Selecting your next service vehicle: you don’t have to be an expert in service vehicles to select the best one for your business
Published in: Electrical Contracting Products
Date: 2/1/2006
By: Julie Wavering
You’re busy enough going to jobsites and bidding projects. You don’t have time to research what service vehicle is the latest and greatest. Yet, it’s so important to select the right vehicle because it’s directly related to your productivity, your company image and your bottom line. If you take a few minutes to think about when, how and where you use your vehicle, it will go a long way to paying off in your final selection.
Job Types
The type of jobs for which this new vehicle is intended makes a big difference. Will it be servicing customer’s problems, working on new installation projects, or a mixture of both? If servicing, then look for a vehicle with plenty of room to store and organize parts and inventory. There’s nothing worse than going to a job and not having what you need. The customer may just have a faulty connection, or may need a whole new drop installed. Searching for parts or having to make a trip back for parts costs time that could be spent on another job and potentially make the tech look unprofessional to the customer.
Also, look for a sturdy cargo area, something that can easily haul the heavy tools and parts you might need. If this vehicle will be used mainly on commercial jobs, then you’ll be on-site all day and will no doubt be carrying heavier inventory and tools. If you will be doing both new installation and servicing, then your need for organized spaces and cargo area just doubled. Be sure to take into account what your inventory needs really are when deciding how much payload you’ll require.
Job Locations
How far you may have to travel to get to your jobsite is an important consideration. Are most of your jobs in town or do you travel miles away to work on projects? If you’re in-town, you can cut down on how much wiring, conduit, and tools that have to be carried since you could just stop back in the shop if absolutely necessary. If you travel any distance, you can’t afford to drive back if you’ve forgotten a part. You need to have sufficient inventory on hand plus all the tools you might require as well.
Security
If you’ll be working at a site with a high crime rate, a secure vehicle is a must. Make sure you can lock all compartments simultaneously and independently for a double layer of defense. Also, check the door construction. Can you easily fit a crowbar into the hinge to pop the door off? If you can, so could a thief. Another safety measure is to eliminate all the glass that you can. If a window isn’t there, it can’t be broken into.
Work Flow
Think about how you use your current vehicle. Are you always saying “I wish … “? Make sure your next vehicle not only fulfills that wish, but exceeds it. Do you need a covered, bulk cargo area that you can lock? Is your best tool always getting lost under a mountain of wiring? Watching what’s done day to day and noting what takes away from getting the job done quickly will show you how the vehicle needs to be laid out. Quality service vehicles can easily be customized to work the way you do. From the addition of shelf dividers and plastic bins to complete storage systems, sometimes the simplest addition can really improve your efficiency. Be sure to explore the options available to you in the market today.
External Environment
Where you live and the kinds of weather you drive in are big factors when choosing a vehicle. Do you get a lot of snow, which means your roads are covered in salt, cinders, or sand? Do you live near the ocean with salty air? If so, you’ll need to pay extra attention to the paint on your vehicle to make sure it protects against corrosion. Be sensitive to the base metal, in addition to the type of primer, as well as the finish paint type and quality to be sure you are getting something that will last.
Company Image
How your vehicle looks says a lot to prospective and current customers. Make sure yours says success. Your vehicle is also your number one opportunity to advertise. Look for a vehicle with flat spaces to place your company name, logo, and most importantly, your phone number! Sitting in traffic, your vehicle has a captive audience that radio and TV ads just can’t compete with!
Internal Environment
If the driver of the vehicle isn’t comfortable, then work performance will suffer. Look at the construction of the vehicle to make sure the cargo area can be easily accessed from the cab if need be, or can be closed off to keep noise down and the cab temperature easily controlled. You’ll also want to observe how effortless it is to get into the cargo area. Is it a comfortable step up into that area or a struggle? Remember, a happy tech means a productive tech.
Armed with this information you don’t have to be an expert in service vehicles to select the best one for your business. Besides, do you have the time to worry about it?