Photos by Jessica Whitehead
The Pierceton Peddler repair shop keeps the RV capital of the world running smoothly, as the hero of camping season.
Lifelong friends and RV industry veterans Dale Hochstetler and Joel Miller took over the Pierceton Peddler in October 2023. Previous owners Josh Sommers and Leonard Miller sold the business five years after its 2018 opening.
“Through the grapevine, we heard they wanted to sell. We came here and looked at it, and what we saw was exactly what we had imagined,” says Dale Hochstetler. “It was a smaller business but very well established in the industry.”
The Pierceton Peddler offers full-service RV repairs on any make or model, including cargo trailers and park models. The shop’s 8,000-square-foot building ensures there is no big rig too large to accommodate. The shop’s services include replacing slide-out floors, vinyl flooring, rubber roofs, TPO roofs and more. In addition to RV maintenance, customers can request frame repairs and adjustments to plumbing, wiring and tires. The business also takes on appliance repairs, from water heaters and furnaces to ACs and refrigerators.
JP’s Paint and Auto Body, a third-party Michigan-based company, takes care of any bodywork and paint jobs that customers request.
Pierceton Peddler takes mobile service calls within a 30-mile radius for $145, with an additional $1 for every extra mile to the site. Mobile calls have taken the crew to campgrounds like Jellystone Park, themed after the Hanna-Barbera cartoon and picnic basket kleptomaniac Yogi Bear.
“Usually, the RV campgrounds open somewhere around April 15 — seems like it goes with tax season,” says Hochstetler.
Pierceton Peddler de-winterizes RVs in early spring to ensure that outdoorsy Hoosiers have their homes on wheels ready for happy camping.
No surprise here, but the number one culprit of RV trouble is H2O.
“We do a lot of water damage repair. That’s probably our biggest enemy in the RV industry,” says Hochstetler. “When water gets in, it ruins things.”
Under the new owners, Hochstetler and Miller have taken a step back from selling RVs to focus exclusively on repairs for the foreseeable future. With a steady stream of customers, the pair agreed that this was the best path.
“It’s been cool to see this very dedicated live I’ve discovered,” says Hochstetler. “We have customers from all over so far; our customers are treating us right and have a lot of good things to say about the business.”
Pierceton Peddler is located at 202 Waste Water Drive in Millersburg. To schedule an appointment, call 574-642-3365 or visit piercetonpeddler.com for more information.
