There’s more confidence in the economy today and contractors are putting more hours on their trucks, says Brian Heffron, product specialist at Palfinger. “With new private and public construction contracts being awarded, it’s showing a positive impact through all levels of the supply chain,” he says.
A lot has changed in the last half decade or so, in terms of the new designs and technology contractors are asking for in today’s service trucks. Here’s what’s trending.
“One of the fastest growing trends is using auxiliary power units (APUs) to operate the service body and equipment such as hydraulic cranes, air compressors, and electrical and welding power,” says Tom Wibben, sales and service manager at Maintainer. APUs take their power from a separate diesel engine that is smaller than the trucks primary engine, reducing fuel consumption and maintenance cost on the chassis engine.
Anti-idling laws are also a driver behind the increasing popularity of APUs, says Brian Richards, manager interactive marketing and communications at Knapheide. With APUs you can turn the chassis engine off and still have all the tools you need to work without running afoul of the law. “Most of the systems today feature a Tier 4 compliant engine,” he says.
Terry Cook, product manager of commercial products at IMT sees a trend toward more frequent use of compressor/welder/generator combination units on service trucks. And many of these, are also using self-contained diesel powered units to provide hydraulic power to their cranes, he says.
While there are more trucks being upfitted with APU’s, the jury is still out on their ROI, says Tim Davison, product manager at Stellar. “Although these units use less fuel, we believe the break even point is still a theoretical discussion, rather than empirical data,” he says. “Time will tell whether the move to all-in-ones really add to the bottom line for customers.”
