Cloverdale Equipment Company is a full-service construction equipment sales, service and rental company. Celebrating 55 years in business in 2018, their company has three locations, including Greater Cleveland, Ohio, Norton Shores, Michigan, and Oak Park, Michigan, which serves as their headquarters. The company’s inventory includes aerial work platforms, boom trucks, cranes and material handling equipment including forklifts and telehandlers, as well as other construction equipment.
Jack was a long-time user of reciprocating air compressors before switching to a rotary screw air compressor when Cloverdale upgraded to a new service truck and compressor. This made Jack the perfect candidate to share his experience and story on how the change from a reciprocating compressor to a VMAC rotary screw compressor improved his workflow.
How would you describe your reciprocating air compressor? When asked this question, Jack used words like “heavy”, and “deadweight”. His reciprocating air compressor was running the best it could, but it wasn’t able to produce the air volume or maintain the air pressure that they needed to complete jobs efficiently. However, for Jack, this all changed when a new service truck from Summit Truck Bodies showed up in his shop, equipped with a new VMAC Hydraulic Driven 40 CFM Rotary Screw Air Compressor.
These features described by Jack are the reason why the VMAC Hydraulic Driven Air Compressor is known for having the most advanced control system available. The digital controls are easy to use and extend the compressor life by automatically protecting it in extreme environments and climates, which is much appreciated in areas like Michigan, which sees temperatures regularly dropping below freezing in the winter.
The change to VMAC Hydraulic Air Compressors has had such a positive impact on the service department at Cloverdale, more trucks from Summit Truck Bodies with VMAC Hydraulic Air Compressors are being built right now. “Summit is a great company with great people, we’re happy to work with them on our truck builds,” notes Jack. And when asked if he would recommend VMAC to someone considering a new air compressor, his answer was simple and decisive: “hell yeah, I would!”
The VMAC Hydraulic Air Compressor that Cloverdale uses is the air compressor of choice for Summit Truck Bodies, as it is both lightweight and compact. Upfitting their trucks with the lightest weight and compact equipment allows Summit to better fulfill their customers’ requests for more storage for tools and equipment on their trucks. “Weight is extremely critical, and it’s what sets VMAC apart from the alternatives. When you’re spec’ing out a 19,500 GVW chassis, there’s a limited amount of payload to work with, so freeing up an extra 260 lbs makes all the difference in the world,” explains David.
David has been with Summit for 5 years, and like Jack, has nothing but positive things to say about the company: “This is a great family-owned business. I love that everything at Summit is done in-house. It’s got a really good feel here - my son served four years as a U.S. Marine, and when we picked him up in Las Vegas, we stopped by the Summit manufacturing plant in Wathena on the way home to discuss employment opportunities. He was hired right there on the spot. I think that says a lot about what kind of company Summit is.”
And when asked for his closing thoughts on VMAC, David’s expert advice is this: “When you’re building a service truck, everyone is doing the same thing, and that’s operating air tools. If you need a hydraulic driven air compressor, go straight to VMAC.”