Body=Dump Box, Application=?

Vocational Information includes intended service, commodity, and body or trailer type. Why would the OE care, and what do they do with the information you enter into those fields? Do these categories warrant any thought?

Sales tools use logic to limit option availability based upon user choices. Most software requires a set of basic selections to limit the interaction required by the user as well as to increase the efficiency of the processor. So many starting specs or base model specs will have the vocational data pre-filled. Never think of this as a recommendation, but more of a placeholder.

Vocational information sets the stage for product availability. As you work through the specification process, you do not want to make selections that reset your intended operation. That phenomenon is known as tail wagging the dog (meaning the dog is in charge, not the tail). If at any point this occurs, you should revisit the revised category and do what it takes to set it back to actual operation definition.

This seems like a lot of work, so you may be wondering what the value is in resetting the intended service after you have specified the chassis as the customer wants. The selections are used in Engineering review to determine which sets of guidelines should be applied to the chassis. Let’s look at an example.

When specifying a construction dump truck, a rear axle selection removes your intended service. Local delivery is compatible, and the software selects it for you. Since your spec is now complete, you submit the order. Upon review, Engineering sees this as a vehicle light duty dump and processes the order. If construction had been selected, the heavy wall housing would have been required.

You customer puts the vehicle into actual service and the vehicle is down for a cracked axle housing. The customer is without a vehicle on a jobsite. Furthermore, when the repair is made the field service rep determines the vehicle was characterized incorrectly and will not stand behind the warranty. Now your unhappy customer is furious, and it all could have been resolved by reviewing the order prior to submittal.

Even if the likelihood of this scenario does not daunt you, consider where product upgrade charges originate. If you specified a product that doesn’t make sense, and your customer bought off on the price, when Engineering forces a more expensive product are you willing to cover the cost?