Do any of you company employees get a say in your service truck choices? Had a meeting with the boss today, it's time to start replacing some of the service trucks, and he would like our input on chassis, cranes, etc. just wondering if this was the norm, or is there something else to this?
I had some say in what I got. The boss gave me a dollar amount and we both shopped around and found my f650 and agreed on it.
Same here, I just had to find a truck within our budget. The bosses didn't really care about the particulars. They figured I had done more research and had more informed opinions than they did. Plus I'm the one who has to work out of it for the next millennium.
Feel luck if you get to put your two cents in when it comes to your service truck. I work for a dealer and the only people who figure out what to get are office people who only look at price.
Sounds about right. The people behind a desk know better about what the mechanic needs than the mechanic.
I worked at a place where the driver spec'd out his own new lowboy tractor (been lowboy driver 20+ yrs) then some pinhead in the office threw it out and ordered something completely different. When it showed up the driver almost quit and the truck was useless. You couldn't even drop the neck because the frame rails were too long. The WB was too long, it was under powered, and a Western Star to boot. Ugg.
Like I always say the mechanics don't order the office computer's so why should the office geeks order the trucks
Yep. My new truck was 1,800lbs over weight before I put any parts on it. Several of us are over weight but we won't buy a new truck for another 7 years to address this.
Go big. I keep runing out of room.
My advice, since they were nice enoug to ask, even if they ignore what you say over budget concerns, make two lists: One with what you really SHOULD have to do your job safely and efficiently and will give the company longest service life and best residual value, and a second list with absolute MUST have, cannot live without, anything less will be counterproductive bare minimum. Keep it real and expect to live somewhere in the middle between the two, but you've established the "floor" to work off of and I think you'll find that works with most reasonable bosses/owners.
you ALWAYS want more room!!! I could have a 53' semi trailer & still want more room!!! I have a buddy that uses a old beer delivery trailer as a site work trailer for filters,oil,& parts!! DO you really need that much stuff? depends on where you are working related to the supply house. yes there is a bare minimum that you can have, another thing to think about is do ALL the service techs need this big of a truck? can they use this big truck/equipment to its full potential? if not put them in a smaller truck!! I know of several mechanics that have had the owner ask them what they need/want, those guys save the owner more than the truck cost every year on repairs tho. he knows where his bread is buttered to, keep them happy & all goes great!!
I like lantraxcos idea and clintm that is so true. Please realize they see a way bigger picture than you do (unless your on the board of directors). There are many pieces to the equipment purchase puzzle. If you are working more than 1500 hrs a year out of a service truck is have the cheapest operating cost if it is brand new. The bigger the equipment is that your working the bigger the truck needs to be. ......TIO
I got to pick the cab configuration on mine, other than that I just waited to see what they came up with as far as box, crane, air compressor, drawer packs ect. They pretty much already knew what they were going to do there, just wanted to know if I wanted a crewcab or extended cab.
I have always felt the truck needed to be designed to fill the needs of the operation. Most all the mechanics I've known wanted bigger; a huge crane, 25 CFM plus compressor, at least a 300 amp welder, bolt bins, tool box drawers, 3 foot step bench on the back, air conditioning and all the big lights. Problem I've had in providing them and getting them set up is why do we need that truck when it will never leave a mine site or we only work on skid steers, TLBs, small dozers and maybe a telehandler. I can't see the expense for a big truck if you aren't going to do major work. Big truck means big tires, more insurance costs, higher fuel consumption, CDL license, higher maintenance and repair costs and so on. So if I'm talking to the pencil pushers I'm lining up the types and frequency of work that needs to be done using the truck and the costs of hiring outside venders to complete what you don't have the right equipment to perform. They don't understand the wear and tear nor the risks of getting something running again when the truck crane is too light or doesn't have the reach needed to pick a swing reducer out of the excavator. Do you have another machine capable of the lift? How much production will you loose? What if you have to work on tracks in the field. Do you need the 1" drive air wrench? That should define your air supply. Do you run a wire feed welder? Maybe that will define the minimum size welder. You have to do your home work and present facts that can be acted on by the office geek. If they don't listen, then don't kill yourself making them look right.
Do most companies seem to stick to the same body manufacturers or do they switch around.?