A smart-looking vehicle sends an important message to prospective customers: The driver inside will provide service that’s neat and professional.
That’s the philosophy of Ti Sutherland, shop foreman for Casey’s Plumbing Inc. in Portland, Ore. He says his four clean-as-a-whistle 2007 Isuzu NPR cab-over box trucks generate about 6 percent of the company’s service phone calls.
“People call and say they saw our trucks and appreciate how clean they are,” Sutherland says. “We wash them once a week, so they’re always clean, even in winter.
“Our trucks convey an unspoken message that we’ll take care of your home the way we take care of our trucks. We take a lot of pride in keeping our trucks clean, along with clean shirts, clean pants, clean hats and clean-shaven technicians.”
Catching the eye
The white, 12-foot box trucks (one is a 14-footer) are easy to spot, with the company’s name on the sides in bold red and blue letters. Casey’s slogan – “The Picky People’s Plumber” – appears below the company name. A cartoon illustration of a plumber running with a monkey wrench completes the eye-catching design.
Inside the truck, a Weather Guard system of storage shelves and drawers, manufactured by Knaack LLC, keeps about $25,000 worth of plumbing parts well organized. That increases technicians’ productivity and company profits.
“Say you’re looking for a 1/2-inch copper, 90-degree fitting,” Sutherland says. “I’ve seen some plumbers who carry all their fittings in a bucket, and when they need one, they dump the bucket at the jobsite, find the fitting they need, then put all the fittings back in the bucket.
“With our trucks, all the fittings are organized in drawers. We just pluck one out of a drawer, rather than spend 10 minutes looking for it. In the long haul, the time saved adds up tremendously.”
Fewer return trips
The warehouse-on-wheels concept also saves technicians from wasting time making trips to and from the shop or a parts warehouse. “Along with all the repair parts, our trucks can easily carry two cable drain cleaners: a Gorlitz GO 15 and a GO 50 [made by Gorlitz Sewer & Drain Inc.], plus two toilets and two 50-gallon water heaters,” Sutherland says. “We can average four calls a day.
“Without these trucks, we’d be making a lot of return trips to a jobsite. It’s expensive to have a technician running around town with a truck, so you want it parked at a service call until the job is completed, then move down the road to the next job.”
And hopefully catch the eye of a couple new customers along the way.
