Dean Strathman, Vanair Manufacturing’s vice-president of sales, says the company’s Air N Arc all-in-one product family has received a lot of interest.Photo: Keith Norbury
A decade ago, a typical service truck was weighed down with components that were necessary, but not particularly efficient.
Carrying all the pieces to get the job done — a compressor, a crane, a welder — meant running multiple machines that operated independently from each other, and required long periods of engine idling.
Today, there are still plenty of trucks with that setup. But a growing number of service truck drivers are opting for something a bit more streamlined: multifunction power units that combine a variety of functions into a single package.
“The nice part for a fleet manager is to be able to go to a company and be able to say, ‘I want one thing, I want one machine or system that does all of these (functions),’” said Caleb Pontius, vice-president of sales for Boss Industries, a compressor manufacturer based in LaPorte, Indiana.
The Boss WorkMaster GW combines a generator and welder with a compressor
Boss is one of several manufacturers that have jumped into the multifunction unit market in recent years, spurred on by an explosion in interest from service fleet managers and mechanics focused on a variety of industries.
Regulations drive shift
Like many other engineering changes in recent years, the move toward multifunction units has been driven in part by tighter regulations.
Matt Sherrick, a product manager in the power systems division for Miller Electric, a welding equipment manufacturer in Appleton, Wisc., said the Tier 4 emissions standards phased in by the federal government over the last several years have had fleets searching for ways to be lighter and cut down on unnecessary idling. And for a service truck, avoiding idling can be a major challenge.
“If you’ve got a PTO-driven compressor, anything the guy is going to do, the truck’s going to be running, and you’re going to pay a penalty for that in fuel economy,” Sherrick said.
Meanwhile, manufacturers and fleets continue to be in a race toward lighter-weight materials in nearly all aspects of the truck and its components. Chris Lamb, a national sales representative for VMAC Global Technology, a manufacturer of compressors in Nanaimo, B.C., said weight has been the top issue in the market for the last couple of years, in part because of tighter standards from the insurance companies that cover service trucks and other types of vehicles.
“If you talk to any major (manufacturer) out there, everybody is looking at weight savings,” Lamb said. “Some is regulation and a lot of it is they need more capacity to carry their own tools and supplies and things of that nature.”
With multiple companies turning out multifunction units to keep up with those demands, customers have plenty of options as they search for something that fits their needs.
Some want a unit with the most power, while others are looking for something that will keep their truck’s weight down. Service truck drivers who end up working in residential neighborhoods or other areas where noise is an issue, meanwhile, might be interested in the quietest unit on the market.
At the 2018 Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, Dean Strathman, vice-president of sales for Vanair Manufacturing Inc., noted that increased demand for the company’s Air N Arc all-in-one product series was putting the Michigan City, Ind.-based manufacturer on pace for a record year. “We’ve seen significant amount of fleet business but we’ve also seen increased activity through our distributor base as well,” Strathman said at the time.
According to Vanair’s website, the Air N Arc units from the 150-amp Air N Arc 150 to three versions of the 300-amp Air N Arc 300, including a diesel version.
Mechanics cites the upsides
Larry Bryant, a longtime service truck operator with Excel Truck Group in Roanoke, Virginia, uses a Miller EnPak power system. It’s powered by a diesel engine and has a generator, pump and
Bryant said he bought the unit about three years ago on a recommendation from the people who built and mounted his truck bed. They told him the multifunction units were the way of the future, and Bryant figured he might as well check it out.
Now, he quickly ticks off the list of upsides: fuel savings, less idling time, and less noise.
“The only thing I don’t like is you’ve got two engines to service instead of one,” Bryant said.
Juan Ibarra, a service truck mechanic whose family owns Ibarra Drain Services in Sun Valley,
Gold Rush star Juan Ibarra swears by his Lincoln Electric Air Advantage 600 SD multifunction unit.Photo: Keith Norbury
Nev. — but who is better known as a star of the Discovery Channel show, Gold Rush — uses a Lincoln Air Vantage 600SD unit. He said the combination of a welder, generator, compressor and pump made for the right fit for the kind of heavy, unpredictable work he runs into. (On the show, Ibarra has frequently had to take his truck into remote work sites in Alaska and other locations.)
“Before it was on my truck I had to idle my truck,” he said. “And sitting there idling, especially when you’re an owner-operator, that definitely can cost you quite a bit of money.”
Ibarra said he’s able to run multiple operations off the unit’s power, including his 28-foot cutting trailer that has a CNC plasma table. He said he picked the Lincoln unit in large part because of the power of its 600-amp welder.
“This unit kind of stands in a category of its own,” he said. “It’s a true multifunction unit; they didn’t skimp on the welding side.”
Diesel and gas options
Nick Winarski, a product manager for industrial engine drives at Lincoln Electric, said his company has recognized that a one-size-fits-all design for multifunction units wouldn’t reflect the wide range of operators and functions of service trucks. Lincoln offers both diesel and gas-powered systems.
“We know trucks don’t come in one type or one size, and that’s why we have all these different iterations — probably 20 different types of machines to fit different applications,” Winarski said.
Lamb, with VMAC, said his company’s products stand out because they are entirely manufactured in North America, come with lifetime warranties — and have advanced efficiency features that shut down the multifunction unit engine when it’s not needed.
He said customers are often pleasantly surprised that shifting to a multifunction unit can extend the lifespan of other parts of a truck. Less engine time means less maintenance — and a potential savings of a couple thousand dollars a year, he said.
“The ROI is pretty quick: they’re able to extend their chassis sometimes out two to three years of service, not having to run them as much,” Lamb said.
Reliability essential
Sherrick said the Miller multifunction unit provides an essential benefit for service truck operators who spend their days handling complex and time-sensitive demands: reliability.
“If you think of a guy that’s going from multiple pieces on a truck to a single unit, it’s got to run,” he said, “They’ve got to be able to count on it. If your all-in-one unit goes down, your truck is down.”
He said the Miller unit is equipped with features that are becoming necessary to stay competitive in the market, like a rotary screw compressor and technology that helps turn either then truck or the unit engine on and off when needed, to save energy.
Boss Industries has offered both above- and under-deck multifunction power units, though it is currently redesigning its above-deck system, Pontius said. He said the under-deck systems provide a competitive option in a market where above-deck systems are often quite expensive.
Pontius said business is booming, and he expects the trend to continue as more service truck fleets find reasons to make the shift.
“It seems like a product line that’s going to be very viable for the foreseeable future,” he said.
—Erin Golden
With a file from Keith Norbury.
Erin Golden is a writer based in Minnesota.
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