PM Truck Of The Month ― Rosenthal Plumbing, Santa Cruz, Calif. - Truck of the Month

Finding Comfort With Orange

David Rosenthal is a third-generation owner of Rosenthal Plumbing. His grandfather started it in the early 1960s as a construction company, where it used the original eye-catching orange color you see in the picture in its logo.

Along the way, the company got away from orange, but brought it back when it began its new service and repair division. Plumbing & Mechanical was interested in getting the scoop on this transition:

“Going from long-time construction to service is like starting up a whole new company,” Rosenthal tells us. However, being able to adapt to the changing market has worked out well for the company.

Rosenthal was used to doing larger, multiunit jobs. At its height, the company had up to 25 construction plumbers. Now it’s working with closer to six or seven. “Not because we’re phasing out of new construction altogether, but work has gotten more competitive,” Rosenthal insists.

The company has always been lucky to make money in construction, he tells us, but California seems to “start the process” when an economy changes.

About five or six years ago, this Truck Of The Month owner saw there was going to be “a hole” in his company if it didn’t adjust its focus. Rosenthal implemented his service sector four years ago through the help of his involvement with Nexstar. “They really helped us get over the hurdles,” he says.

As for its hard-to-miss service trucks, Rosenthal Plumbing has six in its service fleet. They are all Hackney Performers that came preracked. Rosenthal is slowly customizing the interior storage to hold roughly 3,000 parts and two 40- and 50-gallon water heaters.

The orange color is nostalgic for the owner — since it was grandpa’s choice in the company’s early beginnings — but that hasn’t stopped him from tweaking the logo.

“I’ve updated our Web site logo a little here and there, but people love seeing the big faucet on the trucks,” he admits. “The wrapped truck design probably won’t change for a long time.”

He also says the trucks on the road have made an impact. The company tracks its calls by asking customers how they got their number. The leading response is, “I saw your truck.”

“Orange is a warm, inviting color,” Rosenthal says. “There’s just something comforting about buying from ‘orange.’”