ACtion Magazine - Napa Special Edition - June 2017 - 11

The road not traveled: A/C for off-highway vehicles

A fleet for field work: Servicing specialty equipment
In heavy-duty A/C work, the service vehicle is essentially a shop on wheels - it's
vital for reaching equipment that operates virtually around the clock or
can never see the highway.
NVB Equipment in Fresno, Calif., has 16 trucks covering the entire
state. On any given day, service
men may be in the middle of an almond grove, on a dairy farm, or at a
forestry job far off the grid. (Figure 7)
More than 65% of the company's revenue comes from field Figure 7: Since most off-highway equipment isn't licensed for the road, routine
service.
"Each vehicle carries $30,000 to maintenance and repairs take place in
the ﬁeld. NVB's service trucks are A/C
$45,000 worth of inventory and has
shops on wheels.
all the tools for just about any job,"
says NVB's Mike Oddo. "Preventive
maintenance, emergency service... We can do a system hose-up and charge for a new
A/C unit installation directly from the back of the truck."

NVB Equipment

"Line management is one of the
biggest issues we see," Darmiento
says. "Most installers look for the
path of least resistance, and that path
may take a refrigerant line past a
turbo injector that's going to heat up
to 500 degrees and cause a change of
state as the refrigerant goes by."
The WD can work with the OE
directly to make sure the system is
properly installed and charged, he
says.
At the factory, A/C installation
"is probably the easiest part of our
manufacturing process," says Jordan
Webb, design engineer for SRS Crisafulli. Based in Glendive, Mont.,
the company manufactures industrial dredges for pumping sediment,
sludge, slurries, hazardous waste, and
other watery material. (Figure 5)
The distributor, Interstate Power
Systems in Billings, provides Crisafulli with a rooftop unit, quickconnect hose kits, and compressor
mounts for the engine. "We run the
hose and we're done," says Webb.
(Figure 6)
Interstate can also leak-check
the installation and, with a Section
609-certified technician on hand,
charge the system. Webb says it's an
added bonus having units supported
by an extensive WD network: most
Crisafulli customers are in the United
States and Canada and want quick access to all-makes parts and service.
While specialty OEs produce some
incredible machines designed for farf lung job sites, Intermountain's Troy
Evans says he's always on the lookout for opportunities close to home.
If you're a heavy-duty WD, there's
probably business in your backyard.
"I like local customers because you
can demonstrate your expertise every day if you want to," he says. "It
doesn't take long for individuals to
recognize the benefits of having air
conditioning in their cab. They simply need someone qualified to step up
and help them do it." ❆

Oddo offers these tips for keeping field service trucks productive and profitable:
1. Big but not too big: NVB's vehicles are medium-duty commercial trucks. Rated
at 26,000 lbs. GVW, they're big enough to handle tools and inventory but just below the
threshold where the technician needs a CDL.
"A bigger truck gives you increased options with body size but it's more involved in
terms of licensing, maintenance, and operations," says Oddo. "You have to balance size
with added complexity and cost."
2. One truck, one technician: NVB assigns one technician to each truck. He's responsible for all tools and inventory, and functions as his own service writer. "When you
slip-seat, you have to keep the trucks absolutely uniform when it comes to organization
and stocking levels," Oddo says. "It's really hard to do when you're performing such a
wide range of work. We'd rather make one person accountable and keep it simple."
3. Power and water on board: Powering welders, vacuum pumps, air compressors,
recovery machines, floodlights, and other equipment in the field is a challenge in California where emissions from idling and APUs are tightly controlled.
NVB trucks are equipped with a generator but usually power everything through inverters and isolated deep-cycle batteries. Another key spec: water tanks and electric
pumps. If the technician has to wash out an evaporator coil or a condenser, he can do so
without an external water source.
"We get instructions such as: 'Take the dirt road for 4 miles until you come to the big
rock, then stay to the right,'" says Oddo. "It's an adventure almost every time we get dispatched, and I guess that's part of what makes specialty OE work interesting. You never
know where you're going next."

Spring 2017 * ACTION/NAPA

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - Napa Special Edition - June 2017