Consistency Counts

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Let’s say you’ve got nearly 700 vehicles in your fleet scattered across three states, servicing everything from stand-up electric forklifts to D11 Caterpillars. How do you find economies-of-scale to optimize performance of the techs working from your trucks, yet minimize the cost of such a diverse fleet?

Claude Williams, fleet manager for Gregory Poole Equipment Company, focuses on finding common denominators among all his company’s service truck duties.

Extensive analysis of GPEC’s existing service trucks and how the company’s techs use those vehicles allowed Williams and his management group to identify core needs and develop a set of templates for their service vehicles. The latest and most prominent benefit of their analysis was that a properly equipped Ford Transit T350 medium roof van could — in many cases — replace a full-scale, crane-equipped service truck. Though it took time to convince some of the management team and techs.

“When we sent out the first Transits in 2013, a couple of our master techs said there was no way in hell they’d be able to fit all their tools in a van,” says Williams, whose company is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. “They’d spent 20 years accumulating tools, and didn’t like the idea of not being able to have all their tools with them. But once they got used to the idea, pinpointed what tools they really need and saw how functional the vans are, they’ve come back and said that it works better than they ever expected.”

Accurate dispatching essential

One of the keys to the success of the Transit vans is accurate dispatching. GPEC still has hundreds of full-size crane trucks (more about them in a minute). But increased attention to matching the right truck/tech to the job has reduced operating expenses and increased efficiency.

“There’s no one service truck that’s right for every job,” Williams says. “It’s up to me, our dispatchers, and our service managers to send the right unit to each job. We don’t send a Transit out to pull the motor on a D11, and we don’t send a crane truck to service an electric forklift. But we’ll send a Transit out if a machine just needs a software update, or I’ll send a Transit equipped with a PM (preventive maintenance) skid if that D11 just needs maintenance. Fuel savings alone is a big deal. The crane trucks might get eight to 10 miles per gallon on a good day, while the Transits consistently get in the upper-teens to 20 miles per gallon. That alone can save a lot of money across our fleet in a year.”

New Transit vans are ordered with a standard GPEC base package and stripped cargo area, then outfitted by Fleet Upfitter and Supply Company, a.k.a. FUSCo.

“FUSCo removes all unnecessary interior components and sprays the rear with spray-on bedliner,” Williams says. “We install composite headache racks that give us a better seal between the driver’s compartment and the work compartment to reduce noise and fumes the driver has to deal with. Most of our vans are outfitted with Ranger Design products. They’re aluminum so they’re lightweight, but really high quality. If the van will be more for lift truck repairs or smaller service work, we’ll put in custom-built Stanley Vidmar tool boxes, a BelAire air compressor, as well as work benches, one that’s chest high and one that’s waist high, lots of good, bright LED lighting, and at least one fan to help keep the guy cool when he’s working in the van.”

Out of the weather

Williams’ use of the phrase, “working in the van,” is not accidental.

“Our guys can get inside, out of the weather, with good lighting and workbenches to do stuff they used to do outside,” he says. “Instead of just being self-propelled toolboxes and parts haulers, the vans are mobile workshops. The techs have really bought into the concept.”

The versatility of the Transit-series design led to a re-thinking of GPEC’s preventive maintenance vehicles. A custom-built preventive maintenance skid was designed to slide into the back of the Transits, complete with oil tanks, hose reels, fluid pumps and other PM necessities.

“I can build two of these Transits with PM skids inside for the cost of one full-size lube truck,” says Williams. “They get better mileage than the big truck, do the work cheaper, and, by the way, they’re no longer DOT regulated. We thought we’d give the concept a try, and after only one year, they’ve become one of our primary PM service vehicles.”

Trucks still have their places

Williams is quick to note that Transit vans are not the answer to all his service vehicle challenges. His fleet still includes hundreds of traditional large-scale service trucks equipped with cranes, all now selected with uniformity in mind for the division in which they will function.

“We use three basic chassis — for the 26,000-pound models, either Hino 338s, Peterbilt 337s, or Kenworth 300-series,” he says. “Our construction division tends to use the same service body on all their trucks, a 13-foot Adkins 54-inch High Pack body with a 9000-series Auto Crane. We use an Industrial Gold gas-powered air compressor with a 50-gallon tank, and Reelcraft hose reels. Most of the big trucks have either Miller Trailblazer or Miller Bobcat welder/generators.”

Accessory rails in and on the service bodies are now standard-issue on all their full-size service trucks.

“We noticed on our old trucks that the first thing the techs did when they were assigned a new truck was start drilling holes in the body to install hand tool racks, can holders and all the accessories they like to carry,” Williams says. “Over time, all those holes allow water to get in, and shorten the life of the body. We now install accessory rails from the get-go, so that they can hang all the stuff they want without reducing the integrity of the body.”

A few features on the Adkins bodies are custom-built to Gregory Poole Equipment’s standards.

“We didn’t want the lights to look like add-ons,” he says, “So we had Adkins build custom rear light boxes on the corners of the service body that incorporate double-stacked white and amber LED strobe lights. I also worked with them to see if they could build safety walk-up steps into the rear bumper. There’s no reason any tech, much less a 50- or 60-year old tech, should be crawling up over their bumper just to get in the bed or to start their welder. Eventually we came up with a two-step walk-up with a handrail that provides three points of contact as they get in and out of the rear of the truck.”

Cabs equipped with “power everything”

The driver’s compartment of GPEC’s full-size service trucks are also outfitted with techs in mind. The cabs are “deluxe” versions equipped with jumbo, heated mirrors, chrome appearance packages, power “everything,” rear-view cameras, and TigerTough seat covers. A few of the trucks have sun visors over their windshield.

“We want our trucks to look as good as the premier service we offer from them, plus, there are safety benefits from some of the appearance options,” Williams says. “The sun visors have a nice look, but are actually practical, because some of those windshields are so big that the visors cut down on sun glare for the driver. The rear view cameras are standard on all the trucks because they’re just plain practical, as well as a big safety deal, in traffic and on congested job sites.”

Gregory Poole Equipment provides laptops to its field technicians to facilitate remote processing of work orders and time entry, as well as access to a full line of tech and support manuals. All service vehicles have either a Jotto Desk or RAM-type computer mount. As more techs adopt iPads or mini-iPads, GPEC provides RAM mounts for those devices. All trucks are equipped with at least a 1,500-watt inverter as well as power strips to charge and power batteries and accessories.

“My goal has been to create consistent units that can be used across multiple divisions,” Williams says. “No single truck or van can meet all our service truck needs, but we’ve proven that if we get the right base units, we can create a range of service trucks and vans that improve our techs’ performance, at a lower initial purchase price, and with reduced daily expense for fuel and upkeep.”

– Dan Anderson

Dan Anderson is a full-time mechanic and part-time writer based in Bouton, Iowa.

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