What's and actual emergency?
What's and actual emergency?
I was with a company that believed they had this down to a science. Emergency were classified 2 ways. Things that were critical, power loss to a residence or business, critical care equipment, husband away and wife freaking out, or anything that had the potential for additional loss or damages to the customer. Then the not critical but they were willing to pay for the service call, my A/C is out and it's hot, my garagedoor opener won't work, my post light needs a new bulb, that kind of stuff.
We stocked a full set of breakers from 6 major manufacturers. A full set of fuses upto 100A 250v and 200A 600V. We kept everything to replace the top half of a service minus the SEU. A 2pole 30A and 60A fusible disconnect. Small control transformers for furnaces. A handful of junction boxes and covers. UF splice kits. Co-Alr wirenuts. Suicide cords. A set of receptacls in each color. Switches, the same. Insulink crimps upto 4/0 and the crimper.
But you have to watch because the stuff get damaged in the truck and then you end up throwing out inventory/money.
Each truck carried alot of material and was inventoried annually. You need to get a good feel for what you offer and what could break that you would get a call for. What are the 100 items you have used the most in the last few years? Each mechanic was responsible for his truck stock, so if you were sent to do a call for an A/C disconnect and it had found it's way to a side job, you got snagged. It kept guys honest.
That shop does everything from control wiring to high voltage line construction, so the inventory was pretty extensive. It took the entire staff a weekend to inventory the shop and then we'd get our updated price book at a whoppin 200+ pages. We were always told that even at the inflated rates, emergency service was not a money maker it was just another way t keep the customer on the hook.
At the company I run now, we offer limited emergency service and mostly to existing customers. We do all emergency calls as COD because of the high cost and collecting can be tough. We don't take insurance checks either, the customer pays us, the insurance company can pay them when they get around to it. We also don't provide "temporary fixes", basically if your main blew up and you needed power now, you get a 50 A 2 pole crimped to the service conductors and a re-fed. That way they don't forget to have you come back and finish with the new panel or main.
I think everyone on here will agree if you don't use it regularly it isn't worth stocking on the off chance you'll need it in a pinch. If it's that important the supply house will open a 3:00am to get you one for the right price
