A super solution

Say the words “warehouse on wheels” and you’ll probably conjure up images of tractor-trailers in just-in-time service. But on second thought, consider the little body-job with the plumber at the wheel, says Darrel Yashinsky, president of Plumbers Success International (PSI), a marketing and business services organization for plumbing contractors. Yashinsky developed a spec for what he calls “super trucks,” part of a business management philosophy aimed at maximizing billable time for plumbing technicians through careful inventory management.

PSI’s “super truck” spec, which contractors modify according to their needs, covers the complete interior configuration of the cargo box from top to bottom–shelving layout, parts and inventory, tools, materials, etc. The idea is to stock the truck with virtually any item a contractor would need during the course of the day.

It’s a departure for contractors who typically use half- or three-quarter-ton vans. “It makes your company more efficient,” says Yashinsky, who also operates a contracting business in Concord, Ont. “You can run more calls with a properly stocked truck. You want to try to keep your guys out of suppliers as much as possible.”

Those extra trips chip away at the bottom line of a flat-rate operation, says Roberto Luongo, operations manager for Bossco Plumbing & Heating in Brampton, Ont. His fleet of five trucks are used at residential and commercial sites around Brampton, Mississauga, and Oakville, west of Toronto. The vehicles, a mix of Mitsubishis and Hinos, have 16-foot bodies and can carry about 3,000 pounds more than most panel vans. With automatic transmissions and hydraulic brakes, they’re easy to drive and require no special licence to operate.

Contractors are an emerging market for makers of trucks in the class-3 to class-5 range, says Alan Masters, vice-president of Hino Motor Sales Canada in Mississauga, Ont. Trucking is not the core business, so dealers and truck OEMs have to make specifying the right truck easy, he says. “We match the truck to the contractor’s work requirements. We don’t sell him a truck and hope that he can do his business with it,” says Masters.

The key to the deal is whether the contractor can justify the price of a premium truck. Sticker shock is inevitable: Luongo says each of his vehicles cost about $80,000–fully equipped with shelving–versus $35,000 for a domestic commercial-grade panel van. But he believes the rolling warehouse concept delivers a return on the investment in a bigger truck. If a faucet needs replacing, for example, the technician can offer the customer choices; each of Luongo’s trucks is stocked with 12 different models, plus a toilet or two, a 40-gallon hot water tank, and other supplies.

This gives the technician enormous flexibility to increase the value of the job, Luongo says. If the customer asks, “While you’re here, can you look at…?,” the technician usually has the parts and tools to do the extra job right away. Having the parts in the truck means the technician can actually demonstrate different products rather than just showing a brochure. Standing headroom makes loading and unloading easier. Ladders and piping can be stored inside. Water heaters are stowed upright.

Luongo’s trucks can be used as a workshop when required. A translucent roof provides excellent lighting, and at night, the truck battery runs a lighting system with a timer to prevent running it down. There’s also a workbench with 110-volt outlets (the truck can be plugged into the building power supply).

In his own plumbing business, Baxter Smith Plumbing & Heating, Yashinsky went for a considerably less expensive option. He operates a diesel-powered 2002 GMC Savanna 3500 with a 139-inch wheelbase and a Unicell Aerocell fibreglass body–a favourite set-up among contractors who need storage capacity. Another option: the Dodge Sprinter, the commercial van made by the Mercedes Benz division of DaimlerChrysler. It takes the best attributes of a panel van and combines them with a spacious, integrated body.

Luongo says his super trucks aren’t just rolling stock rooms, they’re rolling billboards. The graphics on the Bossco trucks cost about $1,500, but the expense has paid off in additional business from people who jot down the phone number off the side of the truck. At a time when skilled technicians are difficult to find, he even has a permanent “help-wanted” ad pasted on the side of the truck. Seems that truckers and plumbers have something in common after all.