This feature in Cleaner reports noteworthy conversations that take place in Cleaner Discussion, an e-mail based forum for industry professionals sponsored by COLE Publishing. Cleaner Discussion provides for the exchange of information and ideas on pipe cleaning rehabilitation and maintenance, trucks and equipment, high-pressure cleaning, business improvement topics, and much more. To find out more about Cleaner Discussion, or to subscribe, visit www.cleaner.com.

Question:

We have been in the business for a long time, but we’re still trying to find the right service truck for drain cleaning — easy to load and unload, room for tools, cameras and locators, comfortable seat, decent fuel mileage. No vans, please — we had three. You can’t see out of them, the rodders get stinky inside in summer, and they are too expensive to insure compared to other vehicles. Any suggestions?

Answers:

Have you considered a Chevy Express van? It has the shape of a van, but the cargo space is separated from the cab area. There is a door that provides access from the cab to the cargo space. There are multiple compartments built into the exterior sides.

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I use a small utility trailer, 6 feet wide by 10 feet long, and pull it with my truck. There is lots of room on the trailer for logos and phone numbers. It’s low enough to the ground so that I can pull my mainline machine in without a winch or hoist, and I still have the option of unhooking the trailer and using my truck for other things.

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The cargo van is hard to beat, since you can unload from side and rear doors without getting into the truck. I have been experimenting with a trailer for the machines I don’t use often. The single-axle enclosed trailers usually don’t have brakes. With two men in my 3/4-ton van, I’m dead on front and rear axle ratings (short wheelbase). I couldn’t have done that without the side door to get some of the heavy stuff in and out.

Back to the trailer: I need brakes on it. For anybody who is considering what I’m doing, surge brakes are the way to go over electric. I want a side door and a fold-down rear that makes a ramp. Tandem axle, surge brakes, 6- by 10-foot box. Nobody makes a standard production trailer the way I want it.

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I’m around plumbers with Dodge Sprinter vans. I don’t recall if they have a side door. They are nice for more plumbing supplies, but they don’t fit in tight places.