Trucks for tough jobs
1 Feb, 2004 By: Vicky Poulsen Landscape ManagementCheck out what your colleagues are using, including a peek at their "dream" vehicles
Contractors want their trucks to be rough and tough and durable enough to endure brutal weather conditions and the employees who sometimes mishandle them.
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It's not such a tough order to fill when it comes to the four contractors listed below. They know which brands work for them and are willing to stay with the manufacturers of those brands as long as the trucks are durable, reliable and, equally important, priced right.
We wanted to know what they love most about their trucks and which ones are their favorite, so here's what they had to say.
Massey Services, Inc.
Name: Rick Beard
 Rick Beard |
Title: Executive Vice President of Operations/Landscape Services Division
Location: Maitland, FL
2003 gross revenue: $45 million
Business mix: Mostly residential
Employees: 560
Company profile: "Massey Services is a provider of environmentally beneficial services, which include pest prevention, termite protection and lawn and tree/shrub care. About 36% of our business is pest prevention, 43% is termite protection and 21% is our lawn and tree/shrub business."
Trucks: "Our fleet is comprised of 529 vehicles - 78 of which are automobiles, 38 full-size pickup trucks, 316 small pickup trucks, 31 trailers, 58 vans and eight pieces of renovation equipment."
Features: "When it comes to making a decision on a vehicle, we look at the following areas - image, reliability, fuel efficiency and longevity."
Finance method: All vehicles are leased.
Dream truck: "A dream truck to me would be a solar-powered vehicle that would last 10 to 15 years and cost what we pay for a vehicle today. This would allow us to have no fuel costs!"
Moeller's Nursery & Landscaping Services, LLC
Name: Robin Moeller
 Robin Moeller |
Title: President
Location: Cincinnati, OH
2003 gross revenue: $854,000 in landscape services and $285,000 in a Weed Man franchise
Business mix: Mostly residential for both operations
Employees: "The landscape side of the business staffs four 3-man crews and two staff members for our maintenance service. Weed Man employs two technicians, a sales and marketing manager and sales and telemarketing staff during our sales campaign."
Company profile: Robin and Vicki Moeller, who is vice president of the company, started Moeller Nursery and Landscapes in 1988. "We provide residential landscape services in greater Cincinnati. In 2003, we purchased a Weed Man franchise which provides residential lawn care. We have four territories, which include most of Hamilton and Butler counties."
Trucks: "For our landscaping operation, we have five fleet trucks - 1999 International 14-ft. flatbed dump with drop sides; 2003 Chevy, W5 12-ft. dump with tommy gate; 2003 Isuzu 14-ft. box truck with power folding gate; 1983 GMC 15-ft. flatbed; 1993 Ford F350 flatbed. We have an 873 Bobcat, S250 Bobcat, power broom, trencher, nursery jaws and landscape rake with two cronkite trailers. We operate our maintenance with an Exmark riding mower and walk-behind mower, and Stihl power equipment. We also have a 2001 Gator. For our Weed Man franchise, we have four 2003 F250 pickup trucks. Two are for production with Rettenhouse spray units. The other truck is for service calls, and the remaining truck was purchased for 2004."
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Features: The most important item is equipment turnover. "We need to keep rotating our equipment so we aren't operating with worn-out equipment."
Finance methods: "We always look to purchase our vehicles rather than lease, even though one of our Weed Man trucks is leased."
Dream truck: "My dream truck would be customized for efficiency; every tool has a place, easy loading and unloading, power gates and drop sides, dumping capacity, 16-ft. bed, underbody toolboxes, comfortable cab for three crew members. The truck must also be showy. Trucks are an excellent opportunity for advertising, and many landscape companies don't seize this opportunity."
Cole Landscaping & Irrigation Services
Name: Greg Cole
 Greg Cole |
Title: President
Location: Peabody, MA
2003 gross revenue: n/a
Business mix: 90% residential
Employees: Between 12 and 15 employees. Cole Landscaping operates six 2-man crews and floaters
Company profile: Established in 1991, Cole Landscaping Company has been designing "creative concepts for living" for more than 12 years. As an industry leader in design/build, Cole's certified staff can update an existing landscape or perform total renovations of a landscape. Using a fully integrated plan, the company can maximize contributions from all areas of the site including, but not limited to, entrances, parking, drainage, open areas, private retreats, walkways, irrigation and greenery. The company services include design/build (40%), maintenance (50%) and irrigation (10%).
Trucks: "We run all Fords, from the 350s to the 550 pickup truck series." Also included is a 650 dump truck, a 550 one-ton dump truck and an estimating vehicle."
Features: "Durability is key. My guys really work our trucks. We've had Chevys, GMCs and Dodges, but they never worked out. With Ford, you can go from the 250 to 650 series and the interior is the same, so it makes it easier for us to train someone on a new truck and it's safer for the driver."
Finance method: "We purchase everything. Basically, I'll look at the truck guide and fax five or six Ford dealers to give me a price."
Dream truck: "Ford's F650 I/pak dominator body with12-ft. bed, hydraulic tailgate, undermounted tool boxes..."
University of Delaware
Name: Michael Loftus
 Michael Loftus |
Title: Assistant Director of Facilities Management
Location: Newark, DE
2003 gross revenue: Loftus works within a $1 million-plus budget
Business mix: n/a
Employees: 40 full-time
Company profile: "The department provides many services including mowing, turf maintenance, general grounds work - from emptying trash barrels to special projects or events we have to set up. We're also involved in bed work and landscape instruction, turf management and maintenance in-season, which takes up at least 50% of our time; the rest is morning routine and general grounds cleanup. We take care of almost 500 acres plus a formal garden. We use a zone approach to take care of the grounds. This gives employees a sense of ownership of their areas. We have six zones on the main campus. A crew is specific to a particular area - arbor crew, solid/waste refuse crew, sports turf crew. For larger areas, we run 5-man crews and 2-man crews for the smaller sectors."
Trucks: "We have a $2 million equipment inventory of trucks, including small and large dump trucks, pickups, mowers, utility vehicles and trash trucks. Our mainstay is Ford, but we're not required to buy that particular brand. We want the best truck for the job, and we keep our specifications as general as possible and still get what we need. We do a lot of research and run a track record of what we have. At one-time, we used to purchase 1/2-ton pickups, but now we're buying heavier trucks - one-ton diesel pickups for durability. Because we're located within an urban area, we're looking at various utility vehicles that we can use on campus, cross secondary and side roads, but that are still street legal."
Favorites: "Mainly the durability of what we're buying now and the versatility of buying small dumps and stainless steel bodies. We're on a budget, so we try to get the most that we can."
Finance method: "We always purchase."
Dream truck: A Hummer with a snowplow. For the campus, we're pretty much buying what would be our dream trucks for work by spec'ing these trucks heavily and making sure they have plenty of power to do the job. However, my personal favorite is a Jeep."
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