Service Truck Magazine “Spec My Truck” August/ September 2025
Service Truck Magazine “Spec My Truck” August/ September 2025
Service Truck Magazine “Spec My Truck” August/ September 2025
Service Truck Magazine “Spec My Truck” August/ September 2025
Thus far, 44-year-old Daniel Allison’s path to becoming a field service manager and roving master mechanic for Snead Equip- ment in Snead, Alabama, has been convo- luted. He worked for Komatsu and attend- ed their college, became a certified welder and crane inspector; and to qualify for those certifications, he went to night school to get a BA in industrial engineering.
The build list for Allison’s latest service truck is as long as his educational resume. The custom-built unit started with the purchase of a brand-new 23-foot-long Ser- vice Truck International service body that he mounted on a carefully selected 2007 Peterbilt 379 chassis.
“I wanted an older truck that I could fix myself, quickly and easily, on the side of the road,” related Allison. “I’m out there to fix customers’ equipment, not to waste time working on my truck.
”Allison’s brand-new service body from Service Trucks International arrived with no accessories.
“I mounted the service body on the truck, installed the crane, added the head-ache rack, installed all the wiring and hydraulics, and installed auxiliary lights.
”Lots of lights.
“I installed 62, 4-inch by 4-inch, 8,000- lumen utility lights around the top edge of the compartments,” he explained. “In the cargo area, there are two 82,000-lumen stadium lights mounted on telescoping poles that extend to 18 feet. Then I put six 8-inch, 24,000-lumen LED lights facing forward on the headache rack so I can see where I’m going in the mines. I’ve also got plugs wired on the back of the truck so I can plug in extension cords to power portable lights with magnetic bases.”
He mounted a hydraulically driven BOSS Infinity 80-cfm rotary screw air compressor on the top of the front, driver’s side compartment, which is 60 inches high. The rear section of the driver’s side compartment tops out at 50 inches, which is where his Lincoln Electric 400X multi-function welder lives.
“It will arc weld, MIG weld, TIG weld, and arc gouge,” pointed out Allison. “I use them all at various times.
”He reinforced the rear passenger-side compartments and frame to Tiger Crane’s specifications before installing their Model 1479 crane, which is capable of stretching out to 29 feet and lifting 14,000 pounds. He noted that the crane has more lifting capacity than the truck can support.
“If I do really heavy lifts, I’ve got to do them behind the truck,” he mentioned. “When doing heavy lifts off the side, it can lift the off-side outriggers off the ground.
”Other accessories custom-fitted to the truck include two PTO-driven hydrau- lic pumps. One hydraulic circuit powers the crane; the other hydraulic system is plumbed to detachable hydraulic hoses connected to 40- to 50-ton hydraulicjacks, hydraulic pin presses, and a hydraulic torque wrench capable of torquing bolts and nuts to 17,000 lb./ft.
While Allison fears no mechanical repair (he’s a master-certified mechanic in engines, powertrains, and hydraulic systems), he specializes in diagnostics on CAN bus and computerized systems.
“Somehow, I’ve developed a reputation for figuring out problems with the CAN- bus systems and electrical systems on the big CASE IH/Steiger Quadtrac tractors,” he said. “I’ve had mechanics from other states call me, asking for help because the Case IH/Steiger tech center told them I’d be able to figure things out.
“I started out about the time the CAN- bus systems came online,” he explained, “and I’ve sort of grown up with them as they’ve gotten more and more complicat- ed. It’s hard to explain, but I have a feel for them and have had good luck figuring them out.”
Allison diagnoses most problems via tech manuals accessed through his laptop, but keeps a library of old-school paper manuals in his truck. He prefers their fold- out, large-scale schematic diagrams when working on electrical systems. Allison said that he has had many of those schematics laminated and that during repairs, he affix- es them with magnets to the side of his truck for easy reference.
Another option for studying tech book pages is the 32-inch flat-screen TV in the truck’s sleeper. Mounted on a swivel arm, it works off the truck’s Wi-Fi system.
“I link my laptop to the TV and swivel it out over the passenger seat,” he stated. “I can enlarge sections of the tech book pages and make them a lot easier to see.”
He also has an onboard parts washer, refrigerator, two rear-view cameras, an Eaton hydraulic hose crimper, and other high-value tools and accessories. Allison carries lots of tools and accessories because he covers a 14-state area. “I’ve also done jobs in California, Wyoming, Montana, and New York. It works as nicely as it looks.”