Saving Lives One Truck at a Time

Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus empowers fire departments around the world with the help of Salesforce and Accounting Seed.

You often don’t think about them until you need them, or until they rush past you on the highway to get to their destination. But, they are a vital part of every community, saving lives each day. They are the men and women who serve as firefighters. For Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus (BMFA), serving all firefighters with the best fire trucks they can afford is far more than a business. It is a way to give back to communities across the globe. 

A Negative Becomes a Positive

The company was founded by James Wessel in 2001. James was a firefighter for the Brindlee Mountain Fire Department and had a poor experience when the department was in need of a Firetruck for their department. Being a volunteer fire department, funding was very tight, even for things the department needed – they had to be strategic with every purchase to ensure the department would stay afloat to serve and protect the community.

“Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus began out of an experience I had as a firefighter myself with the Brindlee Mountain Fire Department,” said James, president of BMFA. “We needed parts to keep our trucks going, and the man we bought a used engine from didn’t keep up his end of the deal. This was disheartening, but fueled a passion to start my own, honest business.”

Little did James know that this encounter was the experience that would set BMFA on the path of excellence in every aspect of buying, selling, and fixing used fire trucks. Today, their oath to fire departments around the world is: To deliver what is promised with excellence, display a spirit of service, demonstrate sincere gratitude for business and relationships, and to execute all business dealings with integrity.

“We want to serve those who serve others. By providing fire and EMS personnel the best-used equipment in the industry, we are equipping them to serve people and save lives without having to question if their equipment is going to work,” said Jason Parsley, chief operating officer.  

Keeping Transparency Alive in Business

As the world’s leading provider in used fire trucks, BMFA continues to look for ways to evolve and grow. They never stay complacent in order to reach a high level of excellence each day. From employee training to the customer experience, BMFA never stops looking for ways to improve. The right people and technology have enabled BMFA to successfully streamline the business and remain poised for continued success. Before Salesforce, BMFA used multiple systems to run the company, including ACT for their CRM, QuickBooks for accounting, PTM for parts and operations, PAYCOR for timekeeping, and hundreds of Excel spreadsheets.

Since the move to Salesforce in December of 2014, BMFA now has one source of truth rather than data in multiple systems. In specific, BMFA first started leveraging Salesforce’s Sales Cloud to make the day-to-day sales tasks more efficient. The Sales Cloud allowed the company to effectively manage sales and customers, and when they brought Accounting Seed into the mix, a full 360-degree view of their business was established. 

“Accounting Seed plays a vital role in our ability to function at the highest capacity. We’ve streamlined our monthly closing cycle from 25 days down to three days. A huge win for us!” said Jason.

Part of BMFA’s mission is to be transparent in all business dealings, and Accounting Seed gives them a vehicle with which to stay true to this promise. Because Accounting Seed is native to Salesforce, there is transparency in every department, including at a managerial level. When it comes to pulling reports and creating custom dashboards, the ease and visibility  in doing so is “vital in managing sales and operations, allowing our team to work with the data to become better, rather than constantly working to get the right data.” 

Doing What They Do Best

In the first 18 years of BMFA, over 7,500 fire trucks have been sold to all 50 states and countries as far away as Saudi Arabia, Madagascar, Belize, Chile, Bahrain, and more! The right mission, the right people, and the right technology have enabled BMFA to deliver excellence to every customer, so fire departments can keep doing what they do best: saving lives. Next time you see a fire truck race by you during the day, take a moment to be thankful for the men and women who risk their lives to help others in need. And who knows—maybe they are driving a Brindlee Mountain used fire truck, one that is reliable and built with integrity, just like your local firefighters. 

To learn more about Brindlee Truck Fire Apparatus, visit them online at https://www.firetruckmall.com/AboutUs.