Work Truck Magazine, November 2018

4 WORK TRUCK NOVEMBER 2018 It is Important to Order Early and to Anticipate Lead Times n The October 2018 End of Frame editorial entitled Upfitter Backlogs Created by Strong Truck Demand was a good article that contained helpful tips from some of our fleet management company friends This was good advice to follow especially with alternative fuel vehicle systems where its even more critical Paul Shaffer Executive Vice President Landi Renzo USA Corp Dallas Texas With todays high volume of upfits driven by the strong economic activity in most business sectors fleet managers need to add flexibility to their scheduling metrics to address elongating OTD times Today many upfitters are operating at capacity necessitating fleets to be extra attentive to upfit specifications because any engineering change will even further delay OTD It is important to place orders as early as possible to avoid potential risks of delayed production due to the high demand for certain popular models quality holds and uncontrollable transportation interruptions caused by a railcar shortage Similarly it is important to communicate with your upfitter to understand the anticipated lead time and overall production timeframes OEM production timeframes will vary especially around start up and build out dates For instance many times manufacturers will move build out dates forward catching many fleets off guard This results in the inability to place needed orders and will lead to delays in searching for stock units which will come with an increased cost and not an exact chassis spec to conform to the developed upfit Editor Extend PM Intervals Help Minimize Vehicle Downtime n I really enjoyed the editorial in the August 2018 issue entitled Extended Cycling Increases Total Cost of Ownership I fully agree with everything written in the editorial But I would take it one step further to suggest that fleets can also extend their standard PM intervals to save money in labor oil and filters and also help the environment Most fleets do the 4000 or 5000 mile oil change just because they have to and most if not all other preventive maintenance PM needs are done on the 10000 mile interval My company Hubb offers new technology that keeps the oil effective much longer Back when the industry moved to 100000 mile spark plugs we saw this kind of a change and now many of the OEMs are working toward the same thing with oil changes To compete with the EV world gasoline or diesel engines need to become more maintenance free and extending oil life intervals helps fleets in many ways as you can imagine Bob Barna EVP of Global Sales Hubb Filters Inc Atlanta I completely agree Minimizing downtime is especially important for vocational fleets that require reliable vehicles to complete revenue generating jobs You bring up a great point in that one way to minimize vehicle downtime is by extending PM intervals which is possible by recent improvements in engine design onboard oil monitoring technology improved motor oil quality such as synthetic oils and longer lasting oil filters The bottom line is that vehicle downtime results in the lost productivity of a revenue generator Companies that rely on trucks to operate their businesses will tell you it runs thousands of dollars per hour for a single truck being down for unexpected reasons Editor MAIL STOP Change Service Request Return Address Hallmark P O Box 1068 Skokie IL 60076 8068 Vol 12 No 11 Publisher Sherb Brown sherb brown@ bobit com Editor Associate Publisher Mike Antich mike antich@ bobit com Executive Editor Lauren Fletcher lauren fletcher@ bobit com Associate Editor Roselynne Reyes roselynne reyes@ bobit com Senior Web Editor Paul Clinton paul clinton@ bobit com Production Director Kelly Bracken Production Manager Brian Peach 310 533 2548 Senior Art Director LaMar Norman Graphic Artist Jeff Polman For Subscription Inquiries 888 239 2455 BobitPubs@ omeda com Great Lakes Sales Manager Robert Brown Jr 1000 W University Dr Ste 209 Rochester MI 48307 248 601 2005 Fax 248 601 2004 Regional Sales Managers Eric Bearly 303 681 2615 Joni Owens 310 533 2530 Exavious Farley 719 434 7734 Sales Coordinator Amy Hangartner Chairman 1961 2014 Edward J Bobit CEO Ty Bobit COO Cyndy Drummey CFO Armand Del Duca Business and Editorial Offices Bobit Business Media 3520 Challenger St Torrance CA 90503 Fax 310 533 2503