Pablo Burgos, President of Tecnologia Transportes Tecnotrans (TTT), is a Hackney Assembler in Costa Rica and Nicaragua who has worked with Hackney since 1995. He initially began working with Hackney Engineering in the Washington, NC corporate office before moving to Costa Rica. Not only does he have an extensive knowledge of the Hackney product line but also the Kidron product line. While living in Costa Rica, Burgos became an International Representative for Hackney with the top record for years as the highest parts purchasing customer outside the US.
Pablo has been helping customers, such as Coca Cola and FIFCO, in Costa Rica and Nicaragua with the maintenance and service of their Hackney bodies. He was also instrumental in helping Hackney solve any potential issues by inspecting the deliveries of the bodies to Costa Rica and Nicaragua before they reached the customers.
Can you tell me about your business? What do you do and how long you have been in the industry?
I have been working in the trucking industry for 30 years. We specialize in selling, service, and assembly of truck bodies in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The majority of the units we sell are 12, 10 and 8 bay bodies, which is pretty much the standard in this area.
In recent years, we have been seeing more of the smaller units in the more concentrated cities because of the fact the larger trucks cannot maneuver as well. So distribution becomes a little more specialized because of the smaller quantities you can carry at one time.
How long have you been assembling Hackney bodies?
We started in 2000 doing repair work and then in 2010 we began assembling units in Nicaragua before expanding to Costa Rica.
What are some of the differences of Hackney bodies vs others?
From the point of view of myself and my customers, we have a simple saying here. If you compare a Hackney body to competitors, the competitor is maybe an 8 and the Hackney is a 10. Hackney bodies will outlast two chassis’ with no problem.
How about the comparisons of money spent on maintenance and time in the shop compared to Hackney units?
Real simple. I give a lot of credit to John Thompson and his engineering team. They make the bodies pretty much maintenance free even in Latin American conditions. If you think the US is tough on bodies – this place is TOUGH. The first 3 years with a Hackney you have to do nothing unless you are on really bad roads. Even then, you typically just have to replace the plastic door liners because of the excessive movement of the doors on the poor quality roads. If the road conditions are really horrible, you may need to do minor structural repairs at 5 years. If the conditions are not bad, even the track liners will not need replacing until the 15-year mark.
The quality of the Hackney bodies are the best that have ever been here in Costa Rica.
The Mexican brand-name bodies are a totally different story. You may save $3K buying the Mexican brand, but save it because you will need it plus $5k more in the first couple of years on repairs. If customers with the cheaper bodies do not come in for maintenance within the first few years, by the time they get to us everything is falling apart and pretty much destroyed.
What is it about the Hackney units you like?
The more moving parts that you have the more problems you have. Hackney knows how to keep it simple.There is nothing you can say bad about the extrusions. The aluminum extrusions are great. The materials used to build the Hackney bodies are a good weight and strength. No corrosion. Hackney doors hardly ever give us any trouble.
The design is good. The construction is modular. You can take an old body and replace a section and it looks like new. US labor is more expense to correct major damage from an accident. Here it is cheaper to replace the section and reassemble them again. Getting the older parts for refurbishing the units is also easy and pain-free.
What do you think is the biggest advantage on the bodies?
No one can beat the weight of a Hackney. They have the lowest body weight and last longer than anyone. The Hackney units are trouble-free for a longer duration and easily repaired. Customers don’t have a doubt about the quality and durability.
Do you think Hackney provides a quality kits that are easy to assemble with all the parts, drawings and customer support from Hackney?
I would say yes. We know what we are doing and are trained properly. Hackney’s Engineering team will work with us to create customized designs the customers are asking for. Other companies are not as easy to work with as Hackney.
