Junky crew vehicles.

[hogjowl]

It's been quite some time ... years ... since I have had any real life (none internet) contact with anyone in our industry. Earlier this week, while I was at TCS, I ran into that dude with the dog I was telling you guys about, and Mike mentioned that he was running a Butler rig. So, I wanted to go out and look at it. Man ... the sight of what that rig looked like was really a disappointment. The van and unit itself was pretty new and the outside of the van looked fair, but when you opened the doors it looked like a junk yard. There was sh#$ piled up on top of Sh#$ and you could barely see the Butler unit. I honestly don't see how anyone could work out of something that messy and filthy. If I spent $45,000 on a new rig from Butler and had my crews treat it like that I would probably pull out a gun and shoot them!

Besides wondering if there are any successful multi-step/multi-truck businesses out there, I am also wondering if there are any businesses running crews who have decently maintained equipment?

 

[Mikey P]

You sure do type more on my board.

 

[Dan Joner]

It has nothing to do with you. He's just trying to make this a more intelligent place. Besides, he's been infected with guruitis.

 

[Mikey P]

How do you pronounce your last name Dan?

 

[Dan Joner]

The way I always have - Joner.

 

[Dan Joner]

Mike,

Did you really sign up for SFS?

 

[Doug Cox]

LOL!!_ Dan

Marty- I just saw one of my competitors vans recently and just can't imagine spending so much money on a rig only to have it destroyed by the people using it. Wouldn't happen here. I think it really comes down to Non-Maintenance.

 

[Jimmy L]

Did he have illegal immigrants or just low life southern white trash employees?

 

[Mikey P]

Yes.



October in Pensiltucky somewheres.


Things could change between now and then but for now the Missus and I plan to attend.

 

[Mikey P]

Avocado Boy's V here in San Francisco is a embarrassment to the industry.

 

[Ken Snow]

Marty

If you spent 45k on a butler it would be used~ they are closer to 55k now with most of the bells and whistles.

 

[judson jones]

Trashy Vans

See if you can top these.
Quite a few we refused to work on until they cleaned up and emptyed their waste tanks.
One proceeded to dump in our parking lot...Showed him the highway.
Other ding bats...Called me at night on commercial job,no pump pressure-Was parked on incomong water hose.
One drove 100 miles to have pump fixed,Garden hose washer to machine was clogged-10 sec repair.
This tops it all,Removed hose to waste tank and ran it direct to blower,believe it or not Sutorbuilt gave him a new blower.
Many times 5 in of sand in waste tank.
One pulled up to shop being towed with chain,Motor Blown,Been like this for weeks,towing van to jobs.
Early TM users were confused and did not know which end of a screwdriver to hold.
.

 

[Guest]

I had a guy , who cleaned his floez filter that goes to the blower, reinstall it on the inlet water side of the waste tank. Plugged up good. He wanted a new blower to we got a chance to look at it.

I had another guy do his own install. When he installed the fuel tap he lifted the fuel gage float, it always showed full. He ran the van out of gas swore it was the machines fault the van would not run. Took it to the dealership , found out he was out of gas.

 

[The Great Oz]

Besides wondering if there are any successful multi-step/multi-truck businesses out there, I am also wondering if there are any businesses running crews who have decently maintained equipment?

Yes, and yes.

This might be a good question for the distributors out there. Do the majority of your multi-truck customers run junkyards on wheels or do they do a pretty good job of keeping their trucks in shape?

 

[Steve Toburen]

When I left the truck (and working full time) as a solo owner operator I had to adjust my values. Simply put, I had to realize that NO ONE was going to do it quite like I did nor up to my personal values.

But then I looked at thirty years ahead of me pushing a scrub wand alone on the truck and I said to myself, "As long as the customer is happy, my employees are happy and I am happy, making money AND BUILDING A BUSINESS THAT I CAN SELL TO FINANCE MY RETIREMENT my personal values re: being an obsessive/compulsive perfectionist can go take a flying leap."

Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training
Jon-Don's Strategies for Success

PS I don't know if Bryan/ Ken/ Tony and all the other multi truck operators are doing this but I will throw it out. I just got sooooo sick of flogging my techs to clean and maintain their trucks. And then I looked at things through my employee's eyes. They have spent 8 or 10 grueling hours out there, made a lot of money for both themselves and me and now they have to go over their trucks with a toothbrush before going home? Not going to happen- at least not without a LOT of resentment and browbeating. So I got smart ...

Some things were still non-negotiable. The techs had to turn in legible, completed paperwork. they had to pull any non-working equipment from their truck and fill out a repair sheet AND tag the steering wheel of the van that an essential item was missing from the vehicle. And then they got to go home. (Or to Kelly's Bar but that is another story ...)

Instead of beating up my techs I went out and hired a sharp, mechanically competent and reliable high school kid. He came in at 6 PM and worked off of a check list and cleaned and restocked each service vehicle AND viewed it as a privilege. I paid him two bucks an hour more than he could make at McDonalds and he loved the job. (It was still less than I paid my bellyaching techs, especially if the maintenance work pushed them into overtime.)

In addition, I hired a mechanic that worked for the State Highway Department who came in and worked on Saturdays and did the more complex repairs and maintenance. Plus he was available on an on-call basis at nights.

Anyway, Sioux wants to go for dinner. But I am still working on a response to your bigger question, Marty. But this post illustrates the value of thinking outside of the box. Two key points with employees: a) Recognize that they will never approach the business like you will and b) pick your battles!

 

[hogjowl]

I've been waiting all day!

 

[Dan Joner]

Personally, going to SFS was not a matter of committing to having to be gearing up to be a multi-truck operation. It was about improving my business. If that leads to a larger operation, so be it. What is to be gained will definitely benefit any size business. KISS, learn what you can and begin to implement it. What Steve, Bill, and Chuck had to off would greatly benefit anyone of you.

Note: This is not a paid advertisement. Just someone who appreciates the value of sound instruction.

 

[The Great Oz]

I'll agree with Steve that you have to be somewhat reasonable about your expectations, but you don't have to baby them if you don't abuse them.

I talked with a guy that had become a job supervisor for large-project commercial plumbers. He spent a lot of time running power tools to be repaired, and when he saw a plumber throw a just repaired pipe saw to the ground he came unglued. Later, the company owner showed him how much money that plumber made the company every day, and that he had learned not to care about tool repair costs.

The number of repairs went down after the yelling though.

PS: I had the opportunity to talk with two truck-mount repair guys today, both said owner operators were far more likely to have filthy equipment than employees of multi-truck operations.

 

[Ken Snow]

While you may not want to eat off the floor inside ours do look pretty darn good for the most part. Our guys restock their truck, but we made it easy by giving them lockers to feed from. They also wash them daily or every other as needed which only takes a few minutes. Repairs are done by our maintenance staff, or they can do some field repairs with a little kit they have for minor things.

One of the best things that was instituted by Brian Hanna is the weekly vehicle inspection. Each Wednesday, every vehicle goes through a detailed inspection inside and outside including waste tanks and all fluids are checked. They are expected to be perfect. There are 5 people doing the inspections each of which takes only about 5 minutes so the whole fleet can be done in about a half hour.

Ken

 

[hogjowl]

What happens to the crew if their rig fails the inspection?

 

[Ken Snow]

Well they are not allowed to leave out till they pass so they learn real quick it is faster and less stress to have it ready than to deal with being delayed further. Every guy/crew is diff so some will try to get away with more than others.