September 16, 2024 • 38 mins
Episode 336: Financial headwinds are slowing the trucking industry down. Parts companies must improve their value proposition, and one of the quickest ways to accomplish this is to bring innovative products to the attention of customers and help them lower their total cost of operation. From the fleet’s perspective, finding ways to reduce costs and make their fleet more efficient is always a good strategy.
Our guest is Dan McClave, President of Switchblade Turbos. He talks about their product, why it works better than traditional turbochargers, and how their product can save the fleet money. Their product also helps reduce pollution, so it is a win win all around and they have the testimonials to prove it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jamie Irvine (00:00):
You're listening to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin, andthis is the place where we have
conversations that empowerheavy-duty people.
Welcome to the Heavy-Duty PartsReport.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin.
In this episode, we're going totalk about turbochargers, and I
want you to listen in to asneak peek of the interview and
(00:22):
also stick around to the veryend of the interview, as we have
an update from our featuredguest.
Listen into our sneak peek now.
Dan McClave (00:29):
Jamie, the difference here with our turbo
compared to what's on the markettoday is we've essentially
created two turbos in one.
That at start or at rest it's asmall turbo.
There's an internal moving partthat chokes off or closes off
and makes the turbo a smallerdiameter than original.
The boost pressure is higherthan the back pressure of the
(00:52):
turbo and if you talk withanyone in the industry, that's
unheard of.
Jamie Irvine (00:56):
Well, I'm so excited to share this interview
with you.
At the time of recordingtoday's episode, we had not yet
received the results of theAmerican Trucking Research
Institute, or ATRI's annualsurvey, where they get people
from the trucking industry totell them what the top industry
(01:17):
issues actually are.
Now, andrew Boyle, atrichairman, commented that for the
past two decades, the industryhas relied on the annual top
industry issues survey tohighlight the challenges facing
our nation's supply chain, andthat this research provides an
opportunity for thousands oftrucking industry professionals,
(01:39):
from drivers to executives, toweigh in on the most critical
topics that affect ourday-to-day operations and
collectively decide on the beststrategies for addressing each.
Now, last year, in 2023, whenthis survey was issued, the
economy was top of mind.
It was the most important issuethat people felt was facing the
(02:03):
trucking industry and, let'sface it, society at large.
Now, going into 2024, we expectit to be very similar, and last
year, the top five issuesincluded truck parking, fuel
prices, driver shortage, driverpay and, of course, the number
one being the economy, and thiscame from over 4,000
(02:26):
transportation stakeholders.
So the data is pretty reliable.
Now, for those of us who work insupport of the trucking
industry, let's say you're inthe parts business or you're in
the parts and service business,we're directly impacted by any
issue that affects the truckingindustry, especially economic
issues and financial headwinds.
That affects our business aswell.
(02:47):
At the Heavy-Duty ConsultingCorporation, when we are working
with our clients, one of theareas that we help them focus on
is the development of astronger value proposition, and
one of the big advantages ofhaving a strong value
proposition is it makes itharder for your competitors to
just slash prices and engage ina race to the bottom on price.
(03:12):
And so when you have thisstronger value proposition,
really you're making yourbusiness more resilient to
things like financial headwindsaffecting the trucking industry,
things like financial headwindsaffecting the trucking industry
.
And really one of the quickestways to accomplish this is to
bring innovative products to theattention of our customers and
(03:32):
help our fleet customers lowertheir total cost of operation.
From the fleet's perspective,regardless of what the issues
are that they're dealing with,finding ways to reduce cost and
make their fleet more efficientis always a good strategy.
So on the podcast, we arealways striving to find these
innovative products and sharethem with you, and this will
(03:56):
really help the listeners of theshow, especially if they're on
the distribution side of thebusiness, to enhance their value
proposition and help theircustomers lower their total cost
of operation.
Today's episode will be nodifferent and we're going to
talk about one of the trendsthat has been creating a lot of
pain for fleets.
It's contributing toinflationary pressure and we're
(04:18):
going to talk about one specificway we can address that problem
.
But before we share ourinterview with you, we just have
to take a quick break to hearfrom our sponsors.
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We're back from our break, andbefore the break I was talking
about the real need to help ourcustomers lower their total cost
of operation.
This is a continuous theme ofthe show, and one great way to
(06:07):
do that and enhance our ownvalue proposition if we're in
the distribution game, is to bethe person who introduces our
customers to innovative products.
So listen in to my interviewbecause our guest today is gonna
help you do just that.
So my guest today is DanMcClave.
He's the president atSwitchblade Turbochargers.
That gives you a hint as towhat kind of product we're going
(06:29):
to talk about.
Dan has spent the majority ofhis career in the automotive
manufacturing andremanufacturing industry.
That means him and I arekindred spirits on the remand
side.
