Iowa Mold Tooling Adds Enclosed Lube Truck Unit to SiteStar Lineup

Wed November 07, 2007
Aggregate Equipment Guide

Iowa Mold Tooling Co. Inc.’s (IMT) new lube truck offers all the benefits of the SiteStar unit released in 2006, including reduced unit weight and increased storage space, but now with an enclosed body. The SiteStar enclosed lube truck — which comes in either a 17- or a 13-ft. (5 or 4 m) body — meets the needs of customers who want to shield product tanks and personnel from the elements when doing lube services in the field, according to the manufacturer.

In coastal states, customers will benefit as the enclosed lube truck keeps saltwater residue away from the product tanks. In colder environments, the enclosed option prevents snow buildup on product tanks and keeps the oil warmer, which allows for faster pumping of products.

The SiteStar enclosed lube truck also gives the operator a chance to get out of the cold.

“This new enclosed lube truck is going to offer protection from the elements, whether you’re facing rain, snow, dirt or extreme temperatures,” said Tim Worman, product manager for commercial vehicles at IMT.

“Customers in states with significant cold or snowfall will like this unit because they’ll want to keep snow from getting packed on their product tanks. But customers in every region of the U.S. might find an enclosed lube truck more beneficial than an open one.”

To reduce vehicle weight, the IMT SiteStar enclosed lube truck uses polyethylene product tanks rather than steel, which means an 80 percent reduction in tank weight. Other advantages of poly tanks include cleaner fluid storage, easier tank replacement and contamination control. Poly tanks are designed to prevent foreign materials — such as rust common in steel tanks — from contaminating the fluids. Poly tanks require no welding, thus eliminating stress points that can lead to leaks. Polyethylene offers UV protection, reduces tank condensation and is proven to be impact-resistant.

There are more than 260 possible tank configurations to match each customer’s specific needs. All of the non-fuel products are contained within the enclosed portion of the body, and a fuel tank can easily be installed ahead of the main platform.

The various tanks can be interchanged because they simply sit inside the service body rather than being mounted on rails. The tanks can hold several fluids, including oil, oil salvage, antifreeze, antifreeze salvage and water for high-pressure washing.

The lighter product tanks enabled IMT to increase the storage space on the service body, and the new enclosed SiteStar unit offers the potential for even more storage space than the open SiteStar truck.

The SiteStar lube truck has always come equipped with a curbside storage cabinet, but the weight saved by using poly tanks instead of steel tanks gave IMT the ability to add three additional storage cabinets on the street side of the service body.

“With the enclosed SiteStar unit, you not only get the extra storage cabinets on the body, but depending on allowable payload and weight distribution, customers might also be able to store even more tools and parts to help them do their jobs,” Worman said.

The extra storage on the enclosed lube truck can be found above the product tanks and the reel compartment.

For more information, visit www.imt.com.

This story also appears on Construction Equipment Guide.