For most earthmoving contractors, a pickup truck is as vital as a bucket or a blade. Here are a few ways to make this basic tool even more valuable to your business.
Ever since the first pickup truck, a Ford Model T, rolled off the production line more than 80 years ago, contractors have been putting them to all kinds of work hauling gear, carrying materials and transporting employees to, from, and around the job site. Over the years, they’ve been outfitting these vehicles with a variety of accessories to make them more versatile.
At one time, the choices were limited to such basic work equipment as hitches, winches, toolboxes, and lift gates. More recently, as the pickups have gained a growing number of fans as a form of personal and family transportation, so has the selection of accessories to enhance the appearance and convenience of these vehicles. Today’s customizing choices range from powdercoat-finished bumper guards and chrome nerf bars to rugs for the bed and even a system that automatically turns on the windshield washers when it senses rain, snow, or spray.
But no matter how you gussy it up, a pickup truck can earn its keep on a grading and excavation project only by working in one way or another to boost profit by boosting productivity.
Here are a few choices, representing a wide range of ideas, for equipping your pickup to help you save time, effort and money on the job.
Organize Your Mobile Office
Designed by a grading and excavation contractor for use in pickup trucks with extended cabs, the new Ultimate Field Office (UFO) by mobileDUZ LLLP offers a way to keep office equipment, supplies and paperwork organized and within easy reach. It also keeps loose objects secure in the event of an accident.
The unit, made of linear low-density polyethylene, replaces the rear seat.
The UFO features separate storage compartments with latching covers:
- The one behind the passenger seat provides lockable space to store various items. Or it can be fitted with an optional electrically operated lift that provides access to an all-in-one printer-copier-scanner. A drop-down door below offers a place to store a jack.
- The center compartment contains three portable files. It can also be used to store three-ring binders or an ice chest. A laptop computer or a slim briefcase can be stored in an additional locking compartment behind the center.
- The compartment behind the driver has room for portable files, binders, as well as clean clothes or a lunch box.
In addition to these compartments, each unit has room for three drawers. The longest one, 49 inches in length, is an option. Equipped with a lock, it provides storage for rolled plans, blueprints, precision levels, fishing poles, and other long, valuable items.
“We also offer a choice of another compartment instead of the drawer, so that you can tailor the UFO to meet your specific needs,” says Debi Manning, a partner in the family-owned company.
An optional 1,000-watt pure sine inverter provides power to operate a laptop computer, the printer-copier-scanner, or small tools. This option also includes two 12-V DC outlets. A first-aid kit and a rechargeable flashlight kit can also be installed in the unit.
The UFO comes with a five-year limited warranty and consists of two components. “The light gray upper component is universal and fits most full-size pickups,” says Manning. “The dark gray lower component is the adapter. It is custom-designed to fit snug to the floor and rattle-free. This unique design offers security and safety advantages.”
Federal safety rules, she notes, require all tools and materials transported in the same vehicle compartment with employees to be secured (OSHA Regulation 29 CFR, 1926.601).
mobileDUZ is also developing a similar type of storage unit for organizing hand tools and equipment.
Field Report
Hiram Locklear, of Wildwood, FL, uses a UFO in his Ford F-150 extended cab pickup. A transmission inspector for a power company, he oversees construction of substations throughout central Florida.
“I work totally out of my truck,” he reports. “I carry around a lot of books and job plans along with a computer and printer and needed a mobile office.
“It keeps everything organized in one package. Before I bought it, I had removed the back seat and would sling everything behind the front seat. Then I’d have to dig through it all to find what I needed. This unit has got my aggravation to zero.”
Locklear uses the UFO to store items like books of specifications, procedures and materials, files, office supplies, a computer and bag with accessories, and a printer.
“Before, I kept the printer in a box and would have to take it out every time I wanted to use it,” he says. “Now I keep it in one of the compartments and just turn it on when I need it.”
Locklear likes the quality of the UFO’s construction and convenient drawers. He uses the smaller ones for pens, pencils, staplers, and the like. The large drawer is handy for storing electrical prints of the substations.
“It’s long enough to stores two sets of prints, end to end,” he says. “Depending on how big they are, I can store as many as ten prints in the drawer.”
Installation of the unit was simple, using the same bolt holes that secure the rear seat, he Locklear reports.
He is also pleased that the compartment covers latch shut. “That way there’s nothing to fly around, should you have an accident,” he says. “I know of a case where a driver in a wreck was seriously injured when a loose stapler hit him in the back of his head.”
More information is available at www.mobileduz.com.
