Building a service truck.

Oxbow, welcome to dealing with the dot, if you call, your never going to get the same answer twice either. My insurance company has told me it's something like 115 or 118 gallons but to be safe stay under the 110 mark, you not only need an endorsement, but the vehicle has to be placard, carry the paperwork and then my insurance goes up about 800 bucks a year, but I can carry up to about 7, 100 gallon tanks of fuel and avoid the whole problem, I've been told they are working to change this ......................again, so who knows in the future.

Also a lot of quarries wouldn't let me in if my vehicle was placard for hazmat without added paperwork and grief so I just stay under the 110 gallons per tank and everyone's happy as of today, tomorrow I'm sure they'll decide something else. Every year I have to sit through the hazmat updates and have the expert dot people explain it to me..........which translates into, what did the dot change that I was legal to do last year that they deem I can no longer do this year.

On a side note, if you read the dot book and it makes sense, quit drinking, sober up and then read it again, I"m sure it'll be back to normal again confusing as ever with more interpretations than a you can count.

Randy88 said:

Oxbow, welcome to dealing with the dot, if you call, your never going to get the same answer twice either. My insurance company has told me it's something like 115 or 118 gallons but to be safe stay under the 110 mark, you not only need an endorsement, but the vehicle has to be placard, carry the paperwork and then my insurance goes up about 800 bucks a year, but I can carry up to about 7, 100 gallon tanks of fuel and avoid the whole problem, I've been told they are working to change this ......................again, so who knows in the future.

Also a lot of quarries wouldn't let me in if my vehicle was placard for hazmat without added paperwork and grief so I just stay under the 110 gallons per tank and everyone's happy as of today, tomorrow I'm sure they'll decide something else. Every year I have to sit through the hazmat updates and have the expert dot people explain it to me..........which translates into, what did the dot change that I was legal to do last year that they deem I can no longer do this year.

On a side note, if you read the dot book and it makes sense, quit drinking, sober up and then read it again, I"m sure it'll be back to normal again confusing as ever with more interpretations than a you can count.

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I have a 600 gallon ex military tank that I can haul out to a job and have it filled there. What is frustrating is that even if the tank is empty, unless it has been purged, I cannot legally haul it without HAZMAT.

I think I will drink and not read the dot book! As long as I am not driving everybody is happy that way.

Yes sir Oxbow, thats what im looking for pretty much. I have my class 1 and 3 ( that's what it is around here). Just wondering if you need your air license to drive it. I have a few guys who work with me and only one and I have the licenses to drive bigger chassis trucks with air brakes. that's why I was looking at the 550 so that if me and the other guy were working I could have someone else drive the truck. Dualie, I ran a impact off a 3 gallon and this one is a 4 so I should be fine lol.

Maybe I should stop being cheap and just buy another truck with a service body like this one

peterbilt18 said:

Yes sir Oxbow, thats what im looking for pretty much. I have my class 1 and 3 ( that's what it is around here). Just wondering if you need your air license to drive it. I have a few guys who work with me and only one and I have the licenses to drive bigger chassis trucks with air brakes. that's why I was looking at the 550 so that if me and the other guy were working I could have someone else drive the truck. Dualie, I ran a impact off a 3 gallon and this one is a 4 so I should be fine lol.

Maybe I should stop being cheap and just buy another truck with a service body like this one View attachment 102020

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The cleverest thing I ever saw on a service truck like this was in the compartment directly behind the cab. An additional heater core had been installed with fan. Rain gear, overalls, rubber boots, and any thing that got wet, tools included rode home in that compartment. When he reached home, the tools went back into the proper compartment dry and toasty. The overalls,and everything else was warm and toasty also. He said it was kind of nice putting on warm dry clothes in the morning before he turned a wrench. Here in the Pac NW, with rain and other rotten weather 360 days a year I always thought this was the way to go. The cab of his truck was clean, no mud tracked over paperwork, a clean spot to eat lunch when you get a chance. Just very nice.

I think it's a hard work. can you find all the suitbale parts? weight, dimensions, and harmony, too many things need consider.

