As Far as Richard Lyons is concerned, cookie cutters are for Christmas baking — not for building flatbeds, stake beds, and gooseneck, contractor, dump, and service bodies.
Lyons, general manager of Batterson Truck Equipment in Houston, says he's from the old school. Although the company is less than five years old, business has tripled in that time largely because of lessons Lyons has learned in his 42 years in the industry.
“I'm not saying this negatively, but I am old school, and it seems like just about everybody in the industry has gone to this wham-bam, slap-on-these-little-cheap-flatbeds, cookie-cutter philosophy,” he says. “The idea is to just get them out the door. That's all well and good in talk. But it takes these manufacturers and truck riggers almost the same time as it takes to go ahead and fabricate what the customer wants.
“If a customer comes into my office and needs a certain truck to do a certain job, and he knows he needs it built that way to do that job, I want to give it to him that way rather than tell him, ‘Here's the old 14-foot flatbed. Go do something else with it.’ Well, the customer is sitting there, scratching his head when he gets the truck. He has to spend another two weeks rigging it up the way he wants to and finding somebody to do it.”
Lyons says he looks at the picture differently. He wants to know everything about the intended use of the truck. He'll give the customer a quote and then, if it's accepted, build exactly what that customer needs.
“I know a lot of these cookie-cutter places that build all of these inexpensive, cheaply made products,” he says. “They'll put it out in the market and most customers are forced to take it. I've had customers who bring it to me and say, ‘Take it off.’ They want the truck, but they don't necessarily want the bed. A good, reputable truck shop is what people are looking for.
“I've got customers who have worn out three or four trucks on one bed. Some of the newer-age people want that bed to last maybe one truck. I look at it differently. I take a lot of pride in the fact that our products last. It doesn't cost that much more money to put material in there and do it right, as opposed to cutting corners or shaving things off.
“Now, we may not be the cheapest in town, although I think we are very competitive. But we work our numbers to where it's the right way to go.”
Says company owner Dan Batterson, “Some people don't care. If they can save a dollar here or there, they'll do it. But I think truck people who take pride in the equipment will spend a bit more money and time.”
Knowing what they need
Sitting behind a desk in a second-floor office with massive windows overlooking the shop floor, Lyons nods toward a truck that is typical of Batterson's non-cookie-cutter work — a shop-built, 28-foot bed for a customer who hauls sheet rock and roof shingles.
Batterson started with a Kenworth, sawed the steel in raw form, laid it out, squared and leveled it, welded the crossmembers, then decked it in 3/16“ steel and welded that, finally adding spider hooks, a conveyer, and hydraulics.
“You can buy a cheaper version, but it won't hold up,” Lyons says. “We're building a bed that's heavy-duty. See those pockets on the outside? The customer is going to have a rub rail around it.”
Lyons says one of the problems in the industry is that purchasers don't know what they really need.
“You get into these big corporations and some of these oil-service companies, and their purchasing agent is sitting behind a desk on a computer all day,” he says. “He'll send an order in: ‘I need five trucks.’ These dealers just want to turn them. The faster they turn them, the faster the salesman gets his money and everybody's happy.
“Now, when that truck gets out in the field, then you start listening to the user saying, ‘Darn, it doesn't have this box and this light.’ That's where you get caught in a web. I have dealers call me who are long-time truck salesmen and they automatically know what they need.
“But there is a certain element of guys hitting the industry who don't know the intricacies. They're just being told by the sales manager, ‘Call so-and-so to get a price.’ And price becomes what sells.
“Now, price is important. Very important. But how you present the delivery side of it is where communication comes in. Do you know what you're getting for what you're paying? Do you know what the timeline is? We picked up a job from a dealer in the Houston area who paid $200 more, but I had to give it to him in one week, while the competitor was going to take three weeks. The customer gladly paid $200 more to get it into service.”
Batterson has eight mechanics, but Lyons says the 12-bay, 25,000-square-foot shop can accommodate 12 mechanics. Batterson can finish a flatbed job in seven to 10 days — a big advantage over its Houston competitors, whom Lyons says need 21 to 30 days — but Lyons says they are looking to expand the staff to further decrease the job times.
“With our competitors needing up to 30 days, if we can get in there within two weeks or less, we're going to be the savior,” he says. “If we can get it under six days, we're going to be that much stronger, because the salesman doesn't get paid until it's on the road burning fuel.
“We think it's reasonable. That's why we're adding more people. It's just getting the right people on staff. I've got a good bunch of guys already.”
Lyons says most of the company's competitors have the same equipment. He believes the advantage for Batterson comes from its veteran stable of mechanics, many of whom have been with Lyons for over 20 years.
