PM Truck Of The Month - Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Lancaster, Pa.

Branding Tool

This month’s showcased fleet with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing logos is owned by father-and-son team Larry and Scott Rohrer, and can be seen throughout central Pennsylvania. The Rohrers, who also own Rohrer’s One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning, are based in Lancaster, Pa. (Scott’s grandfather, Harry, started the original company, Harry C. Rohrer, in 1958.)

The plumbing company uses a fleet of nine Supreme box trucks (GMC or Ford chassis) with a cutaway cab. “We like these because they have a low bed height to allow for easier access with water heaters and other heavy items,” Scott Rohrer says. “The Supreme box is wide enough to allow for deep shelves and water heaters, while still leaving a nice walkway in the middle. The narrow double door also has limitless possibilities in tight city parking - no need to swing out a wide door or lose overhead space with a roll-up door.”

All of the trucks were converted from plain white wrapping to the blue and gray Benjamin Franklin Plumbing colors in 2004 and updated to the dark blue in 2007. According to Rohrer, “The trucks are some of the best advertising we use; they’re a terrific billboard and the new paint scheme is very attractive.”

The trucks have proven to perform well year-round, too; the plumbers put approximately 19,000 miles per year on each truck.

The Rohrers have customized the interiors with aluminum shelving and Rubbermaid totes. The inside is also outfitted with American Van Equipment pull-out drawers for small fittings.

The trucks are large enough to carry a 40-gallon gas water heater, a 52-gallon electrical heater, a Well-X-Trol pump pressure tank, a General Pipe Cleaners sewer machine, a hand truck, and all the other tools necessary to complete a service call.

Organization and cleanliness are very important to this Benjamin Franklin Plumbing company: “If a customer sees the inside of our truck, we do not want to leave a poor impression that we could also do a sloppy or poor job in his home,” Rohrer explains. “As for staying organized, the longer it takes to find a part or tool in the truck, the longer the job will take and less efficient we are.”

For his final thoughts on the company’s fleet of vehicles, Rohrer had this to say: “At Benjamin Franklin Plumbing we take great pride in our brand, and our trucks are one of our greatest branding tools. It is amazing how often people comment on seeing our trucks. I hear them ask, ‘How many trucks do you have?’ I believe it is perceived that we have many more than we really do; they are just seen and not missed.”