Nathan Roberts, owner of Wisconsin-based Fisk Tank Carrier, got his start on the trade show floor at the age of 13, helping his father, George, showcase Fisk trucks and trailers for the propane industry.
“That was our vacation when I was a kid,” Roberts said. “I realized I liked being on the trade show floor more than I liked the hotel pool.”
Roberts would go on to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design, receiving a degree in industrial design. He purchased Fisk from his father in 2007 and ever since has been focused on making sure Fisk’s trucks are always the latest and greatest on the market.
“The one thing I always say is that we built the best truck today, and tomorrow we’re going to know how to build a better truck,” Roberts said. “We don’t wait until the next model is here. If we know we can build something better, we start right now.”
Roberts was quick to point out that a lot of innovation in truck design is driven by Fisk’s customers and the things they ask for.
“They make a list of what they want to achieve with the design,” he said. “And then we work with the specs that are available and the regulations to build them something that achieves their goals. The net end is to exceed the customer’s expectations.”
One safety innovation that came at the request of a customer is moving the location of boom controls from underneath the truck bed to the top of the bed.
“It’s a lot more ergonomically comfortable and a lot safer because the operator does not have to look down at the controls while bending over,” Roberts said. “It’s a major safety upgrade because they can watch the boom in action.”
Roberts has embraced the use of virtual reality when it comes to safety training. It’s an optional add-on for learning how to use Fisk’s trucks, but he said it allows operators to troubleshoot problems and learn how to use articulated booms correctly before they are put in a real-world situation. Roberts believes this will also reduce the cost of training since it can reduce and prevent damage to trucks.
“It’s very tailor-made to the propane industry,” Robers said, adding that the VR producer is adding a propane tank to the simulation this fall, allowing operators to practice placing tanks on and off truck beds. “It really feels like you are there running that crane,” he said.
Roberts said he doesn’t really see obstacles to innovation in the propane industry; rather they are “design parameters” that need tweaking. He said there is research on the regulatory side that needs to be done, but his biggest hurdle is getting customers to tell him their needs.
“The hardest part is getting [customers] to give voice to what could really help them out,” he said. “That initial step is what is needed to really kick-start innovation.”
