 Anyone who has ever tried to hang a mirror, replace a window or move a glass coffee table without any breakage can sympathize with Western States Glass Corp., a distributor and fabricator for glass building products.
Every day, the staff processes up to 900 orders to be shipped throughout northern California. Glass shower doors, beveled mirrors, insulated windows and other flat glass pieces are loaded onto delivery trucks, driven long distances, and must arrive in perfect condition. The extremely fragile loads present a unique shipping problem: how do you transport something so delicate without ruining it before it arrives?
If you’re Jon Witkin, vice president and partner at Western States Glass, you rely on 20 automatic transmission Mitsubishi Fuso FE-series trucks custom fitted with racks that allow the glass to remain upright and secure during its journey. Witkin’s fleet includes FE-145, FE-180, and older FE-SP and FE-HD model trucks, and Witkin says they are ideally suited for the glass business because “we load the heck out of them” and they can handle full delivery loads. A typical Western States Glass delivery truck can be weighted with up 10,000 pounds.
“You don’t want breakdowns,” he says. “Every truck is out there for 10 hours a day, making 20 stops or more, oftentimes in stop-and-go traffic. We need a delivery truck that can handle that kind of stress.”
Witkin also says the tight turning radius of the Mitsubishi Fuso FE-180 is helpful when making deliveries to glass shops, many of which are located in old industrial areas. Drivers will often find themselves negotiating narrow back alleys to access the loading dock, and the Mitsubishi Fuso trucks are easily maneuvered through these areas.
Delivery trucks in Western States Glass’ fleet log up to 40,000 miles per year, and as many as 500,000 miles in a lifecycle. With each truck in almost constant use, it can be difficult to find time for maintenance. Witkin’s dealer, John Kunde of Diamond Mitsubishi Fuso in Milpitas, CA, has found a unique solution to that dilemma. Every other Wednesday evening, Kunde brings a mobile repair truck to Western States Glass headquarters and performs oil changes, small repairs and inspections on-site in the evenings.
“It helps us tremendously, because it can take so much time to run the trucks back and forth to the dealer,” Witkin says. “This way, the night crew can load up the trucks and have them ready to make the next day’s deliveries without us missing a beat.”
Kunde says that he frequently offers on-site service to customers as an added benefit.
“Many companies have their trucks out all day, and it would be a hardship for them to take them off the road for service,” Kunde says. “We can handle many smaller maintenance calls at their location, but we still recommend that trucks be brought in for major service needs.”
Kunde adds that Witkin is the “textbook customer” when it comes to keeping his Mitsubishi Fuso fleet in top shape.
“Those trucks are serviced every 6,000 miles and that helps them stay in great condition,” he says.
Witkin first turned to Mitsubishi Fuso medium duty trucks when he had difficulty hiring class-A certified drivers. Mitsubishi Fuso trucks now make up exactly half of his 40-vehicle fleet. Witkin says he tries to keep the trucks as current as possible, and has a mix of new and used, leased and owned, vehicles. His used vehicles are retrofit at Diamond Mitsubishi Fuso to extend the bodies and ensure they are the proper size for the wheelbase.
“Mitsubishi Fuso makes a good-quality truck,” Witkin says. “I have a lot of confidence in them to get the job done.”
For a real-time look at Western States Glass’ operation, visit their website at www.westernstatesglass.com.
|
Home
