Beverage Industry logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Beverage Industry logo
  • NEWS
    • R&D News
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Products
    • Reader's Choice Poll
  • CATEGORIES
    • Alternative Drinks
    • Beer
    • Bottled Water
    • Cannabis Beverages
    • Carbonated Soft Drinks
    • Energy Drinks & Shots
    • Juice & Juice Drinks
    • Plant-Based Beverages
    • Sports Drinks
    • Tea and Coffee
    • Wine & Spirits
  • R&D
    • Beverage R&D Features
    • Ingredient Spotlight
  • PACKAGING
    • New Packages
    • Packaging Equipment
    • Packaging Material
  • OPERATIONS
    • Distribution
    • Plant Focus
  • TOP LISTS
    • Beer Market Report
    • Executive of the Year
    • State of the Beverage Industry
    • Top 100 Beverage Companies
    • Truck Report
    • Wholesaler of the Year
  • MEDIA
    • eBook
    • Podcast
    • Polls
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Annual Manual
    • Contract Packaging Guide
    • Take a Tour
  • MORE
    • Classifieds
    • Channel Strategies
    • eNewsletters
    • Events
      • Membrane Technology Forum
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Market Insights
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • White Papers
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • Archived Issues
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
CommentaryDistribution

Idaho Springs Water controls cost through leasing

Wholesaler able to reduce downtime through full-lease

By Tom Kelley
Idaho Springs Water
(Image courtesy of Idaho Springs Water Co.)
Idaho Springs Water
A breakdown of Idaho Springs Water Co. fleet make-up.
Idaho Springs Water
A company breakdown for Idaho Springs Water Co.
Idaho Springs Water
Idaho Springs Water
Idaho Springs Water
July 14, 2017

As a small company growing at 20 percent a year in a narrowly specialized segment of the beverage distribution business, Nampa, Idaho-based Idaho Springs Water succeeds by controlling costs in every corner of its fleet operations, including vehicle acquisition and maintenance, routing optimization, and fuel costs.

Founded in 1993, Idaho Springs serves a geographic area covering eastern Oregon, as well as southwest and central Idaho. With an operating area that stretches throughout a 300-mile radius of Boise, Idaho, 90 percent of deliveries are made in the greater Boise area.

In order to efficiently cover its large service area, the company relies on a fleet of newer trucks. Additionally, to leverage such a large area, it uses award-winning fleet graphics to catch a vast audience of eyeballs while out on the road.

Bucking a major trend in the beverage distribution business, the small fleet at Idaho Springs is provided through a full-service leasing arrangement. Elsewhere in the industry, smaller fleets generally eschew leasing, while the larger fleets favor it.

As the larger fleets already have learned, Idaho Springs discovered that their total fleet operating costs are lower with full-service leasing. “The cost of the full-service lease when compared to the cost of owning has been an eye-opener for us,” Idaho Springs Owner Craig Bartschi says. “In the past, we have owned trucks, paid for repairs and endured costly downtime.

“I now have new trucks that really have a strong visual presence in our market, and we don’t struggle with downtime issues, all for about the same or less cost compared to ownership,” Bartschi continues. “It was a pretty easy decision for us.”

During the past four years, Idaho Springs has been leasing Kenworth T270s from Kenworth Sales Co., the local PacLease franchise in Boise. The Kenworths are spec’d with PACCAR PX-7 engines rated at
220 horsepower and Allison automatic transmissions. The trucks are equipped with 16-foot, six-bay Hackney side-load beverage bodies that can carry as many as 220 five-gallon water jugs. One bay is designated for bags of water softener salt, Keurig coffee systems and water coolers.

Although the Kenworth T270s make deliveries and help bring in new accounts as moving billboards, they’ve also been a mainstay in keeping drivers happy and on the payroll. “Our trucks are the envy in the business,” Bartschi says. “I’ve never lost a driver to one of our competitors, but we’ve had our competitors’ drivers come talk to us wanting to join our organization.”

Because maintenance and repairs often are the single biggest source of downtime for small fleets, the maintenance benefits of full-service leasing are perhaps more valuable to smaller fleets than to larger fleets. A spare truck likely is more prevalent in a fleet with 100 trucks than in a fleet with just a few trucks.

“PacLease has made it much easier to eliminate downtime by doing regularly scheduled maintenance onsite during weekends, saving us a tremendous amount of time by not having to shuttle trucks to their location for service,” Bartschi says.

Bartschi explains that leasing all boils down to the bottom line. “With PacLease, I’m getting new trucks and it’s costing me less,” he says. “What’s more, I don’t need to find a good mechanic or be put on a waiting list to get my truck repaired or serviced. The peace of mind that comes with the full-service lease saves me a lot of headaches and downtime. We rely on these trucks so heavily to operate our business and create our sales. We just can’t afford any downtime and can’t deal with an unreliable truck.”

