of hours, but. If you forgot your backpack at, at home or something, you know, it was, it was on him. Like he could, he could go do that. He could make his own decisions, you know, he could be at the games, he could do things. So yes, he had to sacrifice time other places, but he still had the freedom when, when family mattered or something like that. So, you know, at, at least there was. It was on him, you know, and, and I thought that was, uh, that was cool. There's a lot of pride in him owning it as well. Um, so I always enjoyed that. Um. I don't know how I got into the diesel side of things really. I thought, uh, I think just in the high school area. Um, that's when, you know, I graduated in 2011, so around then some of the, some of the more powerful engines were kind of coming out and, and that was in the diesel performance industry was, was kind of starting to roll around then, and it, it seemed cool. So I ended up, I knew I wanted to do something eventually. I knew it probably wanted to be more, uh. Diesel related. So I went to a tech college. Um, but once you, once you go that route, it's kinda a weird industry to get into being truck specific. So you either go, you know, all automotive general dealership, or you go construction, industrial, semi-truck. Um, so got outta college in 2012. Um, and got a job at a Caterpillar dealership, um, that was pretty local to us, so started working on semis. Did that, uh, for, for a few years and while I was there. Um, so I'm, I have a, I have a business partner, uh, with cold front here. So, um, we actually met at, at Caterpillar. We both graduated same time. Both started working there at about the same time. Um. Both liked working on pickup trucks too. So we would come in and we'd work at my dad's shop after hours on the weekends, whatnot. Um, we were like, this is something that. We enjoy doing, you know, let's, let's see if we can make this happen. Um, so we kind of started, we just started tinkering with that. And then I actually joined the Marine Corps, went off for four years. Um, and I think that was probably what set us up the most for success because we had something that we both wanted to do. Something that, uh, we both, you know, were, we're very excited about. And then. Now I'm in a different part of the country for, for several years. Right? So, uh, what was really cool about that is you hear so many issues with partnerships, right? Um, and I think a lot of them are because you both are trying to be the same person, right? Um, so what was nice is when I was gone. I'm not physically there able to do any work, turn any, any wrenches. So it, it forced me into the management side. I can do the sales, I can do the estimates, I can do the customer contact, um, I can do the books, I can do all the business stuff, but I can't physically work on anything which allowed him to solely focus on just working, just, you know, managing the, the business side. JImmy Lea: Okay. Time out. Hold on one second. Are you saying. That you were away as a Marine and running your shop? David Shaefer: Yes, sir. And, and that JImmy Lea: was, how did you do that? David Shaefer: I mean, we were, we were still, you know, he was still working full time at Caterpillar. I was still in the Marine Corps. Right. So, oh, JImmy Lea: okay. So this is, this is the after hours, weekends we're building up our own customer base. David Shaefer: Yeah. JImmy Lea: You have that flexibility. Okay, I get it now. I thought this was like nine to five and the marine at nine or something and David Shaefer: Yeah, no. So, um, JImmy Lea: so where were, David Shaefer: yeah, it was, it was a slow buildup. JImmy Lea: Oh for sure. And congratulations on doing that. Thank you for serving in the Marines. My wi uh, my daughter is a Marine. She's stationed in Hawaii right now. She's been Oh, very David Shaefer: cool. JImmy Lea: Twice. Yes. So you, did you get put in the motor pool like really quick? David Shaefer: No, so I actually, so I was at Caterpillar for three years and my recruiter was actually, uh, a motor T mechanic and he was like, dude, you'll be perfect. You'll progress super fast, you know, if you take this
