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It’s not cheap to
send a truck back to its dealer or to a private shop for repairs.
The high rates these outside sources charge—sometimes more
than $75 an hour—make David Cruz shudder.
Cruz, though, is not
inflexible. If a repair is too complicated to handle in-house he’ll
send the truck outside for repairs.
The trick, of course,
lies in recognizing when each option makes more financial sense.
It’s a juggling act that Cruz doesn’t face alone. The
owners and operators of truck fleets both large and small face it
every day. Under ideal situations, savvy owners will consider a
host of factors—the cost of a repair job, the time a truck
might be out of commission if the work is done in-house versus at
the dealer’s shop, the complexity of the repairs required—before
making their decisions.
Unfortunately, there
are times when the conditions are far from ideal and owner/operators
must make their repair decisions while facing limited options. Just
ask Cruz.
Cruz’s company,
Cruz Construction, works in Alaska. From its headquarters in Palmer,
the company’s crew members build roads, clear land, and tackle
heavy civil construction in some pretty remote areas—chunks
of this massive state that are accessible only by airstrip, boast
temperatures in the minus-25-degree range and, depending on the
time of year, are shrouded in darkness for up to 20 hours at a time.
When something breaks down in such untamed areas Cruz doesn’t
even have the option of sending a truck to a dealer or an outside
source. He and his employees have to solve the problem themselves.
In December 2004 Cruz’s
company was tackling a large erosion control project on the Yukon
river—the largest in Alaska, stretching in total about 1,800
miles—as it wound its way past Galena, a tiny town of about
664 residents. The village sits in a remote stretch of interior
Alaska, a section of the state that in December offers just four
hours of daylight and where the temperatures can dip to 30 degrees
below zero.
It’s not an easy
place in which to work. And the crew’s job became even more
challenging when an alternator on one of its trucks suddenly failed.
“That doesn’t
sound like a big deal until the temperatures we’re working
in are minus 20, minus 30 degrees,” Cruz says. “Then,
when you consider the conditions, it does become a big deal. Everything
was dark and cold, and this truck needed help.”
To solve the problem
Cruz got creative. First he called the local dealership. The dealer,
unfortunately, didn’t have the alternator that Cruz needed.
Cruz then purchased a used alternator from another repair shop and
flew it into Galena. Problem was, when Cruz’s crew installed
that alternator in the truck it didn’t work, either.
Creativity Again Is
Called For
Cruz’s crew pulled parts from the used alternator, used
them to breathe life into the truck’s failed one, and got the
vehicle running well enough to finish the project.
“That was a lot
of work, but sometimes you have to do that in the type of environment
in which we work,” Cruz said. “We didn’t have a lot
of options. It was really up to the crew to get that truck running
again. We certainly weren’t going to be able to send the truck
to a dealer out there. There were no dealers out there.”
Cruz’s story may
be extreme, but it does prove that owner/operators must consider
all outside factors before deciding how to handle a repair on their
fleet. Those that don’t stand to lose a lot of money.
Considering Your Options
Sean Bennett knows trucks, both long-distance semis and heavy-duty
construction vehicles. He’s worked 35 years in the trucking
industry, teaches truck technology college classes in Toronto, ONT,
Canada, and is the author of several trucking books, including Heavy
Duty Truck Systems, published by Thomson Delmar Learning.
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PHOTO:
JOE GIMBEL, CASE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT
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PHOTO:
JOE GIMBEL, CASE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT
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It makes sense then that
Bennett also knows the challenges owner/operators face when it comes
to truck repairs.
“There are so many
factors owners need to consider, both when debating how to handle
repairs and how to maintain their vehicles so that repairs aren’t
needed as often,” Bennett says. “Everything has become
more sophisticated than it used to be. And owners have to adjust
to that.”
Ideally, owner/operators
would handle all their repairs in-house, saving on the high fees
dealers and outside repair shops sometimes charge, Bennett said.
But often owners have little choice but to turn to outside help
when it’s time for repairs.
The determining factors
are often the size of a fleet and its age. Technology has long ago
infiltrated the heavy duty trucking industry. And while this technology
has resulted in better-performing vehicles, it has also made repair
work far more complicated, something that makes in-house work more
challenging.
“Most of today’s
trucks run off databases. They have multiple computers managing
them that are all linked together,” Bennett explains. “If
you have a relatively modern fleet—both highway and vocational—you’d
need specialized computer diagnostic equipment just to access that
database. Most owners are not going to have that available onsite.
