Long-Time Snowplow Truck Upfitter Returns to Profitability by Focusing on Customers and Best Practices

CASE STUDY Snowplow Truck Upfitting

Who Equipment Service

Where Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Challenge Increase snowplow truck upfitting profits and generate repeat customer business

Solution Work closely with key vendors, such as CPS, to reduce installation time and exceed customer expectations

Long-time snowplow truck upfitter returns to profitability by focusing on customers and best practices

Equipment Service For nearly 70 years, Equipment Service of a little over four years, Dinsmoor — an ASE finds that exceeding Hartford, Connecticut, has provided snowplow master certified technician with 20 years of customer expectations truck upfitting and truck repair services experience running a large independent truck and working closely for customers in Connecticut, western and auto repair facility — and his team of Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. For 15 employees tripled the annual number of with vendors to reduce most of those decades, Equipment Service had snowplow trucks upfits. Equipment Service’s installation time are the local market to themselves, and although goal is to upfit 100 trucks each year. two keys to generating profitability waxed and waned like the repeat business. weather, it was generally a healthy business. Equipment Service and Dinsmoor Then, in the 1990s, a number of competitors accomplished the turnaround in trucks sprang up that siphoned off business and left upfitted by focusing on exceeding customer the company with often-negative numbers. expectations and developing best practices Even the purchase of the company in 1999 that begin with an order for a new snowplow by the truck manufacturer, Freightliner, truck and end when the finished product is didn’t immediately turn the business around. delivered to the customer. Whether the best By 2010, Equipment Service was upfitting practice is fine-tuning internal or external only about 20 snowplow trucks a year and communications or purchasing snow and struggling to generate black ink on a consistent ice control equipment from Certified Power basis. Solutions (CPS), the goal of each practice is to build the best possible truck for each customer In 2011, Equipment Service hired Kevin while increasing company profitability. Dinsmoor as the new Service Manager. In

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As a result, Dinsmoor and his team have a keen sense of attention to the customer,” generated repeat business that, in turn, said Dinsmoor. “We always focus on building continues to fuel Equipment Service’s growth. a better truck rather than trying to increase profits by giving the customer a lower quality THE BUSINESS TODAY product. The result has been that after “The core of our business is assembling we build the first truck for a customer, the snowplow trucks,” said Dinsmoor. “Those business just keeps coming back. A lot of times, account for about 80 percent of our business.” the municipal jobs don’t have a lot of margin Regular dump trucks account for 15 percent in them, so our competitors will ‘go cheap’ of Equipment Service’s business and hook everywhere they can. That doesn’t generate lifts and roll offs amount repeat business for them, but repeat business to about five percent. is what is helping to fuel our growth.” Equipment Service has a second shop that does truck BEST PRACTICES repair, complete rebuilds and Communication – “The most important preventative maintenance. thing is good communication among all the “Weather plays a role in departments within your facility, letting our business too. The large everyone know what jobs are here and which amount of snow that fell ones are coming,” said Dinsmoor. “That allows last year has helped to drive us to order all of the equipment and have it at orders this year as cities and the facility before the chassis arrives. That way, towns seek to update their when the chassis arrives, we’re not waiting snow removal fleets,” said for anything; all the materials are here. That Dinsmoor. factor alone can save 90 days. A lot of our competitors don’t order any material until the “Easy-to-install products, short lead times, Whether Equipment Service chassis arrives and, as a result, the chassis sits orders that ship on schedule, competitive prices, is upfitting a Freightliner, outside for eight weeks.” technical support, new products, field support International, Mack or — I can call my regional technical representative Peterbilt, the basic stock Communication with vendors is also important. almost 24/7 — and a collaborative working spirit comes in as a rolling cab and “One way we’ve improved efficiency is to have are some of the reasons why Equipment Service chassis. While Freightliner clear communication with the chassis supplier, has partnered with Certified Power Solutions for is the most requested brand and we’ll communicate up front with them as its snowplow equipment.” in the shop, customers will to what we need on our chassis. For example, sometimes specify other we can get snowplow lights prewired and Kevin Dinsmoor, service manager, Equipment Service, Hartford, Connecticut brands or just leave the bid trailing brakes wires already run in the truck. open. “Then, all the truck If you have that communication with your chassis manufacturers will bid chassis supplier before the truck is built you based on the specifications. can save yourself a lot of time. Otherwise, if a A lot of towns try to keep their fleets the same chassis shows up and there’s a fuel tank right for spares, maintenance and ease of doing where you need to install a hydraulic valve, business. It never makes sense to have six your productivity is destroyed.” different brands of trucks in your fleet,” said Dinsmoor. Meetings – “I’m old school. I have two humongous white boards in my office and I FUELING THE GROWTH keep everything on them so we can all view Many factors have gone into Equipment the boards and have discussions,” Dinsmoor Service’s success over the past four years, but said. “The white boards make it easy to one overriding reason stands out. “We have make changes on the fly. Every morning I get

