What’s In My Truck: Oasis Turf And Tree

image_pdf

As the service manager for Oasis Turf & Tree, a large lawn care company servicing the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas, Matt Fine is responsible for everything from diagnosing hard-to-spot lawn conditions to training new employees. He’s on the road a lot, and because his responsibilities can vary he’s found it useful to be ready for anything. Fine drives a Freightliner Sprinter van, which he says has great cargo space, is incredibly fuel efficient and basically drives and handles like a car. In fact, Rob Reindl, founder and owner of Oasis, selected Sprinter — specifically the Model 3500 Cargo Van — for some of these exact reasons. The company’s vans start out as that model but are customized for service work with everything from a folding ramp, which allows techs to drive right into the back of the van, to custom hooks, shelves and cubbies for small tools and equipment. While Fine’s van isn’t the same as the technicians’ vans, it’s designed to function as a mobile office.

I always keep a tennis ball in the truck. Most of our customers have dogs, so throughout the day I’ll get random opportunities to play a quick game of fetch. My biggest struggle is getting the ball back from the dog.

All of the vans in our fleet are equipped with Samsung Galaxy Notes. They allow for internet access, a camera and access to Real Green Software, which means we can be of better service to our customers by having all of their account and history information handy.

We have Bluetooth printers on board, which allow us to print custom notes and other information so that customers have helpful print-outs that are easy to read.

Our vans are rolling billboards. They all have matching wraps. I hear from customers all the time that they love our vans. You’ll see kids pointing and smiling as we drive by. They are big, bright and colorful. They let people know who we are, and because our branding is unique it’s also memorable.

Even though we have awesome products, systems, people and training, we know that working with Mother Nature is unpredictable. So we wanted to be sure that our service manager team was equipped to handle any concern for our customers above and beyond what might be expected during one of our scheduled visits. That led us to design a vehicle specifically for a service manager. My vehicle is a mobile tool that can help me take care of our customers, keep our guys on the road and just solve problems in general. So, basically, I’m Batman. Or Matt-man.

The Essentials

I keep all of my essentials in my “man bag,” which I always have handy in my vehicle.

Ray-Ban Sunglasses — These are absolutely vital.

My knife — I feel naked without it on me.

A handful of pens — I always seem to lose them.

A bungee cord — This is surprisingly handy.

Snacks for the day — Usually David brand sunflower seeds in pickle or barbeque flavor and some Nature’s Valley granola bars.

A pack of mint gum — Although you’ll occasionally find a pack of strawberry in there.