They’re going to have to turn to outside sources to deal with
these more modern trucks.”
Owners, of course, can
handle these repairs in-house if they are willing to spend the money
to purchase specialized tools. They must also be willing to spend
the dollars necessary to train their employees in how to deal with
their trucks’ computerized systems.
For many owners, though,
spending this money makes little sense.
“If you only have
three or four units in your fleet, that’s really not enough
to justify the purchase of special tools or training to handle the
repairs,” Bennett says. “For owners in this situation
it’s actually more cost-effective to let the dealer handle
repairs.”
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PHOTO:
JOE GIMBEL, CASE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT
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Owners who operate larger
fleets, though, might consider investing in the tools and training
needed to handle repairs in-house, says Bennett. This especially
makes sense when owners consider that much of their heavy work is
seasonal in nature. Companies don’t perform much road construction
during certain times of the year because of weather conditions.
Owner/operators, then, can concentrate on repairing and providing
specialized maintenance to vehicles that are largely idle during
this time.
Maintenance, in fact,
is the key for all owner/operators who want to save money on repairs,
Bennett says. Performing routine maintenance can make the in-house/dealer
question pop up far less often.
Most fleets operating
today come with specific preventive maintenance systems, many of
which are driven electronically. Original equipment manufacturers
will design a maintenance program centered around an operator’s
specific needs. It’s then up to operators and owners to follow
that maintenance program. Those who do will save loads of money
they’d otherwise spend on trips to the repair shop, Bennett
says.
“Developing and
following a preventive maintenance plan is definitely time well-invested,”
he comments. “Preventive maintenance was almost ignored 12
years ago. Now it’s become a buzzword for the industry.”
Most preventive-maintenance
plans recommend certain activities—say an oil change or filter
change—after vehicles reach either a certain number of miles
or a certain number of engine hours. In the case of construction
vehicles, preventive-maintenance plans are usually driven by the
number of engine hours a truck logs.
Owners can tailor their
maintenance plans depending on the type of work a machine does.
This, Bennett says, is crucial.
“Consider air filters.
A filter on a line haul truck can last about four years. That same
filter in a construction application where a large degree of dust
is being kicked up can be plugged in less than a week,” Bennett
says. “A maintenance schedule has to consider that and can’t
treat the filter the same if it’s in a different type of vehicle.”
A preventive-maintenance
program would instruct the operator of the heavy-duty construction
vehicle to launder its filter on a schedule that makes sense for
the work the truck performs. If the truck is operating in a particularly
hostile environment—say it’s dealing with grain dust that
can plug a brand-new filter during an eight-hour shift—a preventive-maintenance
plan will include a host of options for operators seeking to drain
as much use as possible out of the filter before having to purchase
a new one.
“Maintenance has
gotten so much more sophisticated over the years,” Bennett
says. “There has been a major thrust toward this over the last
dozen years. The cost of downtime is being reckoned to a much higher
degree than it was just a dozen years ago. There are so many good
software programs now out there that can monitor the exact performance
of a vehicle. Everyone is under a much higher degree of scrutiny
than before.”
The Importance of
Relationships
There’s another factor for owner/operators to consider
when debating the in-house/outsource question. Do they have strong
relationships with either local dealerships or mechanics they trust
to provide fair service and a good price? Such relationships make
sending trucks out for repairs an easier decision.
Allyn Ricker, highway
superintendent for the Town of Hartford in Vermont, is fortunate
to have such a relationship with a local Ford dealership.
“If we have some
technical problems they help us out,” Ricker says. “If
we need some minor help with something, we can drop a truck off
there and they’ll help us with the repairs or help us do whatever
is needed to get that truck running again.”
Early last winter, for
instance, one of Ricker’s crew members was driving the department’s
Ford L800 truck, plowing snow from the town’s roads. Unfortunately,
the truck’s engine blew in the middle of the job, leaving the
crew member stranded while fat snowflakes continued to fall.
Ricker called upon his
favorite Ford dealership. The local shop quickly shipped the department
a re-manufactured motor. Ricker’s crew members changed some
parts, installed the repaired engine back in the truck, and continued
their plowing duties.
That is only one time
when Ricker has called on the local dealership for help. The relationship
is an important one because Ricker’s department is responsible
for maintaining about 140 miles of road. That means he must keep
his fleet of dump trucks, pickups and plows in good working order
or risk falling behind.