Beyond the acquisition and maintenance of its trucks, another key area for cost control at Idaho Springs is its route-stop strategy for the highest concentration in the smallest geographic area.

“We constantly tweak routes to maximize route density, which increases sales and reduces costly transit time,” Bartschi explains. “We’ve just begun considering GPS tracking technology to improve routing. Affordable routing software to assist in this effort would be nice. We have looked at some programs in the past, but they were just too costly.”

Although diesel prices have been relatively low and stable for a while now, Idaho Springs’ fleet has grown to the point where controlling fuel costs is among its top concerns. “We just started a fleet fuel program with Shell,” Bartschi says. “We expect to utilize its fuel-tracking features to help manage fuel costs.” BI

KEYWORDS: beverage wholesalers fleet graphics fuel efficiency sustainability

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla shakes

    Classic flavors provide reliable, consistent results for beverage-makers

    Classic flavors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry...
    Ingredient Spotlight
    By: Chloe Alverson
  • Free Spirits Instant Bar Bundle

    Lifestyle trends drive growth for non-alcohol category

    As lifestyle trends continue to drive growth for the...
    Wine & Spirits
    By: Lauren Sabetta
  • Younger generation displays unique habits when it comes to beverage consumption

    Generation Z shakes things up in beverage

    Experts share that Gen Z is changing the standard on what...
    Beverage News
    By: Chloe Alverson
Subscribe For Free!
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine Subscription
  • Manage My Preferences

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Beverage Industry audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Beverage Industry or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Fourpeople toasting with cocktails made with low-sugar ingredients, celebrating healthier drink options.
    Sponsored byCargill

    What’s Hot in Sugar Reduction: Beverages

  • chocolate milk
    Sponsored byCargill

    Sweetening the Future for Dairy and Dairy-Alternative Beverages

  • woman pouring a drink
    Sponsored byFFP

    Building a Beverage System: Meeting Consumer Demand for Precision Wellness

Popular Stories

halfday sodas

Beverage-makers turn to fiber, prebiotics and more to support consumer needs

Anheuser-Busch Brewing Futures

Anheuser-Busch announces $300 million investment in US manufacturing

Alani Nu

Alani Nu surpasses $1 billion in retail sales

Vote for your favorite new product

Have your say in what makes it to the top this month!
Vote for your favorite new product and help us celebrate excellence.


VOTE NOW!

Events

April 16, 2025

2025 State of the Industry Series: Alcoholic Beverages

On Demand In Beverage Industry’s annual State of the Industry: The Alcohol Beverage Market, analysts at S&D Insights LLC delve into these trends and how they’re shaping the industry.

June 5, 2025

Heat-Resistant Molds 101: Fundamentals and Prevention Strategies for Better Beverage Quality

Learn about the spoilage challenges and operational bottlenecks that ascospores can pose to your quality program if detection is delayed, or worse – not detected at all. Subject matter experts will cover the basics of these bugs and real-world impacts of insufficient quality methods to help you beat the heat … resistant mold.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Retail Coffee Segment

What retail coffee segments will fare well into the next year?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

Milk and Dairy Foods Nutrition, Processing and Healthy Aging

Milk and Dairy Foods Nutrition, Processing and Healthy Aging

See More Products

Related Articles

  • Highbridge Springs Water - Beverage Industry

    It’s all in the family for Highbridge Springs Water

    See More
  • Bacardi Good Spirited sustainability program

    Bacardi rum recycles water through ‘Good Spirited’ sustainability initiative

    See More
  • tom ft

    Considerations for leasing vs. buying

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • ency brew.jpg

    Encyclopaedia of Brewing

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • September 9, 2009

    Food Plant of the Future: Building Realistic Sustainability into Food and Beverage Plants

    AVAILABLE ON DEMAND   Using cost-effective design solutions, food and beverage processing facilities can meet the rigorous performance demands required in a processing and production environment and, at the same time, focus on sustainability. 
View AllSubmit An Event

Related Directories

  • DMW&H

    DMW&H stands out as a premier provider of integrated material handling and automation solutions with a heritage dating back to 1964. Specializing in the design, implementation, and support of sophisticated warehouse and distribution systems across diverse industries, DMW&H has cultivated particular expertise in serving the Wine and Spirits sector for over 25 years. Their solutions encompass conveyor systems, sortation technologies, robotic automation, and comprehensive Warehouse Control Systems (WCS), all aimed at enhancing efficiency, productivity, and accuracy in logistics and distribution operations.
×

Elevate your expertise in the beverage marketplace with unparalleled insights and connections.

Join thousands of beverage professionals today. Shouldn’t you know what they know?

JOIN NOW!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing