“Government regulations are making it tougher to make as good a living for being out on the road, and younger drivers don’t want to be out on the road for months at time,” says Scott Leffert, director of transportation services at Powersource, a mobile trailer transportation company.

But the long miles and rough roads don’t just impact drivers.


Travel-weary trailers
Frequent travel along bumpy roads can damage trailer exteriors as well as the equipment inside. Customers are holding onto mobiles longer, transport companies say, and so look for refurbishments to breathe new life into tired trailers.

“Our business has been incredible,” says Ronnie Taylor, president of SVSR, Inc., a trailer maintenance, refurbishment and storage company. “Since we do new and used, if the economy is bad, our refurbishment work is great, and in good times we put together new trailers.”

SVSR, Inc.’s refurbishment work includes fixing glaring problems, like holes in the floor, adding new stairs and railings and “re-skinning” mobiles – a process in which new panels are put on, often with eye-catching designs.

For regular PM, Taylor says his team will examine the trailer in three different segments.

“We’ll do the generator, then the trailer, anything having to do with suspension; the lift, the doors and the lighting; and finally the HVAC maintenance,” says Taylor.

Common on-the-road problems can happen if a trailer flexes left and right as it goes down the road, triggering leaks, air conditioning issues and frayed wiring, Rawlings says. The imaging equipment inside the trailers can also become damaged.

“You have the typical problems you see in MR but because they move around, you have almost twice the imaging issues you would have,” says Rich Greb, manager at trailer refurbishment and maintenance company Image Technology Consulting.

Buchholz of Shared Medical Solutions notes that some customers choose to have a mobile’s MR updated, but not the trailer itself. He says his company has seen more in the reconditioning and refurbishment business because of that trend.

“You can have equipment that was bought 10 years ago and get the magnet update, and now you need the trailer to catch up,” says Buchholz.

Roads in need of maintenance can also cause problems for trailers, especially for their tires, which have seen a considerable jump in price in recent years due in part to the price of rubber, according to the Specialty Equipment Market Association.

“Because the states aren’t spending as much money on fixing roads, it’s a challenge for us that we’re spending more on tires and on suspensions,” says Rawlings. “I’ve been in the business for 20 years and I see a lot more people changing major suspension components because the roads are so bad.”

December 2012 Magazine

Read more stories from the December 2012 issue

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