Read the article in WorkTruck magazine
January 15, 2021
Severino Trucking is a family business founded in 1975 by current President Ron Severino. Headquartered in New Hampshire, the 160-employee company focuses on road and highway construction, site development, and utility work.
Severino Trucking was a long-time user of estimating and operations software B2W Estimate and B2W Track. In late 2018, the company brought Skip Brownell on board as shop manager and gave him a specific and critical goal. Brownell had 40 plus years of experience managing service programs in the automotive industry and was charged with improving shop productivity and efficiency and reducing downtime by implementing B2W Maintain for the Severino fleet, which included 164 off road vehicles, 62 on road vehicles, and 63 pickup trucks.
At the time, preventive efforts were minimal, and repairs were not being documented effectively or completed efficiently, according to Brownell.
Severino relied primarily on paper-based processes. A majority of repair work was being completed without work orders, emergency repair rates were excessive, and downtime was not being measured.
From January 2018 to October 2018, the company had 1,183 work orders created, 20% plus emergency repairs, low shop productivity and efficiency, equipment downtime wasn't even measured, and they were accomplishing around 15-20 equipment inspection reports per week.
Working with B2W, Severino trained technicians, equipped them with iPads or laptops, and achieved buy-in across the company by emphasizing the benefits of B2W Maintain. Brownell said a more preventive approach began with customized maintenance programs for individual pieces of equipment, including:
- Maintenance intervals.
- Itemized tasks and expected hours to complete work.
- Parts information.
Measurable improvements came quickly. Brownell noted that Severino reduced repair costs and unexpected downtime, and the added uptime reduced disruptions on job sites. The company expects the structured documentation of repair history and costs to assist in making more informed decisions about retiring or continuing to maintain specific assets.
The following year, Severino more than doubled its work orders to 4,890, reduced emergency repairs to 10.76%, increased shop productivity and efficiency, reduced equipment downtime, and completed an average of 65 to 70 equipment inspection reports each week.
Just over a year later, the numbers prove that Brownell is succeeding.
