This is Turtle.

I had a discussion on the serviceman of today with one of the old HVAC hands
about this and he seems to think it is more profitiable to not carry them on the
truck and have to go get them or come back after you get them. He said if you
don't have them it extends the labor time in both ways by going to get them or
come back the next day to put them on. Coming back the next day makes two
service calls into one job and then going to get them increases a snap job into
another hour of labor. He said it was not really right but it would bring the
cost of operation down such as stocking of parts, Damage of parts, Man power to
keep up with them, Person loading and keeping up with the parts as to being
stole or barrowed and not returned, Large cost of these parts just sitting on
the truck, and the average customer does not expect you to have the part they
want on hand all the time. He estimates that it cost him 10% of his profit
margin by just carring these parts around all the time. He said he had 12 trucks
running and he took 6 of them and took the parts off them except the blower
motors , Capasitors, and basic relays. He run the other 6 with full parts line
and in 3 months the ''no parts trucks '' brought in a 22% more Billiable hours
and profit than the full parts trucks did. Also the service techs loved it for
they got to go to the warehouse on just about every job and get a cup of coffee
, soak up a little cool air at the warehouse, or smoke a cigerette while the
parts were being loaded or brought out. The techs loved to just ride around
getting parts all day. Now he did not say if he waited for two jobs at a time to
go to the warehouse or not.

I really don't know about this but it does have enough substance to look at it
some.

In my area I'm the warehouse and the closest one is 40 miles away so my
warehouse would have to be my shop. i could go back to a 20 mile per gal. light
weight van and get rid of the 1 ton cargo van that weights 7,300 pounds , 11
miles to the gal. ,and has to have 10 ply tires to keep from busting the tires .

30 years ago that is what we did and now days , well is it any different ?

THUNKING AGAIN

TURTLE

"TURTLE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> This is Turtle.
>
> I had a discussion on the serviceman of today with one of the old HVAC
hands
> about this and he seems to think it is more profitiable to not carry them
on the
> truck and have to go get them or come back after you get them. He said if
you
> don't have them it extends the labor time in both ways by going to get
them or
> come back the next day to put them on. Coming back the next day makes two
> service calls into one job and then going to get them increases a snap job
into
> another hour of labor. He said it was not really right but it would bring
the
> cost of operation down such as stocking of parts, Damage of parts, Man
power to
> keep up with them, Person loading and keeping up with the parts as to
being
> stole or barrowed and not returned, Large cost of these parts just sitting
on
> the truck, and the average customer does not expect you to have the part
they
> want on hand all the time. He estimates that it cost him 10% of his profit
> margin by just carring these parts around all the time. He said he had 12
trucks
> running and he took 6 of them and took the parts off them except the
blower
> motors , Capasitors, and basic relays. He run the other 6 with full parts
line
> and in 3 months the ''no parts trucks '' brought in a 22% more Billiable
hours
> and profit than the full parts trucks did. Also the service techs loved it
for
> they got to go to the warehouse on just about every job and get a cup of
coffee
> , soak up a little cool air at the warehouse, or smoke a cigerette while
the
> parts were being loaded or brought out. The techs loved to just ride
around
> getting parts all day. Now he did not say if he waited for two jobs at a
time to
> go to the warehouse or not.
>
> I really don't know about this but it does have enough substance to look
at it
> some.
>
> In my area I'm the warehouse and the closest one is 40 miles away so my
> warehouse would have to be my shop. i could go back to a 20 mile per gal.
light
> weight van and get rid of the 1 ton cargo van that weights 7,300 pounds ,
11
> miles to the gal. ,and has to have 10 ply tires to keep from busting the
tires .
>
> 30 years ago that is what we did and now days , well is it any different ?
>
> THUNKING AGAIN
>
> TURTLE

Think about how you would want to be treated, and the answer is pretty
simple.

The common client doesn't understand the cost of doing business today, why
add to the problems by making the job cost more than it should?

I personally stock quite a bit of product and supplies, as I'm in a remote
area as well.
I like the fact that you can go to a call and get them up and running in a
short time, and they do too.
Many of the special parts are at the shop, but that will always happen. It's
the fact that you have them on a cold night and can come back in a little
bit to solve their problem. They will love you for giving them heat when
it's 0F outside!