He's now the president atSwitchblade Turbochargers and
they serve the heavy-dutyagricultural and industrial
markets.
He's now made the full shift toheavy-duty.
(06:49):
He now is one of our heavy-dutypeople.
He is very proud of thecompany's patented design on
their turbocharger and what thecompany's patented design
actually does for reducing costs.
This is going to be a greatepisode.
I'm really looking forward toit.
Dan, welcome to the Heavy-DutyParts Report.
(07:10):
So glad to have you here.
Dan McClave (07:11):
Jamie, thank you so much.
I'm excited to be here.
Jamie Irvine (07:14):
Well, it's been a while we have been planning this
episode, so today is the day.
Let's get right into it.
What is one of the big macrotrends?
That is, pushing up the costsof operations for commercial
fleets.
Dan McClave (07:27):
Yeah, it's a great question.
I think the major trend, notjust for fleets but for you and
I as individuals, and everyoneacross the country, is the price
of fuel.
Even though there's been adecline lately, I would say from
maybe the summer months overthe past five to 10 years, fuel
prices have just consistentlyincreased and it's impacting
again you and I, but the fleetsand owner operators, farmers,
(07:51):
you name it, anyone that's inthe industrial heavy duty
industry.
It's a massive pain point forthem.
Jamie Irvine (07:57):
Right, and I know when I was selling parts I would
talk to fleets all the timeabout what their biggest cost
centers were, and it the drivers, and it was fuel, tires, brakes
, those kinds of things Fuelalways ranked in the top one to
three costs that they had tocontend with.
What has been the impact onfleets as these fuel costs have
consistently gone up?
(08:18):
I know where I am in WesternCanada right now, diesel has
been much more expensive thaneven gasoline.
It's crazy.
As a kid there was such a gapbetween gasoline prices and
diesel prices like 30 years ago,and today, where I live anyway,
that has flipped and to methat's just unprecedented.
So what does that do to acommercial fleet when that's the
(08:39):
situation?
Dan McClave (08:40):
Well, it's a massive impact, obviously to the
commercial fleet, because theyhave to keep their trucks
running, they have to delivergoods and services to all of us
throughout the country andacross the world.
But a lot of those costsunfortunately get passed to you
and I, to the consumer or to theshop owner, whoever it is.
So that cost is impacting thefleets tremendously and, to
(09:01):
their defense, they're having topass on a surcharge and now you
have inflation.
You have, you know, theeconomic state that we're in,
which I won't get into, but theincrease in the cost of fuel has
just had ripple effects acrossthis industry in a negative way.
Jamie Irvine (09:16):
I'll get into it a little bit.
We were just at the Technologyand Maintenance Council's fall
meeting and you know, one of thebig concerns that I heard from
not only the fleets but also themanufacturers that supply
products for them is look, whereis the state of the economy
going to take us?
How bad could a potentialdownturn be?
This time around we see thingsgoing in the wrong direction.
(09:38):
Tonnage is down, demand is down, costs are up.
That's a tough market forfleets to be able to operate at
a profitable level.
When you've got everythinggoing, what's seemingly in the
wrong direction, Right, exactly,and it is going in the wrong
direction.
Dan McClave (09:54):
So there has to be some relief.
Again.
I think prices for diesel fuelhave come down a little bit, but
if you look at the overalltrend over the last 10, 15, 20
years, it's a net negative interms of higher pricing for
these fleets and, again, theconsumer.
We have to fill up our gastanks as well, so it's a pain
point for everyone, butespecially fleets and the heavy
(10:17):
duty market.
Jamie Irvine (10:18):
Yeah, and I think when you're on the part side of
the business, you're limited toparts to offer solutions to
fleets.
Right, I mean, there's not alot we can do about
macroeconomics, geopolitics anddemographic conversion.
Those things are what they areand there's not even a lot that
we can do when it comes to someof those other inflationary
costs.
But, as parts people, one thingwe can do is we can turn and
(10:42):
look at our own products.
Before we actually talk aboutyour specific products, tell me
a little bit about the cultureat your company and the way of
thinking that you and your teamat Switchblade and I partnered
recently, this past year withJim Blaylock, who's the founder
and the inventor of theSwitchblade Turbo.
Dan McClave (11:12):
But Jim has been in business since 1980.
He has been remanufacturing andrepairing turbos since that
time and has developed a betterproduct.
So his years and years ofseeing the product that's been
on the market the failure rates,the failure modes, what's been
happening he just was driven toproduce a better product.
(11:33):
So he is a wonderful humanbeing, a wonderful man.
Everybody in the industry knowshim.
I've known him for 15 years.
We just have recentlyreconnected and decided to
partner together.
Recently reconnected anddecided to partner together on
this product.
So he just runs an honestbusiness.