“It obviously hinders
us in our treatment of roads in the winter time to have a truck
out of service,” Ricker says. “We don’t have a spare
truck. We do have equipment set up so that we can use trucks for
multiple uses. One truck [out of service] we can struggle through.
Two out of service would be a little touchy.”
To prevent excessive
repairs, Ricker and his crew members perform routine maintenance
in-house. They base the need for oil changes, tire maintenance,
transmission checks, and other maintenance on the amount of use
each truck engine has registered. For example, Ricker’s crew
changes a truck’s oil after 200 hours of engine use.
This schedule keeps trucks
in good working order. But when problems do occur, Ricker—despite
his strong relationship with the local Ford dealership—must
make the tricky decision: Should he handle the repairs in-house
or outsource the work?
Not surprisingly, this
depends on the type of repair needed and the type of truck that
is having problems.
“We try to do as
much here as we possibly can, but you can’t always take on
the work yourself,” Ricker says.
Ricker’s department
does employ a mechanic. This staffer works as a mechanic half the
week while spending the other half of his time working on the streets.
Ricker’s fortunate that his road foreman is also a former mechanic.
“These two are very
knowledgeable of how to maintain and replace all this stuff. If
weather and time permits us, we prefer to do a lot of work ourselves
rather than send it out. It just saves money that way,” Ricker
says.
When problems hit the
department’s heavier equipment—its loader and grader,
for example—Ricker usually sends the vehicles outside the department
for repairs. The reason? It makes more economic sense.
“Some of those machines
require specialized tools,” Ricker said. “Those are tools
you need in your tool bins that we don’t have. It might be
a tool you use once in 10 years. We just can’t afford to put
a tool like that in stock. And local dealers, if it’s a specialized
tool, they don’t like to let them out. They don’t like
to see them get broken or lost.”
The Million-Dollar
Question
When asked how he handles repairs, Ed Carson, one of the owners
of C2S Group, a construction firm based in Sutherlin, OR, laughs.
“Well, that’s a good question. That’s the million-dollar
question, isn’t it?”
For Carson, it’s
certainly an important question. Send too many trucks out for repairs
and a given year’s profits can be nibbled away. Handle all
repairs in-house and Carson’s employees might be wasting their
talents—talents they can better spend out in the field.
Carson, though, made
his decision years ago. He doesn’t employ an on-staff mechanic.
When something goes wrong with one of his trucks, he sends it to
a local repair shop with which he’s long done business.
This makes sense for
Carson largely because of the size of his fleet. C2S Group employs
six trucks. That’s a relatively small fleet. It makes little
sense for Carson to have a mechanic on staff. That mechanic would
spend most of the time doing nothing—hardly a cost-effective
hire.
Carson trusts the work
of the repair shop to which he sends his damaged vehicles. While
participating in this interview, in fact, he has hired the shop
to repair a dump truck suffering from a broken axle.
“They’re putting
it together right now,” Carson says. “It’s just a
truck getting old, it needs some work.”
Like most owner/operators,
Carson can’t afford to have his trucks out of service for long.
His company specializes in road construction and is frequently called
upon to build logging roads. Carson needs all his trucks operating
well to handle such work. Equipment sitting in a repair shop waiting
for repairs means lost income. That’s why Carson’s strong
relationship with his local mechanic’s shop is so important.
“The shop is pretty
timely in their efforts to help us,” Carson says. “We
appreciate that, and that’s why we continue to work with them.”
Of course, there’s
one other step owner/operators can take to minimize the amount of
truck repairs they’ll face. They can always work with as few
trucks as possible.
That’s the strategy
Dan Balkema, president of Kalamazoo, MI–based Balkema Construction,
takes. Balkema keeps his fleet of trucks at a minimum. He currently
operates just six of them.
“I avoid trucks,”
he said. “I just can’t justify having them around. I guess
I’m not a trucker at heart.”
Balkema, when he needs
a larger fleet, simply contracts the actual trucking out. This prevents
him from having to worry much about costly truck repairs.
Most owner/operators,
though, won’t take such drastic measures. They’ll instead
continue the balancing act of mulling over a host of factors before
deciding to handle repairs in-house or to outsource the work.
“Our repairs aren’t
excessive,” says Cruz. “And we do all the routine maintenance
to make sure they don’t get to that point. If I have something,
though, that is starting to cost me too much, if it’s needing
so many repairs that it’s losing us money versus the amount
of revenue it brings in, then we’ll get rid of it.”
Dan Rafter is a technical
writer based in Chesterton, IN.
GEC
- May/June 2005
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