Part of our job is to provide comfort for our clients, if you don't, they
will find a company that does.

Anyway, being a good service tech, who has the time to dilly dally around
and chase after parts all day?
Anyone that is good and is going to be around is going to have more calls
then they could possibly get done in a day.
(so, why add to the time problem?)

Common and universal parts in my opinion should be on a service truck.
(especially the parts for the brands you sell)

Giving the client the best possible service and reliability will keep them
*your* clients and not someone else's!

~kjpro~

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 23:29:54 -0600, "~KJPRO~" <KJPRO @ STARBAND.NET>
wrote:

>Common and universal parts in my opinion should be on a service truck.
>(especially the parts for the brands you sell)

If it was a TRUE Universal part, you'd only need one .....



Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me
'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'

HVAC/R program for Palm PDA's
Free demo now available online http://pmilligan.net/palm/
Free Temperature / Pressure charts for 38 Ref's http://pmilligan.net/pmtherm/

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 23:07:39 -0600, "TURTLE" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>This is Turtle.
>
>I had a discussion on the serviceman of today with one of the old HVAC hands
>about this and he seems to think it is more profitiable to not carry them on the
>truck and have to go get them or come back after you get them. He said if you
>don't have them it extends the labor time in both ways by going to get them or
>come back the next day to put them on. Coming back the next day makes two
>service calls into one job and then going to get them increases a snap job into
>another hour of labor. He said it was not really right but it would bring the
>cost of operation down such as stocking of parts, Damage of parts, Man power to
>keep up with them, Person loading and keeping up with the parts as to being
>stole or barrowed and not returned, Large cost of these parts just sitting on
>the truck, and the average customer does not expect you to have the part they
>want on hand all the time. He estimates that it cost him 10% of his profit
>margin by just carring these parts around all the time. He said he had 12 trucks
>running and he took 6 of them and took the parts off them except the blower
>motors , Capasitors, and basic relays. He run the other 6 with full parts line
>and in 3 months the ''no parts trucks '' brought in a 22% more Billiable hours
>and profit than the full parts trucks did. Also the service techs loved it for
>they got to go to the warehouse on just about every job and get a cup of coffee
>, soak up a little cool air at the warehouse, or smoke a cigerette while the
>parts were being loaded or brought out. The techs loved to just ride around
>getting parts all day. Now he did not say if he waited for two jobs at a time to
>go to the warehouse or not.
>
>I really don't know about this but it does have enough substance to look at it
>some.
>
>In my area I'm the warehouse and the closest one is 40 miles away so my
>warehouse would have to be my shop. i could go back to a 20 mile per gal. light
>weight van and get rid of the 1 ton cargo van that weights 7,300 pounds , 11
>miles to the gal. ,and has to have 10 ply tires to keep from busting the tires .
>
>30 years ago that is what we did and now days , well is it any different ?
>
>THUNKING AGAIN
>
>TURTLE
>
You have a point. Lots of bigger companies (Service Experts) do
service that way. If its not on the truck, you get an added
"non-stock" charge added to your bill. The charge 3 yrs ago was $65
for service agreement customers and $90 for non service agreement
customers. Is it right or wrong? I dunno. Each has their own opinion I
guess. I too, have been trying to reduce truck stock a little. Its
just too expensive to have some parts sitting in the truck. Circuit
boards like that last Carrier board that cost $160 and sat on my truck
for over a year. I still carry a ton of parts though but some of the
more expensive slower moving parts I wont stock anymore. I take care
of the stuff on my truck but Ive seen tons of new parts on service
trucks get trashed by techs that dont care. Especially after a tech
left the company and you go through their truck. Wow, what a mess.
(Not my company, that S.E. company). Bottom line, do what works and
keeps customers reasonably happy.
Bubba

