City of Walker Hookloader Retrofit 

Hookloader Implementation in Municipal & Other Governmental Fleets

Testimonials:

We have been using Hook Lift trucks since around 1995 when we built a truck that would haul an AMZ Patching machine. This piece of equipment was not used year around so we needed to have the capability of unloading it so we could use the truck for other things. We chose the truck mounted configuration because we did not want to pull a trailer in the tight city streets. In that case we would use the patching machine as needed and switch to a container box for hauling leaves or garbage when we were not patching. During the winter months we loaded a stainless steel salter equipped with a liquid pre-wetting system which enabled us to use the truck year round. We have replaced the truck several times and would not like to be without that configuration. The City of Jackson no longer uses the trucks for patching but we have four in our fleet at this time. We have two single axle hook lifts configured with large container boxes for hauling leaves. A shorter sided box for hauling garbage/debris and a flatbed equipped with a tank for anti-icing/dust control. There is also a flatbed attachment for these trucks for hauling materials for anything from highway repairs to trees.  We also have two tandem axle trucks equipped with large leaf hauling containers and short sided heavy boxes for hauling aggregates.  Both configurations of trucks still carry salters in the winter when we need them and can quickly be switched to haul snow in between storms. When we built the larger trucks we opted for the sliding jib to allow us to carry different length boxes and also had them plumbed to carry front plows. This enabled us to utilize the same truck for plowing as needed. We have single axle trucks that will sit idle all summer but these hook lift trucks are on the road daily, winter and summer.

Greg Lucas

City of Jackson, General Foreman

It is my belief that hook-loader equipped trucks are the future of municipal fleets. We can no longer afford under-utilized single purpose trucks. The City of Wixom owns two hook-loader equipped trucks. One is a Ford F550 the other is a Sterling L-line 5 yard dump. The F550 has one 3 yard salt box with pre-wet capabilities, one 3 yard stainless steel dump box with drop sides and four 9 yard boxes used for yard waste, compost, mulch…The Sterling has one 5 yard salt box with pre-wet capabilities, one 975 gallon anti-ice tank, and one 13 yard dump box. For a small department like ours these trucks are invaluable. Rather than having plow trucks that are parked 8 months out of the year we utilize these two trucks year round.

Mark Clancy

City of Wixom

City of Coldwater New Truck with Hook Loader

                 Fleet Creep; A Fleet Manager’s Headache

One hot topic in fleet management circles, especially governmental units, is "fleet creep", or in layman's terms the tendency for fleets to gradually increase equipment inventory over time.  Fleet creep often happens even when employee staffing is on the decrease.  There are many factors that contribute to fleet creep and no one single solution.  The essence of effective fleet management is identifying equipment by the operations it performs (i.e.: mission) and then determine if these operations/missions are “proactive” or “reactive” in nature.  Sometimes the lines separating “proactive” from “reactive” missions can be blurred which makes this process of mission defining more challenging.  As an example, I think we would all agree that winter snow & ice removal operations would be considered as “reactive” hence a piece of equipment used in this operation/mission would be considered “reactive”.  Plus snow removal is not an operation that can be delayed and rescheduled for a future date.  On the other-hand, an anti-icing operation would be considered “proactive” as you are making a chemical application prior to the predicted winter event.  If the anti-ice operation is not performed for whatever reason, there would be no resulting crisis such as there would be if trunkline snow removal operations were “skipped”.  Another factor to consider is:  could I obtain this equipment “as needed” through a short term rental rather than tie up precious equipment budgetary funds to purchase it?  Obviously, winter maintenance plow and salt trucks are not readily available as a short term rental, are used “reactively”, and in many cases, the majority of usage is seasonal; i.e. winter.  These trucks are "mission critical".   The challenge to the fleet manager is:  how do I maintain the numbers of plow trucks that are required for winter operations,  keep them busy year around for maximum utilization, all while staying within my dwindling equipment budget?  One option might be creating a multi-functional truck by adding a hook loader thus having the ability to use the same chassis in several different operations or missions. 

 A few examples of the various operations and missions for which one chassis could be utilized are:  water tanker trucks and/or liquid chloride tankers used for anti-ice applications, flatbeds and/or beavertails used to transport equipment to a job site, core drilling equipment, tool vans or tool trucks, crane trucks, salt spreaders, pothole patchers or bituminous distributor units, and many more.  

My point is this:  one truck chassis spec'd for your specific needs equipped with the correctly spec'd hook loader becomes a multi-functional truck which is capable of carrying multiple different types of attachments.  Mount your water tank or anti-ice tank, your salt spreader,  tool van body, truck crane, pothole patcher, bituminous distributor, flat bed, dump body, you name it, on a subframe and you are ready to go to work.  One truck now has the ability to perform all these functions.  Truck chassis wears out, no problem, transfer hook loader assembly to new truck chassis and retain existing equipment attachments and you are still in business.  You have the ability to efficiently extend the usable life of your attachments from chassis to chassis.  You have the ability to share low usage attachments with neighboring agencies in compliance with Governor Snyder’s initiatives for more intergovernmental cooperation and resource sharing..  You can virtually eliminate all low usage, mission critical, job specific type truck chassis without compromising your ability to perform these mission critical maintenance obligations.  There are several Michigan municipalities and County Road Commissions already incorporating hook loader equipped trucks in their fleet.  I challenge you to evaluate your fleet and see where a multi-functional hook loader equipped chassis could reduce your inventory of low usage truck chassis and save your constituents money.  

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has announced the 2013 recipients of the MDOT Director's Award - the department's highest honor for outstanding service. For more than 20 years, the annual award has recognized those employees who exhibit leadership and exemplary public service.
"Each year, the Director's Award recipients represent some of the best of MDOT," said State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle. "Their hard work and dedication demonstrate a real commitment to quality, teamwork, integrity, and customer service. We are proud that these dedicated public servants are a part of MDOT."
The Director's Award program represents the various work categories within the department, representing the respective job responsibilities and levels. While MDOT employees nominate their peers, committees comprised of workers from each category make the final recommendations to the department.

I , Mark Lester, am proud to announce Janine Cooper, Assistant Region Engineer in Southwest Region, was the 2013 Director's Award Recipient in her respective category.  Janine is the example of "what is right with government and specifically with MDOT".  Definitely well earned. Congratulations Janine!

Accolades and rewards are few and far between in governmental agencies; seems as if there cannot be a ribbon cutting ceremony attached to an event then politicians are not interested.  The Director's Award is the venue for well deserved recognition from one's counterparts, supervisors, and the Director within Michigan Department of Transportation.  There is no monetary reward and no expense to the taxpayer, but rather a very visible show of appreciation to those that go above and beyond the "call of duty".

I have been blessed to have been honored with the Director's Award in 1997.  My former MDOT supervisor and very good friend, Dave Budd, was director's award recipient in 1999.  Three well deserving MDOT Southwest Region Paw Paw Central Repair employees received the Director's Award;  Pandy Chiddister in 2001, Sandy Aernie in 2006, and Mark DeVries, the current Southwest Region Fleet Manager, in 2010.  My wife, Robin, was Director's Award Recipient in 2002.  Janine joins a very distinguished and dedicated group.  Excellence begets excellence.  Congratulations!  Now, let's party!