Customized utility vehicles, like this ambulance, can save time, money and actually reduce fleet size.
Customized utility vehicles, like the Transporter Ambulance, can save time, money and actually reduce fleet size.
As an airport facilities maintenance professional, you’ve seen how facilities maintenance teams waste time and money “getting ready for work.” Many airports use generic utility vehicles or vehicles equipped with make-shift accessories. Others drive light-duty trucks for applications customized work utility vehicles perform at a fraction of the cost, or rely on two-passenger vehicles when they could rack up savings with six- to eight-passenger rides.
Richard Whitfield, manager of Custom Solutions at Club Car, tells us how airport FMs can use customized utility and transport vehicles to speed a single task, boost versatility, carry more passengers in a single trip and reduce the size of their fleet.
Club Car is offering two lines of effective customizable vehicles developed over decades. Some are available preconfigured from the factory; others must be ordered through our Custom Solutions Department.
Each vehicle comes with a set of features based on an analysis of global buying patterns of vehicles used in that particular application. And they can be further customized to your exact needs.
Customization generally takes one of three paths to saving.
Speed a Single Application
In some cases vehicles are customized with everything needed to speed a single application such as:
- Refuse Collection: Indoor and Outdoor
- Housekeeping/Janitorial Service: Indoor and Outdoor
- Transport Vehicles: Indoor and Outdoor
- Food Service/Delivery: Indoor and Outdoor
- Grounds Maintenance
- Ambulance: Indoor and Outdoor
- Security: Indoor and Outdoor
- Snow Removal
- Bell Service
Boost the Versatility of Your Fleet
In other cases, customization increases versatility by configuring vehicles to move seamlessly from task to task during a single day. This is particularly important for facilities maintenance vehicles.
Without this versatility, your crews may spend hours driving back and forth to staging areas, looking for tools and equipment, and making needless round trips.
Vehicles customized with accessories such as tool or van boxes, dual ladder racks, stake-side kits, rear trailer hitches and other task-multiplying equipment keep your crews in the field, where they belong.
Customized facilities maintenance vehicles come in two- or automatic four-wheel drive; with electric, gas or diesel powertrains; and in two- or multi-passenger models. Available on various vehicle platforms and price points, they offer a wide range of transportation solutions.
Take, for example, the new Carryall® 1700 four-wheel drive vehicle with long bed. Available with gasoline or diesel powertrains, it features an automatic four-wheel drive system that requires little driver training. The system senses the ground it’s on and shifts as needed, making it ideal for hauling cargo over improved or unimproved terrain. And you can further customize the car with:
- Power steering
- Electric bed lift
- Aluminum cargo box
- Tool boxes
- Van boxes
- Stake side kit
- High dump for trash, recyclables or other items
- Many other accessories and options
Carry More Passengers … and Add Versatility
Multi-passenger vehicles rack up savings … and fast. They cut fleet size, boost operational efficiency and reduce fuel, labor and maintenance costs.
For example, the Transporter™ People Mover accommodates six passengers in forward-facing seats and comes with a rear fold-down seat that carries two additional passengers or serves as a small cargo bed.
Available in gasoline or powerful electric models with standard extended-range batteries and single-point watering systems, it can be used inside or outdoors for moving passengers or transporting crews. Gasoline models feature a standard limited slip axle for 4×4-like performance on wet, hilly and rough terrain.
But here’s the icing on the cake. This shape-shifter can be customized to transform from a two- to a four- to a six-passenger vehicle with the flip of a seat or two. Use it for moving people in the morning, hauling cargo in the afternoon.
Don’t Just Improvise!
Resist the impulse to “customize” vehicles in-house. Creating your own custom vehicles can increase your regulatory risks, create safety concerns and possibly void your warranty.
Look for a vehicle manufacturer with a longstanding and active customization department. Their experienced engineers and technicians work for airports as well as industries totally unrelated to airports. The solutions they’ve found for other industries can often work for airports as well, yet you may never consider these valuable options.
A good customization organization does much more than add accessories. Look for one that offers complex customization, has experts who can create designs tailored for your area and industry, and backs its customized vehicles with the same warranty as any other vehicle in that class.
Customized vehicles will power productivity and transform the way you think about transportation.
To learn more, contact your local Authorized Club Car Dealer or email CustsomSolutions@ClubCar.com.