"go fish" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "TURTLE" (E-Mail Removed) wrote in message
> (E-Mail Removed)
>
>>This is Turtle.
>>
>>I had a discussion on the serviceman of today with one of the old HVAC
>>hands
>>about this and he seems to think it is more profitiable to not carry them
>>on
>>the
>>truck and have to go get them or come back after you get them. He said if
>>you
>>
>>don't have them it extends the labor time in both ways by going to get
>>them
>>or
>>come back the next day to put them on. Coming back the next day makes two
>>service calls into one job and then going to get them increases a snap job
>>into
>>another hour of labor. He said it was not really right but it would bring
>>the
>>
>>cost of operation down such as stocking of parts, Damage of parts, Man
>>power
>>to
>>keep up with them, Person loading and keeping up with the parts as to
>>being
>>stole or barrowed and not returned, Large cost of these parts just sitting
>>on
>>
>>the truck, and the average customer does not expect you to have the part
>>they
>>
>>want on hand all the time. He estimates that it cost him 10% of his profit
>>margin by just carring these parts around all the time. He said he had 12
>>trucks
>>running and he took 6 of them and took the parts off them except the
>>blower
>>motors , Capasitors, and basic relays. He run the other 6 with full parts
>>line
>>and in 3 months the ''no parts trucks '' brought in a 22% more Billiable
>>hours
>>and profit than the full parts trucks did. Also the service techs loved it
>>for
>>they got to go to the warehouse on just about every job and get a cup of
>>coffee
>>, soak up a little cool air at the warehouse, or smoke a cigerette while
>>the
>>parts were being loaded or brought out. The techs loved to just ride
>>around
>>getting parts all day. Now he did not say if he waited for two jobs at a
>>time
>>to
>>go to the warehouse or not.
>>
>>I really don't know about this but it does have enough substance to look
>>at
>>it
>>some.
>>
>>In my area I'm the warehouse and the closest one is 40 miles away so my
>>warehouse would have to be my shop. i could go back to a 20 mile per gal.
>>light
>>weight van and get rid of the 1 ton cargo van that weights 7,300 pounds ,
>>11
>>miles to the gal. ,and has to have 10 ply tires to keep from busting the
>>tires .
>>
>>30 years ago that is what we did and now days , well is it any different ?
>>
>>THUNKING AGAIN
>>
>>TURTLE
>
> I have a few questions for you Turtle.
>
> How many dollars do you have tied up in inventory on your truck, and how
> often
> does that inventory turn over?
> What do you do with out dated inventory? Does your parts house buy back
> items
> you dont sell? What do you do with inventory that never sells?
>
> I think a lot depends on where a person lives, for instance, here there
> are
> hvac parts houses of one kind or another all over the place. A person
> would be
> insane to carry a fully stocked truck here.
>
> Suppose you were more than a one man band. Suppose you had two or three
> service
> trucks. Would you carry triple your inventory so the same parts were on
> all
> the trucks?
>
> Do you charge your customers a premium for having the part on your truck?
> Probably. not. YOU paid to have the part on your truck, then paid the gas
> to
> haul it around for several months, if not years, then turn around and give
> it
> to the customer for the same price as the part you had to go get.
>
> I think you should continue your conversations with that old hand you were
> talking to. Especially if he has 12 trucks on the road.
> He probably knows more about running a profitable hvac business than he
> knows
> about repairing broken ac's.
> GF

Another question is why do you carry certain parts in your inventory in the
first place. Other than the basics (contactors, transformers, capacitors,
sequencers, and such) the parts I stock on my own truck were because I sold
a bunch of them in a short time and saw the demand for them, or if a
customer has a problem and I know its gonna have to be repaired down the
road. I just sold and installed a wiring harness on a Rheem RGDG gas furnace
that got hit by lightening over a year ago.
That is the exception tho. I carry a spare combustion blower for the Rheem
RGDG furnace also. I sold and installed 3 of them, 3 weekends in a row, and
started carrying one on the truck in the heating season. I have sold and
installed over a dozen more since then. I have very little inventory that
has not turned over in 6 months or less. When the phone is ringing off the
hook with calls, do you really have time to blow 2 hours to hit the supply
house to pick up a $20 part??
I also do 24 hour service and its a bitch going on a call and *not* having
the part to make a simple repair to get the customers system running again.
Kenny is right, if you can't do the job when you get there, they will call
somebody else.

When I was asking about HSI, I was thinking about a couple friends of mine
who have a Heil 75K upflow furnace. Well, they came home one cold winter day
to a cold house. They got on the phone, and found only one fellow who would
come out at night for a personal check.

