Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/946503
EquipmentWorld.com | February 2018 57 T he traditional large-scale service trucks that have become bigger and bigger through- out the years dominate the world of field service, and they will always remain the most visible in the heavy equipment world. However, vans – as in Ford Transits, Mercedes Sprinters and Ram Promasters – are beginning to play an increasing role as service vehicles for heavy equipment fleets. That's the opinion of Bruce Bunting, industrial products specialist at Knapheide Manufacturing and a 20-year veteran in the service truck arena. Bunting shared this vision of service trucks at the Association of Equipment Management Pro- fessionals Equipment Shift Conference held in October. "The days of simply being larger and heavier are not going to be sustainable," Bun- ting says. "Everybody is going to get smaller. There is a niche now in your fleet for a Class 2 service truck." According to Bunting, five main develop- ments are driving this change in the heavy equipment environment: emissions, weight, comfort, technology and the bottom line. Emissions On Class 7 and 8 service trucks with diesel engines, emissions regulations bring a whole new set of service requirements, not to men- tion additional costs. These engines require a diesel particulate filter (DPF) or diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) to remove soot from the exhaust stream. These devices regenerate or self-clean easily in a highway haul truck barreling down the road at 70 mph. But a big service truck in the field may idle most of the day, causing soot to build up quickly. Even when the technician is using the truck's PTO to drive a compressor or a welder-generator, he's not creating enough heat through the engine to regenerate or burn out the soot. "I still see jobsites where service trucks idle for three or four hours, and there is nobody in the truck," Bunting says. "We still see guys pro pickup | by Tom Jackson | TJackson@randallreilly.com OF THE FUTURE? SERVICE TRUCK Service vans like this 2017 Ford Transit are becoming more common on jobsites as contractors see cost savings with smaller vehicles versus large service trucks. Bruce Bunting grew up in a sixth-generation, family-owned agribusiness and equipment com- pany and has 20 years of experience working with end users to identify, improve and stan- dardize service and support vehicles. He is a veteran of the United States Navy.