A Computer-Friendly Field Office
Like many grading and excavation contractors, Matt Stibich, vice president of field operations for Loveland Excavating, Milford, OH, uses a laptop computer to keep track of the many aspects of any project. At one time, like many contractors who use them on the job site, he went through the familiar process of taking it out of its travel case, setting it up and then struggling to use in inside he cab of his pickup truck. Not any more. Now his laptop is always ready for work, within easy reach and in a comfortable position for entering data and viewing the screen.
Stibich has mounted it on a heavy-duty stand with a swivel top, which he can adjust to about any height and angle he desires to use while sitting in the driver’s seat of his truck. When he’s done with the computer, it swings of his way. Called the Trek and made by Mobile Desk, this laptop stand mounts, without drill holes, on the passenger side of a vehicle.
“All components have been field-tested and reinforced for rugged applications,” says Doug Mayer, vice president of Mobile Desk, which manufactures the product.
More Productivity
Stibich, who bought his Trek originally to mount in his GMC Sierra pickup truck, has since moved it to his Ford Explorer SUV. Regardless of vehicle, it has made him more productive in the cab. “On any day I may visit as many as 14 or so different job sites,” he says. “I need a laptop to produce the level of memos, job conditions, crew schedule and other documentation that general contractors require. It eliminates the need to make notes by hand in the field and then enter them into a computer when I get back to the office. However, a laptop in my truck isn’t very useful, if I can’t use it conveniently and efficiently. The laptop stand makes it easy to use. Also, since I have a wireless connection, I can leave the computer on while driving to receive e-mails. Then, I can respond once I get to the job site, without waiting for messages to download.”
A company mechanic installed the laptop, which bolts to base of the passenger seat, in about 30 minutes, Stibich reports. He has equipped it with an optional screen holder. This feature is designed to prevent any damage to the screen, the most expensive part of a laptop to replace, by keeping an open screen from moving forward or backward while driving.
Other options include an adjustable visor to reduce screen glare, a screen blanker that blacks out the screen to eliminate distractions for a driver, and a power inverter to operate the laptop in the truck without batteries.
More Choices
The Trek is just one in line of products developed by Mayer for converting the inside of truck or other vehicle to an office-friendly environment. “The idea is to improve efficiency in the field by making it easier to use and organize office equipment and materials,” Mayer says.
Mobile Desk makes several others of types of laptop stands and mobile organizers. The latest model, the Fuzion, offers such features as a safe and secure locking top with a new ergonomic double-articulating arm. Mobile Desk truck organizers have a clipboard-style writing platform, space for hanging files, and storage compartments for flashlights and other items. Mounting locations for radios and an optional beverage holder are also included.
Among the other products are a mobile printer stand and the Xpress Desk. Designed for use only while parked, it eliminates the need for a stand and allows a laptop to be mounted on the steering wheel in front of the user.
The Auto Exec, made of a durable plastic base and a composite wood top, is available in either truck or car versions. Seat-belted in next to the driver, these versatile mobile organizers provide a slide-out writing tray, a non-slip surface for holding a laptop computer, and storage space for files, cell phones, and supplies. Printer mounts are available, too, depending on models.
More information is available at www.mobiledesk.com.
Multipurpose Truck Bed Covers
Conventional covers for pickup truck beds can keep the weather and prying eyes away from tools, equipment, and other materials behind the cab. The DiamondBack HD (heavy-duty) truck cover offers more uses by providing a platform for carrying additional cargo.
In fact, the one-tenth-inch thick diamond-plate aluminum cover will support as much as 1,600 pounds of additional payload, reports Ethan Wendle with DiamondBack Truck Covers. “No other cover is made like this one,” he says. “It’s the strongest one in the industry. The three-panel cover opens at both ends to provide full access to the bed, and you can remove part or all of the cover to accommodate tall cargo, like a drum of hydraulic oil, and other hauling needs. You can use this cover as hard as the truck bed itself and not damage it.”
Each panel weighs about 50 to 55 pounds. Twelve high-strength nylon cleats attached with stainless-steel bolts provide for securing loads on the top.
The cover is installed by clamps that hold the center panel of the cover to the truck bed. The front and rear panels lock with three-eighths-inch-thick galvanized steel rods under the bedrails of the truck. No drilling is required, he notes.
It’s also designed to provide security. “The cover, which includes a lock, is essentially one solid part of the truck to help deter theft,” Wendle says.
The company also makes a lighter-duty SE version for engineers, surveyors, and others who want to secure tools and equipment but don’t need the hauling capacity of the heavy-duty model. The SE supports up to 400 pounds. Each of its three panels weight about 30 to 35 pounds.
Homebuilder Jerry Beke, president of Total Quality Construction LLC in Lyndhurst, NJ, has equipped two of his company’s F-150 pickup trucks with the DiamondBack HD truck covers. His foremen use them to carry a variety of tools and materials.