About $195 later, they had the furnace running, it needed a HSI.

So the truck stock parts might be more important for night calls when the
parts house is closed.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"TURTLE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
This is Turtle.

I had a discussion on the serviceman of today with one of the old HVAC hands
about this and he seems to think it is more profitiable to not carry them on
the
truck and have to go get them or come back after you get them.

"~KJPRO~" <KJPRO @ STARBAND.NET> wrote in message
news:yggmd.40$(E-Mail Removed)...
> "TURTLE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> This is Turtle.
>>
>> I had a discussion on the serviceman of today with one of the old HVAC
> hands
>> about this and he seems to think it is more profitiable to not carry them
> on the
>> truck and have to go get them or come back after you get them. He said if
> you
>> don't have them it extends the labor time in both ways by going to get
> them or
>> come back the next day to put them on. Coming back the next day makes two
>> service calls into one job and then going to get them increases a snap job
> into
>> another hour of labor. He said it was not really right but it would bring
> the
>> cost of operation down such as stocking of parts, Damage of parts, Man
> power to
>> keep up with them, Person loading and keeping up with the parts as to
> being
>> stole or barrowed and not returned, Large cost of these parts just sitting
> on
>> the truck, and the average customer does not expect you to have the part
> they
>> want on hand all the time. He estimates that it cost him 10% of his profit
>> margin by just carring these parts around all the time. He said he had 12
> trucks
>> running and he took 6 of them and took the parts off them except the
> blower
>> motors , Capasitors, and basic relays. He run the other 6 with full parts
> line
>> and in 3 months the ''no parts trucks '' brought in a 22% more Billiable
> hours
>> and profit than the full parts trucks did. Also the service techs loved it
> for
>> they got to go to the warehouse on just about every job and get a cup of
> coffee
>> , soak up a little cool air at the warehouse, or smoke a cigerette while
> the
>> parts were being loaded or brought out. The techs loved to just ride
> around
>> getting parts all day. Now he did not say if he waited for two jobs at a
> time to
>> go to the warehouse or not.
>>
>> I really don't know about this but it does have enough substance to look
> at it
>> some.
>>
>> In my area I'm the warehouse and the closest one is 40 miles away so my
>> warehouse would have to be my shop. i could go back to a 20 mile per gal.
> light
>> weight van and get rid of the 1 ton cargo van that weights 7,300 pounds ,
> 11
>> miles to the gal. ,and has to have 10 ply tires to keep from busting the
> tires .
>>
>> 30 years ago that is what we did and now days , well is it any different ?
>>
>> THUNKING AGAIN
>>
>> TURTLE
>
> Think about how you would want to be treated, and the answer is pretty
> simple.
>
> The common client doesn't understand the cost of doing business today, why
> add to the problems by making the job cost more than it should?
>
> I personally stock quite a bit of product and supplies, as I'm in a remote
> area as well.
> I like the fact that you can go to a call and get them up and running in a
> short time, and they do too.
> Many of the special parts are at the shop, but that will always happen. It's
> the fact that you have them on a cold night and can come back in a little
> bit to solve their problem. They will love you for giving them heat when
> it's 0F outside!
>
> Part of our job is to provide comfort for our clients, if you don't, they
> will find a company that does.
>
> Anyway, being a good service tech, who has the time to dilly dally around
> and chase after parts all day?
> Anyone that is good and is going to be around is going to have more calls
> then they could possibly get done in a day.
> (so, why add to the time problem?)
>
> Common and universal parts in my opinion should be on a service truck.
> (especially the parts for the brands you sell)
>
> Giving the client the best possible service and reliability will keep them
> *your* clients and not someone else's!
>
> ~kjpro~

This is Turtle.

