Omar B. Sandlin II

One of the best ways to grow and sustain a strong contracting business is to offer services that complement one another. Doing so used to require a large fleet of specialty vehicles, managed by a busy staff--today, contractors are getting more done with less by leveraging the latest interchangeable truck bed systems.
There are several options on the market, two of the most popular being traditional hydraulic hook lifts and Switch-N-Go™ (SNG) detachable truck body systems. Switch-N-Go, the… Show more

One of the best ways to grow and sustain a strong contracting business is to offer services that complement one another. Doing so used to require a large fleet of specialty vehicles, managed by a busy staff--today, contractors are getting more done with less by leveraging the latest interchangeable truck bed systems.
There are several options on the market, two of the most popular being traditional hydraulic hook lifts and Switch-N-Go™ (SNG) detachable truck body systems. Switch-N-Go, the newer of the two, is a proprietary system available with either an electrically-powered hydraulic winch (for minimal transmission modification) or a fully hydraulic winch (for faster lifting speeds).
At first glance, hook lifts and SNG systems appear to be similar--after all, they achieve the same goal: fully unloading a truck body onto the ground to free the chassis for another job. But a closer look reveals significant differences in how the systems work. In five key areas of consideration, here’s how they measure up:
1. Weight: The average hook lift system weighs roughly a thousand pounds more than an SNG system of equal size – weight that gets deducted pound for pound from your truck’s carrying capacity..... Show less

In any business, a diversified set of services is a crucial safety net, essential for maximizing revenue and minimizing downturns. In the contracting industry, service diversification is a natural and often essential strategy for achieving sustained success. Without it, businesses leave themselves vulnerable to a number of challenges:

Challenge #1: The unhealthy feast-famine cycle – from long hours to no hours and back again
In the contracting industry – particularly in regions with… Show more

In any business, a diversified set of services is a crucial safety net, essential for maximizing revenue and minimizing downturns. In the contracting industry, service diversification is a natural and often essential strategy for achieving sustained success. Without it, businesses leave themselves vulnerable to a number of challenges:

Challenge #1: The unhealthy feast-famine cycle – from long hours to no hours and back again
In the contracting industry – particularly in regions with long winters – seasonal highs and lows are just part of doing business. For landscaping crews, tree services, pavers, excavators, and other fair-weather service providers, the necessary shift from feast to famine and back again each year can feel like whiplash. It may even be unhealthy, particularly if it leads to lack of sleep, extreme stress, or overexertion during busy times and/or lack of structure and discipline when there isn’t work to do every day.
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