Brad Schmeusser of Aui Power of Elkton, Md., checks out a Load King service body at the Custom Truck One Source booth at ICUEE 2019
Now that Custom Truck One Source has had its own rental fleet test drive its Load King line of Voyager service trucks, they’re ready for the larger market, according to the company’s CEO.
“We actually put them in our own fleet first and let our guys bang them around for a year to make certain we knew where we were at,” CEO Fred Ross said at a press conference during the International Construction & Utilities Exposition in Louisville, Ky., in early October. “So if there was an issue or something, we would find it. We’re happy to say things are progressing very well. We’re ready for the market and really excited.”
The “sweet spot” for those bodies is in the class 6/7 and class 4/5 sizes, he said.
The Voyager 1 is the larger mechanics body while the Voyager II model fits smaller trucks that don’t require a commercial driver’s licence. The Voyager trucks also come in configurations that have rollup doors. A Voyager P model is built for propane markets.
Ross said he expects the company can sell the trucks directly and through its own distribution channels. Custom Truck One Source now has 26 locations across the U.S., about 1,600 employees, and a rental fleet of about 4,700 units that geared primarily toward the utility world.
“But we are straying outside of that some, and we’re happy about that,” Ross said.
He is also happy to promote the company as “the true one stop shop.”
Custom Truck One Source has grown rapidly in recent years and even gone through name changes. It was formerly called Utility One Source, a company that formed in 2015 out of three family businesses — Custom Truck & Equipment, Utility Fleet Sales, and Forestry Equipment of Virginia.
Ross said Custom Truck One Source will surpass $1 billion in sales this year. That’s triple the $330 million in sales that Custom Truck & Equipment posted in 2014. And it’s a far cry from the company’s beginnings.
“We started as a family company in ’96 with zero dollars,” Ross said. “So we truly live the America Dream.”
About four years ago, his company acquired Load King, a 65-year-old trailer manufacturer, which now also makes the Voyager service trucks. Load King recently acquired the boom truck, crossover, and truck crane product lines from Terex Corporation.
“We were looking to build our own crane anyway, so we were happy to buy that brand,” Ross said. “So you’re going to see some stuff coming a lot faster than people thought we could do it.”
Ross hinted at more products and greater vertical integration in the future, which he says will provide value to Custom Truck’s customers.
“We’re happy to rent it them, sell it to them, lease it to them, dispose it for them, buy it back, rebuild it, or sell it to our auction.” Ross said. “So we really are the true one stop shop — period.”
— Keith Norbury