When technicians at Frank Bonetti Plumbing need to take a load off on the job, they head for their Dodge Sprinter service vans. They reach for a rear-mounted, 1,500-pound-capacity electric crane that helps them lift equipment. It minimizes equipment damage and keeps the spring in the technicians’ steps, says co-owner Dan Bonetti.
“The cranes lift our heavy sewer machines in and out of the vans,” says Bonetti, whose company is in Castro Valley, Calif. “We’ve even used one to reset a fire hydrant.
“We had ramps for a while, but they weren’t built in, so they always seemed to be in the way. Plus, even with a ramp, you still have to wheel the machine up or down, which makes you prone to injuries. Our workmen’s compensation insurance rates never go down, but the crane helps to keep them from going up even higher.”
The Vancrane, made by Pickup Equipment Inc., is bolted to the floor and roof and takes up minimal space in the rear corner of the van. Bonetti and his crew installed the cranes on all six of the company’s service vans.
The cranes earn their keep when technicians use the drain cleaners that each truck carries: Models 1065, 300, 100 and 502 from Spartan Tool LLC. The trucks also carry a Gatorcam digital pipe inspection camera, made by WCT Products, and an RD 4000 pipe locator, made by Radiodetec-tion/SPX. The vans also have room for a portable jetter, if needed. The company relies on a General J-1450 (1,500 psi/1.7 gpm) and a General J-3000 (3,000 psi/4 gpm) made by General Pipe Cleaners.
Each van carries about $4,000 worth of repair parts, organized in a bin-and-shelf storage system manufactured by Adrian Steel Co. The vans get about 19 miles to the gallon, versus 11 or 12 for the older vans they replaced. That boost in gas mileage easily justified the vans’ $46,000 price tag, Bonetti notes.
The vans offer another advantage: plain old creature comfort. The interior is tall enough so that technicians can stand up straight, instead of bending over and crawling into cramped quarters.
