Give a field service technician a new, fully-outfitted service truck, and by the end of the first day he’ll be drilling holes or adding accessories to make it “better.”
“They all seem to add something, even to a brand new truck, “ says Gary Hibma, northeast regional sales manager for Maintainer Corporation of Iowa. “Extra lights, extra drawer sets, there are all sorts of things mechanics add to their truck to make it exactly like they want it.”
Climate influences how some service truck operators customize their trucks. In the steamy regions of the Gulf Coast in the southern United States, utility workers who splice cables inside enclosed service bodies favor recreational vehicle (RV) air conditioning units that make that tedious work tolerable. Under the desert Southwest’s blistering sun, some mechanics install retractable canvas RV awnings on their high-side service bodies to provide shade, or add brackets to put an umbrella/sunshade on the end of their truck’s crane or boom.
Mechanics in northern Canada, Alaska, and north-central U.S. have the opposite problem: they often have to deal with tools, supplies and equipment under arctic conditions.
“There are two approaches to working under those conditions,” says Jim Guest, a regional sales rep with Pride Bodies, based in Cambridge, Ont. “Some of the guys prefer that their tools stay cold, because warm tools stick to cold gloves. Other guys prefer to keep their tools warm. If they’re running a lube truck, they need to keep the oil and fuel warm so it will flow.”
Many options for keeping warm
Heaters for service bodies come in many designs and sizes. Some pull heat from coolant circulated from the truck’s engine. Electric-element heaters are an option, while other systems use small diesel-fueled heaters.
“Diesel-fueled heaters like a Webasto unit work well,” says Dean Wilkinson, sales coordinator with Wilcox Bodies Ltd. of Milton, Ont. “Guys put those little heaters in side compartments to keep their hand tools warm, and inside enclosed service bodies to keep their work environment at a decent temperature.”
Guest warns against using a household-type heater for industrial purposes.
“Those little ceramic electric heaters that are designed for use in a house or garage are just a recipe for a fire in a service truck,” Guest says. “You need to use a heater that’s designed specifically for use in a truck under rough conditions.”
Take care with engine-powered accessories
While every mechanic likes to personalize his truck to his needs and preferences, care must be used when adding engine-powered accessories.
“Anti-idling ordinances in cities and (the design of) Tier IV diesel engines often discourage idling engines to power lights and accessories,” says Wilkinson. “Auxiliary power units (APUs) like Miller’s EnPak and the Boss MechanX are popular because they reduce the need to run the truck’s engine, which saves fuel and reduces emissions.”
Gary Hibma, says APUs can do much more than simply provide electric power.
“Units like the Vanair I300 and Miller’s EnPak are self-contained with their own engine, generator, air compressor, hydraulics and inverter,” says Hibma. “You can get them with up to a 240 volt power supply, and the built-in inverters provide smooth power without spikes or irregularities.”
“Smooth” power is important because laptop computers are an essential tool for any modern road mechanic. Many mechanics have discovered laptops need their own accessories.
“Guys are installing Jotto Desks or RAM mounts in their cabs so they can do paperwork, look up tech books or use remote connections to go online with their laptops,” says Guest. “We’ve been putting GFI (ground fault interrupter) electrical receptacles in the cab to give smooth sine wave power for all the laptops and other electronic equipment that guys are using. We had one company that wanted 1500-watt inverters installed in the cab of every truck in their fleet.”
Add simple gadgets to personalize your truck
While high-tech, high-dollar accessories draw attention, smaller, simpler gadgets and add-ons are often just as functional in customizing service trucks to the individual needs of mechanics.
The list, which includes the following items, is as varied and creative as the needs of the mechanic:
• Rubberized tool mats keep hand tools from sliding and banging around in tool drawers. “The thin rubberized stuff you buy at box stores really doesn’t do much,” says Hibma. “Dri-Dek mats are about as good as I’ve seen. Cut them to size and they fit in the bottom of any drawer or compartment.”
• Moisture desiccant packs, such as DriBox, come in a variety of sizes and are designed to draw moisture from the air in sealed toolboxes or compartments to prevent rust due to condensation. Some are designed to be replaced when they’re “full” of moisture, others can be re-charged.
• Lights on the ends of hydraulic cranes provide overhead, adjustable illumination.
• Boot scrapers on rear steps and running boards keep job-site mud out of truck beds and truck cabs.
• Microwave ovens, mini-refrigerators and other appliances provide “home comforts.”
• Spray-on bed liners. “Rather than lining their tool drawers and compartments with rubber mats, guys are having spray-on bedliner installed, like they use to rubberize the inside of pickup truck beds,” says Jason Stansbury, general manager of Palfleet Truck Equipment, based in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Stansbury adds a final, important consideration for mechanics customizing their service trucks.
“Don’t overload or un-balance your truck when you add all your tools and equipment,” Stansbury says. “We balance the bodies to the trucks when we design them. We add two springs to the crane side and one spring to the opposite side to allow for a welder or air compressor and all tools they’ll add. We try to anticipate the weight of tools, and figure the average mechanic will add around 2,000 pounds of tools, depending on the age of the mechanic.”
Tools tend to accumulate
The age of the mechanic makes a difference in the weight of the tools he carries on his truck…?
“No mechanic ever gets rid of a tool,” says Stansbury. “The older they get, the more tools they have. We’ve found there’s a 500 to 1,000 pound difference in the average weight of tools between a young mechanic and an older mechanic. The end goal is to make sure the loaded truck (including all the options and accessories the mechanic adds after he gets the truck) is not only within legal load limits, but balanced from side to side and front to rear so that it handles and drives safely.”
Dan Anderson is a part-time freelance writer and full-time heavy equipment mechanic with more than 20 years of experience working out of service trucks. He is based in Bouton, Iowa.