I'm privileged and honored tojust be partnering with him to
try to get this product to morepeople.
Jamie Irvine (11:54):
Well, I've met him in person at HDAW actually this
year, earlier this year, and Ican attest to that His passion
for this industry is reallycontagious.
How has that impacted the otherpeople that work at your
company?
Dan McClave (12:12):
They're all striving for excellence.
Jim is in Baxter Spring, kansasI'm just outside of
Philadelphia, but I go therevery often and they are all just
striving for excellence.
They just want this to besuccessful and they're impacted
as well by the problem we'rediscussing.
So they know they're sitting ona solution, which is why we've
(12:32):
partnered together to kind ofmatch our skill sets to get this
product to the market in abigger way.
Jamie Irvine (12:38):
You know you got to have the right combination of
people.
That is absolutely true.
There are so many really greatproducts out there that they
just they need something more tobe able to get them out to more
people and have a bigger impact.
Right, and I think that's veryexciting, that you have
partnered and come together.
So what are you doing from aculture perspective, from a
(13:01):
leadership perspective in yourcompany, to add something in
addition to what Jim brings tothe table?
Dan McClave (13:08):
Well, my background , jamie, was with Cardone
Industries, so a family-owned,privately held business.
I worked there for 20 years.
We did everything with thecustomer in mind.
My background there wasengineering, which went into
product development operations.
I was fortunate to do aninternational assignment in
Belgium for about 5 or 6 yearsand Jim and I again, we met 15
(13:32):
years ago through ourrelationships at Cardone when we
were getting into turbos.
And just like you've met himthis past year, immediately when
you meet Jim you feel likeyou've known him for 20 years.
So when we reconnected again itwas just kind of matching his
skillset, his passion for theindustry, with my background of
growing businesses and improvingproducts and leveraging
(13:54):
connections that I've beenfortunate and blessed to have
over the past 30 years.
Jamie Irvine (13:59):
One of the things that I've seen in my career.
I've seen this done well andI've seen this done poorly.
So let me lay out the poorlyedition of that and then you
tell me what you're doingdifferently.
One of the dangers, I think, isyou can sit around in a
boardroom for a very long timeand you can sit around a couple
tables with engineers and youcan come up with what you feel
to be truly great ideas, but ifyou fail to involve the customer
(14:23):
in that conversation and gettheir feedback, you can miss the
mark by a wide margin.
So what are you doing to ensurethat doesn't happen?
Dan McClave (14:31):
Well, we have an incredible customer base.
We have a lot of people.
If you just go on YouTube andGoogle switchblade Turbochargers
, you'll see a lot of positivetestimonies and Jim has just
worked with customers throughoutthe years as he's developed
this product and he's nailed it.
I mean, this thing works.
This is not a conceptual ideain a lab somewhere.
(14:53):
There's product in the fieldand happy customers saving
dollars on fuel.
So the testimonial really wouldbe don't listen to me, don't
listen to Jim, Talk to thecustomers, talk to people that
he's partnered with and havebeen using his product and
continue to use his product.
He's an honest man.
He does what he says he's goingto do and, again, that's
(15:14):
another reason why Jim and Iwanted to connect and be
together.
Jamie Irvine (15:18):
So, dan, your company, has looked at
turbochargers as an opportunityto not only provide a high
quality product, but a productthat works differently and that
creates a better result.
Right, so let's walk throughthat product.
What makes your turbochargerdifferent than a turbocharger I
would get elsewhere in themarket?
Dan McClave (15:37):
Yeah.
So, jamie, the difference herewith our turbo compared to
what's on the market today iswe've essentially created two
turbos in one.
To keep it very, very simple,there is one additional moving
part in the turbine housing ofthe turbo that at start or at
rest it's a small turbo.
There's an internal moving partthat chokes off or closes off
(16:01):
and makes the turbo a smallerdiameter than original, so that
eliminates turbo lag.
It aggressively gets more airpressure into the turbine
housing, which then spools theturbine wheel much faster, so
you have faster takeoff.
And then at top speed thatinternal part opens up and now
you have a larger turbo asyou're going down the road at
(16:23):
top speed.
So it's really the best of bothworlds not to get too technical
, but we have.
Basically, the boost pressureis higher than the back pressure
of the turbo, and if you talkwith anyone in the industry,
that's unheard of.
But we found a way, a very,very simple, easy way to achieve
this.
Jamie Irvine (16:43):
That's awesome.
It's an intriguing concept tome.
Tell me more about that.
Dan McClave (16:47):
If you ask anyone in the turbo world, what do I
need for faster boost andelimination of turbo lag?
Well, you need a small turbinehousing at start, but at top end
speed that doesn't work well.
At top end you need a largerturbo housing.
Well, with our design we'vebeen able to achieve both in the
same turbo, so that internalvein is closed at rest and
(17:10):
creates a small turbo.