He bought these covers as an alternative to softer bed tops. “These heavy-duty covers are well built,” Beke says. “We can carry our tools in the back of the truck and lock them up tight and still used the tops to haul two-by-fours, sheets of plywood, and other construction materials.”
He has equipped one of his heavy-duty covers with an option ladder rack. Featuring steel uprights and aluminum crossbars, it has a 500-pound load rating.
Other options available from DiamondBack Truck Covers include:
- HD cab guard—With a 1-inch aluminum tube frame and heavy-duty expanded aluminum body it has a 350-pound capacity.
- Rear rack—Designed for use with the HD Cab Guard, this aluminum rack has a 350-pound capacity.
- Ladder rack cab guard—This option has a see-through expanded metal screen to protect the rear cab window. Hinged to the front panel of the truck cover, it folds flat to allow opening of panel—even with cargo
- Kargo Master Pro II ladder rack—With a 1,700-pound load capacity, it allows you to haul 16- to 24-foot lengths of lumber or ladders.
- Side toolboxes—They bolt to the underside of the center panel of the truck cover and are sold in pairs, up to four per truck.
- Tailgate Protector—This one-eighth-inch aluminum diamond-plate attaches with six self-tapping screws.
More information is available at
www.diamondbackcovers.com.
A Transferable Tool and Equipment Carrier
Fed up with losing a fully functional conventional service body when trading in an aging truck chassis, contractor John Maisch took a different approach when he had to replace his tool and equipment truck earlier this year. This time he bought a service body insert, called Load ‘N’ Go, which is designed to install in the bed of a three-quarter-ton or larger pickup truck without drilling any holes and which can be transferred to another pickup. If he wanted to, Maisch could even slip it off for the weekend.
“I was tired of taking a bath every time I traded trucks, says Maisch, who has owned Oro Valley Heating and Cooling in Tucson, AZ, for the past 24 years. “My trucks wear out before my beds do. Now I can keep the body, better protect the resale value of the truck and eliminate the week of down time it used to take to install a new service body when I bought another truck. I can just move this body from one truck to another. It may be the last tool box I ever buy.”
A Closer Look
Transferable truck bodies are available in steel or fiberglass versions. The Load ‘N’ Go truck body, offers 62 cubic feet of storage space. That’s about 35% more storage space than a standard 8-foot utility body, says Rick Johnson, manager of Fleetwest Transferable Truck Bodies, Phoenix, Ariz., the product’s exclusive distributor.
Empty weight of these bodies range in weight from about 300 pounds for the smallest fiberglass model, to 1,875 pounds for the largest steel version, he notes.
First time installation, which involves mounting a universal clamp under the bed rail to secure the unit, takes about an hour, Johnson notes. “After that there’s no need to remove the clamps,” he says. “Then, you can load or unload the body in about ten minutes with a forklift using the built-in forklift tunnels.”
A jack system, like that used with a pickup-mounted camper, is also available.
The Load ‘N’ Go features a heavy-duty floor, steel compartments with two 150-pound-capacity adjustable shelves and double-panel doors with pneumatic-assist shocks. The unit is painted with a white acrylic urethane automotive-quality finish.
For security, each compartment is equipped with cylinder locks and stainless steel t-handles that can be padlocked.
The options include a ladder rack, a slide-out bed tray, pullout drawers, parts trays, and diamond plating. “You can also select a fully-removable security top that you can open part way to accommodate taller equipment,” Johnson says.
Owners’ Reports
Maisch chose the steel version of the Load ‘N’ Go for its durability in the sunny Arizona climate. Equipped it with options like the slide out bed tray, pull drawers and roll-up top, he uses it to carry such equipment as oxygen, acetylene, and lp tanks, a vacuum pump, refrigerant, a refrigerant reclamation unit, various parts, gauges and hand tools. “I haven’t been able to fill the storage space up yet,” he says.
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Photo: Fleetwest |
| The Load ‘N’ Go features a heavy-duty floor, steel compartments with two 150-pound-capacity adjustable shelves and double-panel doors with pneumatic-assist shocks. |
Maisch likes the ability to adjust the pitch of the shelves from front to back. “I’ve angled the shelves to make the back higher than the front,” he says. “So I can easily see what’s on the rear of the shelves without having to remove any item in front of it.”
Another Arizona contractor who uses the Load ‘N’ Go is Jon Krogstad. The owner of Mustang Mechanical Inc. of Morristown, AZ, he has mounted his steel version on his 1-ton Dodge 3500 pickup to carry tools and equipment for his heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration company.
“When I started the business, I thought about buying a truck with a service body,” he says. “But, the Load ‘N’ Go offered an easy way for me to use the truck I already owned as a service truck. And, if I want to, I can transfer the unit to a different pickup.”
