Key Tips to Spec It Right the First Time

There is more to writing a vehicle specification than listing horsepower, payload, dimensions and power.

The best spec writers approach the job like detectives. They ask operators what they need, technicians what they can support, and vendors what they can deliver today that will function well down the road.

Gather Spec Insights

When writing vehicle or equipment specifications for a public entity, the spec writer should make sure that it’s a competitive spec. The writer should meet with equipment vendors and get a demonstration on the equipment. They should also schedule time for those who will operate the equipment to test and inspect it personally.

Much of that role involves interviewing the people who will use the equipment.

Sam Lamerato, owner of Public Fleet Advisors LLC, says meeting with user department personnel and determining what they are looking for in the equipment is crucial. After reviewing the budgeted amount for equipment, the spec writer should determine from talking to the operators what the piece of equipment can and cannot do.

The writer can meet with other employees, but the operators who use the equipment every day are going to be able to describe its capabilities. For example, the operators might note that it has issues pulling an air compressor or a heavy trailer, and because of that it has a hard time stopping in a safe distance, which is obviously a major safety concern.

Lamerato says spec writers should also ask operators what they see this piece of equipment doing in the next eight to 10 years. For example, do they plan on going from a signal axle trailer to a tandem axle trailer to a tri-axle trailer?

“Right size is the buzzword: Right size this piece of equipment for today’s operation and going to the future,” says Lamerato, who was fleet superintendent for the city of Troy, Mich. and worked in the Troy fleet department for over 40 years before he co-founded Public Fleet Advisors.

These steps are vital because a municipality often gets just one shot at a big purchase. Fleet managers do not want to make a mistake on that purchase and have to return to the city council or board of commissioners in a few years and say that the equipment is not doing the job and that additional funds are needed.

“It’s not a good thing to do. You will lose a lot of confidence in your boards and your councils,” Lamerato says. He stresses that it’s also vital to make sure the specification is competitive, because many municipalities don’t like a sole-source specification.

Pressure Test the Spec

Once those steps are complete, the spec writer should continue the investigative work with vendors.

“I always met with the vendors one-on-one to tell them what we were looking for, and they supplied me with information on what they currently had or manufactured that could meet that specification,” Lamerato says.

Meeting the specification is only part of the equation. It’s also important to know if the vendor can support the equipment after the sale.

This means looking at the vendor’s inventory of repair parts, number of service technicians, technician expertise, and number of service bays at the facility.

The writer should also include in the spec whether it’s a special piece of equipment like a sweeper or a combination catch basin cleaner. Does the vendor have loaners available should the equipment go down for over 24 hours? If so, will the vendor provide a loaner under the warranty period at no charge?

“That’s going to separate the real players in this type of purchase,” Lamerato says.

Then the spec writer should meet with the operators and the user department again to review the specification and have them sign off that this piece of equipment will do the job for them today and into the future.

Once the equipment meets the specification on paper, the next step is to put it in the operators’ hands.

Operators should experience an on-site demonstration where they can test the equipment and get involved in its maintenance. That testing should include getting operator feedback on maintenance access, including the placement of grease fittings, oil filters and other service points.

Spec for Standardization

A spec writer’s investigation must also consider whether the municipal shop can efficiently maintain what they’re buying.

That consideration has become increasingly important as fleets struggle to recruit technicians and shops are asked to support a more diverse mix of vehicles and equipment.

A tech might work on a GM pickup truck early in the day, then a Ford and then a Chrysler. Later, that same technician might be asked to work on a trailer or even a chainsaw. The challenge is finding, and keeping, technicians capable of handling this diversity.

Lamerato explains private organizations are catching up with public fleets, offering stronger hiring incentives to techs, such as signing bonuses and paid holidays. They’re even offering uniforms, which many techs were forced to pay for in the past.

With that in mind, Lamerato recommends that fleets standardize when possible.

“If you don’t have technicians to repair the vehicles you’re spec’ing, it’s easy to point the finger and say, ‘Well this vehicle just doesn’t do what we want it to do,’ when in fact it’s just not being maintained correctly,” Lamerato says.

A fleet might have saved money by having vehicles from different manufacturers, such as Ford and GM in its fleet, but the fleet might lose money by having to purchase a $20,000 scanner for one piece of equipment, and a different $20,000 scanner for another.

“So, it’s the whole package. That’s why I always got input from my technicians when we purchased a new piece of equipment ,” Lamerato says.

Use of cooperative purchasing agencies is one way a fleet can work toward standardization. Lamerato says cooperatives, such as Sourcewell and the Houston-Galveston Area Council, award contracts to manufacturers such as Caterpillar and John Deere, allowing fleets to standardize equipment and reduce the variety of parts and diagnostic tools they need to stock.

Standardization also allows technicians to develop deeper expertise in maintaining and repairing equipment from fewer manufacturers.

Balance Budget, Risk and Future Needs

Lamerato discussed how spec’ing relates to the big picture, noting that an F-150, for example, won’t be very dependable if it is over-stressed by pulling trailers that are heavier than its capabilities. Spec’ing incorrectly can also lead to liability if the vehicle gets into an accident.

He mentions heavy-duty salt trucks in Michigan as an example. If the truck gets into an accident and injures someone because it was spec’d incorrectly and could not stop fast enough, attorneys will look for ways to point the finger at the company operating the truck.

“I never want to put anybody in danger, so we always make sure we spec our vehicles to handle the load that they are going to be handling today and into the future.”