Randy88 said:

Oxbow, welcome to dealing with the dot, if you call, your never going to get the same answer twice either. My insurance company has told me it's something like 115 or 118 gallons but to be safe stay under the 110 mark, you not only need an endorsement, but the vehicle has to be placard, carry the paperwork and then my insurance goes up about 800 bucks a year, but I can carry up to about 7, 100 gallon tanks of fuel and avoid the whole problem, I've been told they are working to change this ......................again, so who knows in the future.

Click to expand...

That's the way I understand the rule too Randy, however local/state rules may vary. All my slip tanks are 110 gals or less to stay away from the hazmat issues.

I have a 500 gal stationary tank I take out to the larger jobs. That tank is pumped dry and moved on a trailer. In the past when the job was a long distance, I would put it into the back of a dump truck so it couldn't be seen, empty of course. I am sure the DOT would have something to say about not having proper purged paperwork if we were ever stopped...

Another option on a service truck I have kicked around is looking at retired power line trucks. You can find them where they have removed the bucket but the service body is still there. They can be found pretty cheap considering what a new one costs. Some of these trucks have air/hyd. lines, winches, etc fitted into the bodies which could come in handy. A lot of them are also set up with a pintle hitch with air lines as well. Something to consider.

Here's an ex forestry truck with the boom removed. Space behind the cab to mount air comp. etc, has a tool box and looks to have a chip dump. The chip dump could be modified to a flat dump.

http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=3491877

Here are some more in the same category -

http://www.truckpaper.com/list/list...dlx=exact&bcatid=27&Pref=0&scf=true&HDROR=asc
Just a thought.

Oxbow and CM, the l000 lb rule translates into the 118 gallons of fuel or whatever it is exactly, but everyone translates that into the under the 110 gallon mark to avoid the hazmat rules. Those should be the federal rules, I had to keep those in mind because I go across state lines quite a bit and then I had to check with each state I'd go into for their rules, and luckily they all told me, as long as I was legal with the federal rules, I was legal in their state.

Pete if your wanting a truck with some service bodies on it and are looking to save a few bucks, no matter how you do it, if you find something already done, like at an auction, it'll always be the cheapest way to go, rather than put it together yourself. Look at ironplanet.com , rbauction.com, and a few others out there for service trucks, service bodies and service and lube trailers, compared to putting them together on your own, you'll end up with a welder generator, fuel tanks and pumps, tools boxes and even a crane for about 20 cents on a dollar compared to doing a fraction of it yourself. The international truck someone posted will be far cheaper than just a bare framed 550 truck you'd have to buy and it'll be complete and ready to go. Just something I learned over the years, also, if you have cdl and can with a larger truck, it will also be cheaper over the conventional 450/550 pickups, just due to popularity. As for running air tools off an air brake truck, I've been doing it for years, is it ideal, no but for minor repairs or small air tools it works just fine.

I have no idea what type of operation you run or what machines you have or how old they are, but I've tried to save a buck and do what your wanting to do, and after several pickups I outgrew, I finally put together a full fledged service truck an international 4900 with air brakes and now that's not big enough, I also pull air brake tag trailers and got away from all the headaches of the electric brakes on trailers too, another major plus. Again, just an observation I've had over the years.

Randy mentioned this once, but I'll mention it again. I think once you equip a class 5 truck where you want it, you will be so close to the GVWR of that truck you will only be able to carry a shovel or two of material in the dump, if that. I recall a local aggregate company had a tri-axle dump deadlined at a DOT stop and when the mechanic went to fix it DOT put his 3500 service truck on the scales and subsequently deadlined him too! Even with a larger truck, all the weight of the tools and fuel you want to carry will severely limit the payload you can legally carry in the dump.

Good idea CM1995 ! Never thought of that, I saw one up for sale today actually, ill investigate more!

You also have to pay attention to the weight carrying capacities of the tires on any truck, even thought the gross vehicle weight rating may not be exceeded, the dot will get you on the the weight rating of the tires and what they can carry.