“You can't find them anywhere,” he says. “Today's generation doesn't have the know-how we grew up with. I have a group of guys that have been with me a long time. I think that's what brings us to the top. If I had started with a new bunch of guys in a whole new environment, it'd be tough. We'd have to put on things that were pre-assembled somewhere else. We try to do better than that.
“We brought in five guys who have been with me since the 1980s. They've maintained their loyalty, and Danny has taken care of them and treated them fairly. I know that as of four years ago, we were paying more than anybody else in the area, and I don't think it's changed. Danny recognizes you get what you pay for. He's willing to do that.”
Says Batterson, “One of the keys to success is to surround yourself with good people. I try to find the best people in the business. I think I've done that.”
The beginning
Batterson Truck Equipment grew out of Batterson LLP, a family-owned company that is one of Texas' leaders in pavement marking and traffic control.
Dan's grandfather, CK Batterson, created Batterson Distributing Company in the early 1940s to manufacture recapped tires as an alternative product to Houstonians who had limited purchasing opportunities because of World War II shortages.
Around the end of the war, Batterson began marketing traffic buttons, known today as raised pavement markers. After CK's death, Dan's father, Tommy, made a significant change in the direction of the business, moving the emphasis from traffic buttons to parking lot striping. One of the projects was Colt Stadium, home to the Houston Colt .45s (who later became the Houston Astros). The company also striped the Astrodome, as well as all the major shopping malls that were built in that era.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Batterson began a major shift to highway pavement marking and traffic-control products, including a full-service sign manufacturing facility.
Lyons, meanwhile, started working in the parts department for Childs Truck Equipment in 1965, moving up to salesman in 1978. When owner Delton Childs died in 1986, Lyons took over the daily operations for the family until the company disbanded in 1999.
During that time, Childs made trucks for Batterson LLP, and Lyons and Dan became friends.
Toward the end of 2002, they began to discuss the idea of merging Batterson's financial backing with Lyons' industry expertise.
“In talking with Danny, I could see in him the desire to learn about trucks and how they're built,” Lyons says. “He saw the vision. He had shown an interest in this type of work over the years. I could tell he enjoyed seeing something start from the ground and become a finished product.”
“I had accomplished my goals at the other company,” Batterson says. “I wanted to do something else, something different. I had gotten to where I wanted to be. This was a challenge. I thought that I was up to it, and I enjoyed being around Richard.”
Moving up
Was there a need in Houston? Lyons never had any doubt.
“Houston's plenty big,” Lyons says. “I categorized seven different manufacturers/upfitters in the Houston market, and believe it or not, all of them have a different niche. So nobody really crosses over that much. I thought Houston could certainly handle it. From my perspective, there was a need for a good fab shop.”
In January 2003, they created Batterson Truck Equipment and moved into one of Batterson LLP's old warehouses in northwest Houston. Space was tight — four bays and 5,000 square feet on less than one acre — but, as Batterson notes, “The price was right. Free rent.”
The company quickly found itself with a full shop.
“I think that in my 40-plus years in the business, I've earned the respect of a lot of customers,” Lyons says. “Ninety-nine percent of our customers are referrals or repeat customers that are searching me out. I made sure they found out where I was. We couldn't get the trucks out as fast as we needed to — and that's the key to the business: production and getting it on the streets.”
In October 2005, the company moved to its current location and immediately tripled production.
“We've got a full plate, thank the Lord,” Batterson says.
“We look at it from the viewpoint of being locally owned and operated,” Lyons says. “We can take these customers — and there are a bunch in Houston — that need specialized things done for a specialized job. Now, we don't do everything, but we do a lion's share of it. We try to take care of what we know.”
The company offers a full line of accessories from automatic locking compartments and slide-out shelves, storage tanks, lube systems, welders, and compressors on service bodies, to underbody boxes, bumpers, and towing and braking systems for trucks.
Batterson's list of vendors includes Leyman Lift Gates (lift gates), Reading Truck Body (service bodies), Venco/Venturo (cranes, crane bodies, hoist), Muncie Power Products (PTOs, pumps), Delta Consolidated (toolboxes, storage), Godwin Mfg Co (dump bodies), Hoseline Inc (specialized refrigeration), Peterson Mfg (vehicle lighting), Wired Rite Systems (electrical speciality), and Maxon Industries Inc.
“Danny saw that this was something that could be developed,” Lyons says. “We hooked up with some good manufacturers and got some good product line. We started rockin' and rollin'. “
Lyons anticipates many years of rockin' and rollin'.
“All I've ever done is what I'm doing now,” he says.