Preventive Maintenance Trailers Service Fleet Spread Across Florida

Servicing a truck fleet scattered across multiple plant locations presents mindboggling logistical challenges for dedicated shops. So here’s the million-dollar question: Do you bring all the equipment to the shop for preventive maintenance, or do you bring the shop to the equipment with a preventive maintenance trailer?

Maschmeyer Concrete faced this daunting decision with its fleet of trucks distributed across multiple plant locations in Florida. The company’s dedicated service shop locations were a short drive from the plants, but downtime traveling back and forth between the plants and the service shops proved costly. With the company based in the Sunshine State, there is no off season. The trucks stay in constant motion — and downtime equates to lost productivity. Serviced trucks need to be ready for work when the sun rises.

Since 1986, Maschmeyer Concrete has become one of Florida’s leading ready-mix concrete, block and building materials suppliers. This privately held, family-operated business is among only a handful of concrete producers recognized as Silver Premier Producers by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. To earn this honor, your company must meet rigid standards in production, quality control, environmental protection and customer service.

By consistently delivering quality products in a safe and timely manner, Maschmeyer Concrete has grown to several locations across the state with ready-mix concrete plants and block plant locations servicing customers throughout the Southeast, Central and Tampa Bay regions of Florida.

This work is carried out with a fleet of ready-mix trucks, heavy-haul trucks that transport the concrete blocks and dump trucks used to deliver sand and reclaim crushed concrete. Preventive maintenance is especially important in the ready-mix business. These trucks carry perishable loads that can harden in the mixing drums, meaning unexpected breakdowns can become a maintenance nightmare.

Rethinking preventive maintenance

Maschmeyer initially chose to bring all its trucks to the dedicated shop for service versus servicing them with a preventive maintenance trailer at the concrete production plant. Here’s how it worked. Truck drivers would transport the trucks from their plant location to the shop when it was time for preventive maintenance. These drivers then contacted a rideshare app for a ride back to their home plant. When service was completed, the driver would need to be transported back to the service shop to pick up the truck.

Think of all the time and money used throughout the process. The diesel consumed by the trucks traveling back and forth to the shop. The driver’s time in transport or waiting for a lift. Not to mention the cost of all those rideshares.

Six years ago, Maschmeyer Concrete made the decision to change course and bring the shop to the equipment. The company initially built its own preventive maintenance trailer, but it came with a few drawbacks. Technicians drained oil into pans, which was then pumped from the oil pans into a 70-gallon waste tank. It was not an ideal setup. The company wanted a turnkey solution that would increase oil change efficiency.

Fleet Maintenance Manager James Salmon realized it was time to find a solution that would better meet the company’s evolving needs. He reached out to Mark Steinberg at ACME Truck Body and purchased a Sage Oil Vac 5120 jobsite trailer. This trailer streamlined preventive maintenance for Maschmeyer Concrete, eliminating waste and increasing truck driver job satisfaction. Transport of drivers and trucks stopped. The company now services the trucks at the plant, meaning the equipment is ready to go the next morning.

The Sage Oil Vac preventive maintenance trailer helps Maschmeyer perform three oil changes per night. The trucks being serviced require 15W-40 diesel engine oil, hydraulic fluid, antifreeze and 85W-140 gear oil. The concrete company needs to carry sufficient quantities of these fluids to prevent trips back to the shop. The 5120 jobsite trailer’s 120-gallon (454.25-L) used oil tank and four 80-gallon (302.83-L) fresh product tanks proved up to the task.

Work never stops. Neither do the trailers.

To maximize jobsite efficiency, Maschmeyer purchased two additional Sage Oil Vac 5120 jobsite trailers to service trucks at its plants. The added trailers help them get maintenance done, whether the trucks are located near Orlando, Tampa Bay or Palm Beach.

The quality and durability of the Sage Oil Vac 5120 jobsite trailers keep the Maschmeyer fleet rolling year-round, which is important since the company never slows down. Over the last six years, the 5120 jobsite trailers have not missed a single day of work. All repairs have been minor, and the trailers have been fixed and operational the same day.

The Sage Oil Vac preventive maintenance trailer fits well with Maschmeyer Concrete’s commitment to safety and protecting the environment. Every Sage Oil Vac lube trailer houses a patented, pump-free, low-maintenance fluid exchange system that protects the operator and the environment. The tanks are not vented to the atmosphere and the risks of spills or exposure are minimized.

Trial and error provides the perfect solution

Maschmeyer tried two approaches to preventive maintenance: bringing the trucks to the shop and bringing the shop to the trucks with a preventive maintenance trailer. The verdict? Sage Oil Vac 5120 jobsite trailers provide the most cost-effective oil changes for the company. Reduced travel time for the drivers, reduced fuel consumption, the elimination of rideshare transport, and most importantly, the trucks are ready to roll at sunrise.

Check out the complete lineup of Sage Oil Vac fuel and lube trailers.