BU Environmental Services LLC decided to think big when it bought a new vacuum truck last year — as in a bigger tank, a bigger pump, and bigger productivity gains and profits.
The Lancaster, Ohio-based company obtained all that and more in the form of a vacuum truck built by Jack Doheny Supplies. The company uses the truck to haul clean water to and frac water from natural gas operations in the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Built on a 2012 Kenworth T800 chassis, the truck features a 4,200-gallon aluminum tank made by Brenner Tank, LLC; Challenger pump made by National Vacuum Equipment; a 500 hp Cummins diesel engine; and an 18-speed manual Fuller transmission, made by Eaton.
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"That's the biggest pump you can get," says Torry Olive, operations manager for the company, which provides water and liquid waste hauling and industrial cleaning services. "We went with a bigger pump for more power and quicker load times."
For loading clean water used in fracking operations, an operator can fill the truck in 15 or 20 minutes, compared to 30 to 35 minutes for smaller pumps on other trucks the company owns.
"It may not sound like much, but over the course of a year, that adds up quick," Olive says. "Time is money. It also helps us be more competitive because while we're more efficient, the hourly rate for the truck stays the same."
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The larger tank also saves time and increases efficiency. When the company uses smaller trucks, the hauling capacity for hazardous liquids, such as gasoline, max out at around 2,800 gallons. "Now, we can go up to 3,500 gallons per trip," Olive says. (A U.S. Department of Transportation regulation requires an air gap for expansion, which prevents operators from filling up to the truck's 4,200-gallon maximum capacity.)
Olive also lauds the DOT-coded truck's versatility, pointing out it can haul everything from water to dirty frac water to diesel and regular gasoline. "It can hold just about anything except corrosives," he says.
The truck also features double valves for more efficient off-loading: airlock valves and hand-knife valves. Olive says operators leave the airlock valve open during off-loading and control the flow with a hand-knife valve, which stop liquids immediately when applied, as opposed to a slight delay when
using just an airlock valve.
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"If you're off-loading into a small container or drum and close the airlock valve, it might take five seconds for it to stop completely, because there's product still left in the line," Olive explains. "That can result in overflows. It's basically an environmental concern ... clients don't want you spilling anything on their site. The hand-knife valve gives them extra assurance that you won't. They've fallen in love with it, and some clients have even made their use mandatory."
Investing in new technology not only bolsters productivity and profitability, it enables BBU Environmental to retain clients that more and more often will not hire contractors if their equipment is a certain age. Newer machines are also less prone to profitability-killing downtime for repairs and are easier to maintain, Olive says.
"Newer equipment has sensors that let you know something is wrong, so you're paying for preventive maintenance as opposed to, say, a complete rebuild," he notes.
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Overall, Olive says the truck has been a great investment. "We can take it and run with the boys in the Utica or Marcellus, or go downstream and use it at terminal refineries and bulk facilities, or for pipeline work," he says. "And instead of putting two trucks on those sites, we can do it with one. It's a very versatile truck that's opened up a lot of business for us."
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