He has equipped his Load ‘N’ Go with a ladder rack, conduit tubes and a vice holder. “In the past, it was hard to keep everything organized in the bed of a pickup. Now, I put a lot of my tools in the slide out bed tray and the rest go into the side bins,’ he says.”
Krogstad also chose a sliding top. “I really like it,” he says. “I can slide the roof back to carry equipment like a tall compressor, an A-frame engine hoist or a refrigerator. Like the storage compartments, it keeps everything locked up and out of sight and protected from the weather.
“This unit is functional, very sturdy and has so much storage space. It’s a contractor’s dream.”
More information is available at www.fleetwest.net.
A Welding Shop on Wheels
Gordy Swan, who provides welding services for customers in Washington, Oregon, and northern California, likes to move nimbly from one job site to another. That’s why he’s equipped his pickup truck with a welder-generator to supplement the welder-generators mounted on his crews’ two service trucks. Carrying a welder-generator in the back of his pickup gives him the flexibility of combing his territory for new work and lending a helping hand to his crews, when needed, on a job site.
“This way I can do welding work with out tying up a large service truck and still scoot from county or state to the next,” Swan says.
His company, Swan’s Fabrication and Crusher Repair Inc., based in Port Orchard, WA, specializes in maintenance, repair, and fabrication work for mining and gravel operations. He’s equipped each of his service trucks, a Kenworth T-300 and a Ford F-550, with a Trailblazer 302 welder-generator made by Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. That’s the same model he uses with his GMC Sierra pickup. This particular unit replaces a Miller Bobcat 250 welder-generator, which has been retired for use at Swan’s home. There, the welder generator stands by to substitute for any loss of utility power. The welder-generators are available up to 11,000 watts.
Simultaneous Operations
Both of Swan’s welder-generator models are designed for pickup and service truck applications alike, notes John Leisner, product manager, engine drive, for Miller. The Bobcat 250 and the Trailblazer 302 are equipped with either a 22-horsepower Subaru/Robbin or 23-horsepower Kohler gasoline engine. The gasoline-engine Bobcat 250 weighs 556 pounds and the gasoline-power Trailblazer weighs 568 pounds. A 19-horsepower Kubota diesel engine version, weighing 720 pounds, is also available.
Depending on model and engine, these engines produce 250 to 325 amps of welding power and up to 11,000 watts of generator power with either 120 V or 240 V. “That’s enough power to run multiple tools, even while a second person is welding,” Leisner says. “Because the Trailblazer 302 features two generators, one for welding and one for generating power, there’s no interaction between tools and the welding arc.”
Swan and his crews make good use of the simultaneous welding and generator capability of their Trailblazer 302 units. For example, the welder is used mostly with a carbon arc and with wire for such jobs as building rock conveyor systems, repairing cracks in a crusher basket and relining boxes of heavy haul trucks and loader buckets. “While one guy is welding another may be using the generator to run a mag drill for working on equipment or to operate grinders and other hand tools,” Swan says. “It’s a reliable source of power and there’s no loss of welder performance when operating tools at the same time.”
Another feature he likes is the unit’s four-pole rotor and three-phase weld output. “It producers a really smooth arc,” he says.
Open Versus Enclosed Engines
There are two basic welding generator case designs: One, the open unit, has a partially exposed engine and cost less. The other has a fully enclosed engine.
Surprisingly, fully enclosed welding generator engine designs are efficient at keeping the motor cooler. The reason is that some these units have built-in air intake and exhaust ports that prevent hot air from circulating back into the machine. When mounted, the air ports direct the hot air up and away from the unit instead of trapping the heat in a confined space like in the open design.
“Our fully enclosed Bobcat 250 and Trailblazer gas welding generators use a specially designed airflow path. This lets you mount the generator right behind the cab in order to maximize the bed space,” says Leisner. “This also happens to be the most popular mounting option for construction contractors because it also ensures that the unit will not be in the way when the crew is lifting large objects into the back of the truck and possibly damaging the unit”
A Total Package
Swan chose a Subaru/Robin engine for all three of his 302 welder-generators. This version costs about half the price of one equipped with a diesel engine and has a more comprehensive and longer warranty. The 12-gallon tank can keep the generator running for 14 hours with a 4,000-watt load, Leisner notes.
Swan has mounted the Trailblazer 302 for his pickup on a skid along with oxygen and acetylene bottles, a MIG box, and a plasma machine, which he also runs with the welder-generator. He loads and off-loads this package with a crane or forklift. The skid and equipment just fits between his cross-bed toolbox behind the cab and the truck’s rear wheel wells. To reach the welder control and leads, he drops the tailgate. A drain tube and valve on the side of the welder allow him to change the engine oil without removing the welder-skid package from the bed.
More information is available at www.millerwelds.com.