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together with my parts people and One of CPS’ newest products has enabled update what we have and what Equipment Service to cut three hours off came in. It only takes half an hour a the time needed to upfit a snowplow truck. day, but that’s a big part of making The PowerSmart™ is a centralized power the shop more efficient.” and accessories wiring system. The compact circuit assembly panel fits between or under Partnering with snow and ice truck seats and provides a central power and control products vendor – Given connection point for switches, sensors and that the profitability of upfitting a relay controlled devices. “The PowerSmart new snowplow truck is based on system is easy to install and helps my the cost of equipment installed and technicians tackle the challenge of working the labor time it takes to move a with a wide variation of chassis and equipment truck in and out of the shop — it sets when building a new truck. The system The EZ Spread™ control system available from takes Dinsmoor and his team 45 to also helps the technicians organize the power CPS is for basic spreading applications of 60 days to build a new snowplow sources and wiring when installing electrical granular and pre-wet materials and combines truck; Equipment Service’s functionality with user-friendly operations. equipment on a truck,” said Dinsmoor. competitors require 120 to 180 days The system and its ease of installation make a significant contribution to Equipment Service’s — Equipment Service has called on Equipment Service also helped CPS develop the profitability. different vendors for its snow and PowerSmart. “We showed Certified Power what ice control products over the years. we were doing with our own junction panel that Since hiring Dinsmoor, Equipment we worked up in the shop. Brill took that basic Service has relied on CPS for 98 idea back to Minnesota and CPS transformed percent of its snow and ice control it into the new PowerSmart, and now we’re equipment. The other two percent putting it in every truck,” said Dinsmoor. is provided in-house by Equipment Service. Employee organization, training and retention – Getting the hardware right is one side of the “Easy-to-install products, short lead equation, but the other involves the employees times, orders that ship on schedule, who do the work. “Another one of our best competitive prices, technical practices is that we build all our trucks in teams support, new products, field support of two technicians. We don’t do an assembly Equipment Service installs the SpreadSmart Rx™ — I can call my regional technical line style. Some places do, but I think some spreader control system on most of its snowplow trucks. The electronic control system from CPS representative almost 24/7 — and things get lost in the shuffle on an assembly helps fleet managers save money by a collaborative working spirit are line. So we do teams of two and separate the regulating the rate of salt and other de-icing some of the reasons why Equipment jobs between in-cab electronics and all the iron materials applied to road surfaces by Service has partnered with CPS on the chassis. Each team has one guy who snowplow trucks. for its snowplow equipment,” said is proficient in that side of it. So as they work Dinsmoor. together as a team, within two weeks’ time, the body is married to the chassis and it’s off to Joe Brill, east-coast regional the paint shop.” technical representative for CPS, confirms his open-door policy with Equipment Service. Dinsmoor describes finding good employees “Kevin and I call back and forth in the a.m. or as almost impossible, and once one is found, p.m., and even though I live a couple hours you have to hold on to them. “Most of the away from Equipment Service, I’ve been on site time we look for people with skills in welding many times to answer operation questions.” because there is so much welding to do. And then we train them on the job for the rest

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of the skills. Unfortunately, is delivered. “One thing Equipment Service there is no school for the type does is that once we’re done with the of work we do, because it’s truck, we send it out to get detailed top to such a mixed batch of skills. bottom, so when the dealer gets the truck, Equipment Service has done it’s spotless. Some upfitters leave pieces of an excellent job of retaining electric wire on the floor, footprints, and dirt good workers by offering and grime everywhere. Our snowplow trucks annual salary increases and are spotless and ready for the road when employee benefits.” they are delivered to the customer. It costs us a little more money, but I think it saves us “For example, we offer a more than it costs us.” Kevin Dinsmoor (lower left), service manager, 10 percent 401K match, Equipment Service, and staff. paid vacation and medical Advice to shop managers – “To be better insurance. We provide at their job, workers all need to learn technicians with up-to-date electronics and hydraulics. In my experience, equipment and let them get everybody falls short in these areas, and it out at 3:30 p.m. every day. They like that. I causes a lot of inefficiencies or rework. All try to keep a relaxed environment and I’m shop workers can cut, weld and grind and really not hard on employees because the do the basic things, but if they can learn job is hard enough. I encourage them all to electrical and hydraulic functions, they be free thinkers, so it’s a pretty good place would all definitely excel. The upper-level to work. With teams of two, the techs take upfitters are the guys who know hydraulics more ownership of the product. It’s great to and electronics,” said Dinsmoor. hear them say ‘that’s my truck right there.’ They’re proud of what leaves here,” said Dinsmoor’s focus on exceeding customer Dinsmoor. expectations and best practices have laid the groundwork for Equipment Service’s Devil is in the detailing – In the end, return to profitability. Equipment Service has the commitment to exceeding customer been in business for nearly 70 years, and if expectations comes down to the first Dinsmoor has anything to say about it, they impression the customer gets when the truck will be in business for 70 more.

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