The ideal of not having the right part on the truck of mine is not the question.
I have every part known to be used on Rheem, Ruud, WeatherKing, Nordye ,
Intertherm, Goodman, Amana, Carrier, Arcoaire, Luxiaire, and [ York package /
Lennox package which is lacking a little ] . If you want a relay board , relay,
motor, capasitor, every circuit breaker in all brands, every set of contactors
in single or 3 phase known, 12 kinds of wall thermostats, or any small part for
any of these I have it. It will be on my truck or the shop for sure. If you
start talking about walk-in freezers and coolers. I carry on the truck every
relay package, start boost package, overloads, driers, metal flex hoses, all
freons for refrigeration & HVAC [ except 410-A / AZ-20 ] , Valve kits for
Copland recep. compressors, Walk-in Freezer Defrost Clocks of 6 kinds,
thermostats, All pressure shut down, a Expanion valve kit to make a valve to fit
all freons used, All Cellinoid valves and coils, and sight glasses to fit any
application.

Resideniually speaking here. My competitor carries very little or nothing and
gets a $25.00 service charge and I carry everything and get a $35.00 service
charge and they will call him first to see if he will fix it for $25.00 and then
if not they call me to come just fix it. I get all kinds of complaints of being
behind the Hacks screwing it up and hear about it all the time. I don't say
anything for usely they screw it up good and it turn a service call into a major
repair by the time I get there.

I just don't think it is worth it to be the super parts man when others get
called first for $10.00 less. Now I live in a Low education level area of the
country and this may explain it.

TURTLE

Turtle
I think a major part of that decision depends on whether your operating on
"Flat-Rate" or "Time & Material". However, I myself operate on a time &
material basis and carry a large ($) inventory on my truck. As a result,
many of the parts on the truck are sold at a very nice margin.

Remember, the customer pays for everything..........including the truck
inventory. Therefore, since they're paying for it, give them the best.

Jabs


"TURTLE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> This is Turtle.
>
> I had a discussion on the serviceman of today with one of the old HVAC
> hands about this and he seems to think it is more profitiable to not carry
> them on the truck and have to go get them or come back after you get them.
> He said if you don't have them it extends the labor time in both ways by
> going to get them or come back the next day to put them on. Coming back
> the next day makes two service calls into one job and then going to get
> them increases a snap job into another hour of labor. He said it was not
> really right but it would bring the cost of operation down such as
> stocking of parts, Damage of parts, Man power to keep up with them, Person
> loading and keeping up with the parts as to being stole or barrowed and
> not returned, Large cost of these parts just sitting on the truck, and the
> average customer does not expect you to have the part they want on hand
> all the time. He estimates that it cost him 10% of his profit margin by
> just carring these parts around all the time. He said he had 12 trucks
> running and he took 6 of them and took the parts off them except the
> blower motors , Capasitors, and basic relays. He run the other 6 with full
> parts line and in 3 months the ''no parts trucks '' brought in a 22% more
> Billiable hours and profit than the full parts trucks did. Also the
> service techs loved it for they got to go to the warehouse on just about
> every job and get a cup of coffee , soak up a little cool air at the
> warehouse, or smoke a cigerette while the parts were being loaded or
> brought out. The techs loved to just ride around getting parts all day.
> Now he did not say if he waited for two jobs at a time to go to the
> warehouse or not.
>
> I really don't know about this but it does have enough substance to look
> at it some.
>
> In my area I'm the warehouse and the closest one is 40 miles away so my
> warehouse would have to be my shop. i could go back to a 20 mile per gal.
> light weight van and get rid of the 1 ton cargo van that weights 7,300
> pounds , 11 miles to the gal. ,and has to have 10 ply tires to keep from
> busting the tires .
>
> 30 years ago that is what we did and now days , well is it any different ?
>
> THUNKING AGAIN
>
> TURTLE
>

Turtle,
The second most powerful word in marketing & advertising is the word
"Save". Furthermore, the *most* powerful word in marketing & advertising is
the word "Free". Therefore, in your case, if you want to be called
first,.......come out for free! It's a lost leader and as a results you
probably won't last long in this business,........but they'll call you
first. Guaranteed!

Jabs


"TURTLE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> I just don't think it is worth it to be the super parts man when others
> get called first for $10.00 less. Now I live in a Low education level area
> of the country and this may explain it.
>
> TURTLE
>

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 04:22:20 GMT, bill <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Damn Turtle. You need to raise your rates so they will. Someone has to
>be the leader.
>Gas better be under a $1 at those rates and bread at .49 cents.
>
>I'm $90 the first hour. I'm not even high man on the totem pole.

Do you do parties?

Jerry