In the last two years, the pandemic and the economy have created more small business owners than any time in recent memory. Men and women who had been working for larger companies have – for any number of reasons – had to go out and open their own businesses, and regardless of the industry, they need a place to work.
Now, as a company, we’ve been providing upfitted “workspace” to a variety of industries for years. Agriculture, fibre optic, communications, construction, fossil fuels, and literally dozens more. We’ve seen a trend recently, though, where new businesses (and a LOT of older companies, too) are foregoing smaller warehouse space and simply bringing everything with them to the job in a well-upfitted trailer.
And there’s a lot of intelligence in that idea.
- You’ll always have the tools and equipment you need
- You and your team know – at a glance – what is in inventory, or where to find anything
- You’ll never worry about having an adequate area to work – and inclement weather won’t derail your ability to get the job done
- The most luxuriously upfitted trailer – even a two- or three-axle unit – is likely to be far less expensive to deploy than an equivalently upfitted truck or van
- When you partner with Expertec to build your trailer the “right” way, it’s likely you can pull it with a simple half ton truck, van, or SUV, saving even more money
There’s another piece of the puzzle that we recognize, too: a trailer could be outfitted for more specialized equipment and jobs.
Think about managing a fleet, for example. 90% of your roadside maintenance call outs are for the same things – minor troubleshooting, such as electrical gremlins, fuel systems, or flat tires.
Chances are really good that your team would never need a welder, or 120 volt power for most of the work they’ll do. A battery operated ½ inch impact is the tool of choice for 90% of those “regular” jobs, but imagine having an upfitted trailer that had some machine shop flexibility…
An arbor press, or an air compressor that could run those “big boy” ¾ inch impacts? Imagine having a work bench in that trailer where your team could install a Redi-sleeve and properly repack a new bearing to get a fleet vehicle back on the road? How about having the ability to build a new hydraulic hose right there, with the proper crimps, fittings, and a clean space to ensure a tractor can keep working and NOT have to be trailered off site, or bring in an expensive third-party to fix it?
Even more exciting? Imagine not having to pay the fuel bill on a 4500 or 5500-class truck for every call out?
We all know that companies today are running far leaner fleets than ever before, especially due to the shortage of new trucks and vans, so leaders are looking for an edge that will lower fleet maintenance costs, maximize their budgets, and still let them meet their goals and standards.
Upfitting a trailer is a great way to do that, especially when it comes to handling more “uncommon” jobs, maintenance, or support requests. Now, that might be a hard pill to swallow, especially if you’ve never considered the idea before.
Is it for everyone?
No, but it is a viable solution to a lot of scenarios that our customers share with us, and that’s exactly why we’re telling more and more clients about these options. And frankly, while it’s hard to get a new truck or van right now, trailer inventories across the western part of the country are surprisingly good.
If you’re ready to take a deeper look at deploying a perfectly upfitted trailer to your fleet, then reach out to our team right here or call 1-888-435-6466.