It spools up a lot faster andthen when we get to speed that
vein opens up, and now we have alarger turbo than the original.
So that's what gets the boostin the back pressure to be equal
instead of a two to one ratio.
Jamie Irvine (17:25):
What role did being a remanufacturer and doing
failure analysis?
That's one thing I know.
When you're in the remanbusiness, you get to see a lot
of cores, so you get to dofailure analysis and that often
leads to innovation.
So what role did being aremanufacturer all these years
play in developing thisdifferent approach to a
turbocharger?
Dan McClave (17:44):
Yeah.
So the one main thing thatwe've noticed there's a lot of
internal moving parts in theturbine housing of a turbo.
What we've been able to do hasbeen to eliminate all of those.
So it's a much, much simplerdesign than the original design
that's out there A lot of theVGT turbos that are running
around and we just thoughtthere's got to be an easier,
(18:06):
simpler, better way.
And again we've just been ableto come up with a way to at rest
make the turbine housingsmaller and then at top speed,
because our turbo is a littlebit larger than the original.
So it's essentially an upgradeto the existing OE turbo system
that's on any vehicle right now.
Jamie Irvine (18:27):
Okay, so if you know anything about ICE vehicles
and how they run, if you getmore oxygen, more fuel, you get
more power.
How does this translate intobetter fuel economy, lower fuel
consumption.
Dan McClave (18:40):
Well, it's increasing the boost pressure
and decreasing back pressure.
So we've completely eliminatedturbo lag.
So a lot of applications thatare a lot of start and stop take
trash trucks, for example, orthings like that where it's a
lot of stop and start, you'relosing fuel initially.
So our design basically burnsfuel more efficiently than the
(19:02):
existing system.
So that boost pressure to backpressure relationship, evening
it up and making it actually aone-to-one ratio instead of a
two-to-one ratio, is really thesecret sauce in the way that
we've been able to achieve thesefuel improvements.
Jamie Irvine (19:18):
So modern diesel engines are pretty complex
pieces of really engineeringmarvel really, when you think
about it, there's a lot ofthings to go wrong in an engine.
So, as you change thesedifferent specs based on the
upgrade to the turbo, how didyou, from an engineering
perspective, handle any of thepotential issues of changing the
parameters of how the turbo?
How did you, from anengineering perspective, handle
any of the potential issues ofchanging kind of the parameters
(19:40):
of how the turbo operates?
Did you run into any troubleand, if you did, how did you
deal with it?
Dan McClave (19:45):
Yeah, I think, jamie, we're actually making it.
We're boiling it down andmaking it simpler.
It is a one-to-one exchangefrom the original design of a
turbo that's on an engine to ourdesign.
So we're simply getting moreair into the engine at a higher
rate than what has been achievedbefore, and that's resulting in
(20:06):
, again, better improvements infuel efficiency.
And another improvement that wehaven't really talked about yet
has been extended oil life.
So the black smoke that you'reseeing come out of a stack of a
truck or of a piece ofagricultural equipment that's
just unburnt fuel.
Our turbo eliminates thatvirtually 90%.
(20:26):
So we have again a lot ofcustomers that have posted
videos of a stack spewing outblack smoke and, side-by-side, a
stack with a switchblade turboon it spewing out, you know, 90
to almost 100 less.
So the environmental impact ofthis is massive, as well, yeah,
it's a.
Jamie Irvine (20:46):
That's a measurable difference if it's 90
.
The trend of the last few yearsin the trucking industry, with
with the actual technology ontrucks, has been trending
towards increased complexity.
Your company seems to be goingagainst the grain.
Tell me more about why you'retaking this more simplistic
approach.
Dan McClave (21:05):
Yeah.
So, jamie, we have seen a lotof being a remanufacturer.
We've seen the complexity inthese parts, the failure modes.
I mean it's just plain andsimple.
I think the more moving partsyou have, the more potential for
problems.
So we've taken the oppositeapproach and have been fortunate
to come up with a very, verysimple design that, again, we
(21:26):
show people and they understandhow and why it works.
They're just surprised with howsimple it is and they almost
will say that's it.
We said, well, yeah, that's it.
Why complicate something thatworks?
So it was something that we'vejust come across and are very
(21:47):
happy and proud to say that itis a more simple design than
traditional.
Jamie Irvine (21:49):
Okay, so when I have a truck and I've got a
turbocharger with an actuator onit and it's time for that
turbocharger to be changed, Iorder a switchblade.
What do I do with my core?
Dan McClave (22:00):
You can return it to us.
We have a remanufacturingindustry, repair industry as
well.
You could keep it yourself.
I mean we don't require thatyou send it back to us, because
the switchblade turbo is a brandnew product.
It's not a remanufacturedproduct from a core.
So to kind of clarify thatissue.
So this is a product that weare tooling up.
We're producing it in the US.
We're very proud to say that itwill always stay in the US as
(22:23):
well, but it's a brand new unit.
If you choose and want to sendthat core back to us again, we
wouldn't say no to it, wewouldn't turn it down.
But it's not a requirement atall.
Jamie Irvine (22:33):
Do you have a core buyback program in place?
We do, yep, fantastic.
Well, it's good, because wedon't want those cores just to
go to waste, right, we don'twant them to end up in a
landfill.
Remanufacturing is also anadditional part of
sustainability, because it's areal measurable way of keeping
things out of landfills and notrequiring as much raw materials
to reproduce a working productthat can go back out into the
(22:55):
market.
So I think that's great.
To reproduce a working productthat can go back out into the
market, so I think that's great.
What is maybe one of the realtangible stories of a fleet or
an end user that you know ofthat bought this product,
upgraded their turbo and thengot tangible results?
Could you give us a case study,if you will?
Dan McClave (23:14):
Sure, yeah, we have a handful.
We have actually many.
One person that's in ourrevised and updated marketing
literature and on our website isa guy named Otto Hildebrand of
Bloom Recyclers.
He's in Ogden, utah, and I hadthe pleasure of visiting with
Otto last year and he put aswitchblade on his 93 Peterbilt.
(23:34):
It's an old cat 3406 engine.
No way, yeah yeah, and in hiswords, not mine.
It is the best running truck hehas now in his fleet.
He went from 4.1 miles pergallon to 5.8 overnight.
That's not insignificant.
It's not insignificant Overall.
The engine is running better,the truck is running better, so
(23:56):
the fuel savings are there.
He has, I think, eight or ninetrucks in his fleet and we're on
a path to just keep changingthem over for him.
But again, he's one of manycustomers that we have that have
been talking about theimprovements of the Switchblade
Turbo.
Jamie Irvine (24:10):
And how do you go to market?
Do you have a network ofdistributors and dealerships
that are selling your product,or are you going direct to
consumer?
How?
Dan McClave (24:18):
does that work?
I mentioned our revised andupdated website.
We now have the ability topurchase a product on our
website, whereas we never hadbefore, and the reason I really
got involved in Switchblade isto expand the market and start
selling distributors and startselling larger fleets.
Jamie Irvine (24:40):
Okay, so you're moving into pioneering this with
distribution AbsolutelyFantastic.
Well, there's lots to talkabout there that we can have
further conversations on,because that's a great way to go
to market.
And there's lots of companieswho are pioneering really new
products that are exciting andthat have a big impact and then
(25:00):
they realize after a period oftime that adding a distribution
side to their business andmanaging that so that there
isn't channel conflict is agreat way of really rounding out
the business and getting itinto the hands of more people
who really need this solution.
Right, yeah, exactly.
So that brings my originalinterview with Dan McClave from
Switchblade Turbochargers to aconclusion.
(25:21):
But a few weeks after I recordedthat original interview, I
caught up with Dan at a tradeshow and we had another
conversation.
He gave us more detailedinformation about their product
and he also gave us an update onhow they're doing so I wanted
to share that with you now.
Finally, we spoke toSwitchblade Turbo.
Now, this is a fascinatingcompany.
They've been on the podcastbefore and in the links in the
(25:43):
show notes you'll be able to goand listen to that original
interview that I did.
But I think what's reallyinteresting about my
conversation with them today ishow, at the end of the day, all
they did is they took somethingthat was complex and they
simplified it and they got it towork better and to challenge
the status quo.
It doesn't always mean you haveto go in the direction of
(26:04):
greater complexity.
This is a great example ofwhere simplicity actually is
better for everyone.
Listen into my conversationwith Switchblade Turbo.
My guest today is a returningguest on the show Dan McClave,
president of Switchblade TurboChargers.
Dan spent the majority of hiscareer in automotive
manufacturing and theremanufacturing industry.
(26:24):
That's close to my heart.
And now you're the president atSwitchblade Turbochargers.
You're serving the heavy-dutyagricultural and industrial
markets.
Dan, welcome to the Heavy-DutyParts.
Dan McClave (26:33):
Report in person.
Thank you, nice to see you.
Yeah, you too.
Jamie Irvine (26:36):
Thanks for taking some time away from the booth
and coming to see us.
Like I said, it's so busy inthere.
Dan McClave (26:40):
I almost lost track of time, so it's been great.
Jamie Irvine (26:43):
So since the last time you were on the show, some
things have changed.
Walk us through what's changed.
Dan McClave (26:49):
Mostly what's changed is we've made progress.
I mean, business has picked up,and thank you again for having
me on the show.
We started building out ourteam in the technical
engineering aspect sales andmarketing and just continued to
build inventory to start tosupply bigger customers.
Jamie Irvine (27:04):
Yeah, it's fantastic to watch a company
with a great product trying tosolve a real problem and having
the success you deserve.
So what is exactly the productthat you're promoting?
Tell us more.
Is it just another shop thatrebuilds turbochargers, or
what's different?
Now, people who've watched theoriginal episode, which we'll
put- links in they already knowthe answer to this, but maybe
(27:25):
the ones that are new to theshow haven't seen it before.
You can tell them.
Dan McClave (27:28):
Well, the main product that we're manufacturing
and selling is called theSwitchblade Turbocharger.
It is a modification to anexisting OE turbo that
significantly improvesperformance to heavy-duty trucks
, ag equipment, you name it tothe tune of significant fuel
savings in dollars.
Jamie Irvine (27:46):
Right, okay, so let's go a little bit deep on
the actual product.
So in a turbocharger, in itscurrent setup, the way that it
comes, oe from the truck, right,we hear about turbos and the
VGT, and then you're going toretrofit with the switchblade
turbo.
So talk about the differencesin the actual turbocharger and
how it works.
Okay, definitely turbo.
(28:06):
So talk about the differencesin the actual turbocharger and
how it works okay, definitely so.
Dan McClave (28:08):
The switchblade turbocharger we basically have
and it's a patented design byjim blaylock.
We're essentially adding oneadditional moving part to the
turbine housing of the turbo.
Okay, that fluctuates and andgoes up and down throughout the
operation of the turbo.
So really, what he's inventedis a two-in-one turbo.
(28:28):
It's small at rest so it spoolsup a lot faster than a
traditional turbo, no turbo lag.
And then, as you're gainingspeed and pressure's increasing
in the housing, that vane opensup, and now it's a larger
housing at speed.
So you're getting the best ofboth worlds.
So, at takeoff, fast takeoff,increased boost, pressure, no
(28:49):
lag and at speed, major fuelefficiency and savings.
Jamie Irvine (28:52):
Okay, so if I retrofit my truck with your
turbo charger, when I take outthat other one do I need the VGT
part?
Dan McClave (28:59):
No, you don't really need the VGT part.
There's no electronics, whichmight sound scary to some people
that how can you do somethingwithout electronics?
But it's a very simple, easydesign and it really just
replaces the, the stock turbo orwhatever turbo is on the
vehicle at the time, whetherit's uh, you know, a cat engine,
detroit, cummins, you name itokay now, one of the things that
(29:20):
people will hear me talk abouta lot on the show is, uh, that
you have to look at the wholesystem.
Jamie Irvine (29:26):
So turbo is part of a larger system.
It impacts the after treatmentand other systems in the engine.
So what have you done to makesure that the rest of the system
continues to operate as it'ssupposed to?
Dan McClave (29:40):
Well, we've had sales for the last five or six
years of this product.
We've never had one problemwith an engine failure or
anything resulting from ourturbo.
So it is an existing system andpart of a larger system.
But what we're really doing,jamie, is enhancing the
performance of the engine.
And again, go to our website.
Look at our customertestimonials.
People are just, uh, singingthe praises of this turbo and
(30:03):
it's just a matter of scale.
Jamie Irvine (30:05):
Now we have to get it to to more people so, um,
there's, there is a component Iremember you talking about with
with pressure and back pressureand things like that can you
explain that?
Dan McClave (30:14):
yeah sure.
So to get a little moretechnical uh, typically the
ratio of boost pressure to backpressure is two to one.
Uh, double the back pressure tohalf boost pressure.
What this system does is itactually increases the boost
pressure to basically equal thatof the back pressure.
And people will say that'simpossible.
Jamie Irvine (30:34):
It's not.
Dan McClave (30:34):
We have data, we have customers that have videoed
their boost and back pressuregauges.
While the switchblade isrunning and it's just attributed
to that design, we're gettingmore volume of air into the
system, which is getting intothe engine, and it's just
burning fuel a lot cleaner.
Jamie Irvine (30:48):
A lot cleaner, more efficient.
So I remember you saying thatwhen this system is installed,
things like, for example, theblack smoke coming out of the
stacks is eliminated.
What is that actuallyeliminating?
Not just the smoke, but there'ssomething more about that.
Dan McClave (31:02):
There's really two things.
There and again we have tons ofvideos from customers showing
this with and without theswitchblade, and all the black
smoke is coming out of the stackis unburned fuel.
That's waste, and when I was akid I thought, wow, look at that
truck, the black smoke looksreally cool.
Jamie Irvine (31:17):
It's not.
Dan McClave (31:18):
So all that fuel now is being burned more
efficiently, so it eliminatesthe black smoke.
The flip side of that with allthat unburned fuel is it's
putting soot into the oil, sooil changes are more frequent.
We have one customer inparticular.
He doubled his oil life on allof his equipment.
Jamie Irvine (31:36):
Caterpillar has tested this this is not I'm
saying it, but it's verifiedAbsolutely.
Dan McClave (31:42):
So he went from 100 hours oil change to 200.
Jamie Irvine (31:45):
So at the outset of our conversation you talked
about a significant improvementin fuel.
Can you go into more detailabout what the expected gains
will be from retrofitting tothis?
And really it's not really aretrofit, it's more of an
upgrade to this switchbladeturbo.
Dan McClave (32:00):
Yeah, so we're calling it, Jamie an investment
in your equipment.
It's not a sunk cost if youhave to replace your turbo with
ours.
It's not a sunk cost if youhave to replace your turbo with
ours.
It's actually going to save youmoney.
And this is a touchy subjecttoo, because fuel efficiency
there's so many factors involvedwith it, not just the turbo.
So we tend to say this with adisclaimer, right, but we've
seen some of our customers.
(32:21):
Again, I have references.
They've gone, you know, fromfour miles a gallon to almost
six.
We have one customer inparticular near me.
He's saving $140 per day infuel that his truck is running.
So the turbo paid for itself inabout a month and he just keeps
asking for more turbos toretrofit his fleet.
(32:41):
So that's really what we'reseeing on the fuel saving side.
And again, it's going to differbecause guys drive differently.
fuel costs differently so theamount of weight that you're
hauling all factors, but we canpretty much stand behind that.
You are going to seesignificant cost savings.
Jamie Irvine (32:58):
Yeah, it's one thing to have a marginal
difference that you know okay,great, I'm picking up a little
bit, but how much, right.
It's another thing to get to asignificant amount where you can
actually calculate it indollars saved, like with that
one example, and that's what'sreally important here.
So I think what do yourecommend when somebody is
thinking like, okay, I want todo this, I'm convinced, but
(33:19):
before I start, do they call youand do you guys talk through
their vocation and their fleetand what they're up against and
kind of help them to see whatthe possibility could be?
Like how do you work with yourcustomers to really kind of take
that first step?
Dan McClave (33:32):
Yeah, that's a great question and again,
they're more than happy, willingto call us.
There's information on ourwebsite.
It really has to do with whatengine you're running and what's
your horsepower, because thatwill determine the type of turbo
that we supply you and in somecases there's other accessories
that are needed.
So we now have the ability youcan order off the website.
We would get the order andimmediately call the customer
(33:54):
and say hey, we just got yourorder.
Any questions?
Cause we just talked to someoneat the show and he's he's been
ready to take the plunge withthis, and then that's almost why
I was late we, I think,convinced him to go ahead and
try one, but it's a differentproduct.
Some people haven't believedthe claims of the cost savings,
which is fine, but honestly,what I've done is I've given a
(34:15):
turbo away, said look, don't payme for 90 days.
If you're not happy, I'll takeit back.
If you are, then let's start abusiness relationship.
Jamie Irvine (34:24):
Ever had anybody send them back?
No, now, when you do retrofit,you've got a core.
What do you do with?
Dan McClave (34:29):
that they can keep it.
We are also remanufacturers, sowe're happy to take that off
their hands as well.
So it's a conversation.
Jamie Irvine (34:36):
Yeah, fantastic, fantastic.
Well, if you want to learn moreabout this great product, first
of all I would say, go back andlisten to the original episode
and also go over toswitchbladeturbocom.
That's where all theinformation is, and now you can
buy it off the website.
So thanks for taking some timereally great to see you too.
Okay as well, thanks what agreat conversation with dan
mcclave from switchbladeturbochargers.
(34:58):
Now it's time for that's notheavy duty.
In this edition of that's notheavy duty, I wanted to talk
about jumping to conclusions.
So when we originally aired theinterviews with Dan, we put out
some content promotingswitchblade turbochargers, and
we did this by cutting a fewsmall clips of our conversation
(35:20):
and putting it on social media,and what I noticed is some
people kind of had thisknee-jerk reaction.
They watched a 30-second clipand they jumped to a conclusion,
and those conclusions typicallywere incorrect, but they were
convinced that they had arrivedat the right conclusion.
The fact that you're listeningto this episode to the end and
(35:41):
you've listened to the entireset of interviews with Dan tells
me that you're not this type ofperson.
You actually want to take thetime to listen to the entire
conversation, and it's soimportant when we're selling
parts, when we're buying parts,that we get all of the
information right Because, let'sface it, not every part works
(36:03):
in every situation.
There are certain parts, thereare certain technologies, there
are certain innovations, thereare certain innovations that are
really good in one vocation orone application and they don't
apply to another and it isn't aone-size-fits-all.
So it's really important, ifwe're going to do things the
heavy-duty way, is that we takethe time to do our research
(36:24):
right, make sure we're pickingthe right part for the
application, for the vocation,for the scenario, and also make
sure that the product issomething that is going to
actually contribute to loweringtotal cost of operation.
That's heavy duty.
So this brings our episode to aconclusion and really want to
(36:46):
thank you for listening to thisweek's episode.
If you're listening to thisepisode on the day that it drops
, then I am in the great stateof Alabama and I am training
salespeople on how to sell heavyduty parts.
If this is something thatinterests you, we are developing
a whole series of trainingprograms that are specifically
(37:08):
targeted for four areas of theheavy-duty parts business
Outside sales parts management,hiring managers and executive
leaders.
If this interests you, reachout to us.
We'd love to talk to you aboutthese programs and how they
might help you and your companyand help people in your business
to succeed.
(37:28):
After all, at the end of theday, we have to help heavy duty
people thrive.
That's how we keep our truckingindustry strong and that's how
we support them to do what theydo to keep our society strong.
Thank you again for listening.
If you haven't already, headover to heavydutypartsreportcom,
click on the follow button onour website.
That takes you to our sign uppage, to our email.
(37:50):
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(38:11):
And if you watch the videoversion on YouTube, make sure
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Thanks again for listening and,as always, I want to encourage
you to be heavy duty.
You're listening to the Heavy-Duty Parts Report.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin, andthis is the place where we have
conversations that empowerheavy-duty people.
Welcome to the Heavy-Duty PartsReport.
I'm your host, jamie Irvin.
In this episode, we're going totalk about turbochargers, and I
want you to listen in to asneak peek of the interview and
(00:22):
also stick around to the veryend of the interview, as we have
an update from our featuredguest.
Listen into our sneak peek now.
Dan McClave (00:29):
Jamie, the difference here with our turbo
compared to what's on the markettoday is we've essentially
created two turbos in one.
That at start or at rest it's asmall turbo.
There's an internal moving partthat chokes off or closes off
and makes the turbo a smallerdiameter than original.
The boost pressure is higherthan the back pressure of the
(00:52):
turbo and if you talk withanyone in the industry, that's
unheard of.
Jamie Irvine (00:56):
Well, I'm so excited to share this interview
with you.
At the time of recordingtoday's episode, we had not yet
received the results of theAmerican Trucking Research
Institute, or ATRI's annualsurvey, where they get people
from the trucking industry totell them what the top industry
(01:17):
issues actually are.
Now, andrew Boyle, atrichairman, commented that for the
past two decades, the industryhas relied on the annual top
industry issues survey tohighlight the challenges facing
our nation's supply chain, andthat this research provides an
opportunity for thousands oftrucking industry professionals,
(01:39):
from drivers to executives, toweigh in on the most critical
topics that affect ourday-to-day operations and
collectively decide on the beststrategies for addressing each.
Now, last year, in 2023, whenthis survey was issued, the
economy was top of mind.
It was the most important issuethat people felt was facing the
(02:03):
trucking industry and, let'sface it, society at large.
Now, going into 2024, we expectit to be very similar, and last
year, the top five issuesincluded truck parking, fuel
prices, driver shortage, driverpay and, of course, the number
one being the economy, and thiscame from over 4,000
(02:26):
transportation stakeholders.
So the data is pretty reliable.
Now, for those of us who work insupport of the trucking
industry, let's say you're inthe parts business or you're in
the parts and service business,we're directly impacted by any
issue that affects the truckingindustry, especially economic
issues and financial headwinds.
That affects our business aswell.
(02:47):
At the Heavy-Duty ConsultingCorporation, when we are working
with our clients, one of theareas that we help them focus on
is the development of astronger value proposition, and
one of the big advantages ofhaving a strong value
proposition is it makes itharder for your competitors to
just slash prices and engage ina race to the bottom on price.
(03:12):
And so when you have thisstronger value proposition,
really you're making yourbusiness more resilient to
things like financial headwindsaffecting the trucking industry,
things like financial headwindsaffecting the trucking industry
.
And really one of the quickestways to accomplish this is to
bring innovative products to theattention of our customers and
(03:32):
help our fleet customers lowertheir total cost of operation.
From the fleet's perspective,regardless of what the issues
are that they're dealing with,finding ways to reduce cost and
make their fleet more efficientis always a good strategy.
So on the podcast, we arealways striving to find these
innovative products and sharethem with you, and this will
(03:56):
really help the listeners of theshow, especially if they're on
the distribution side of thebusiness, to enhance their value
proposition and help theircustomers lower their total cost
of operation.
Today's episode will be nodifferent and we're going to
talk about one of the trendsthat has been creating a lot of
pain for fleets.
It's contributing toinflationary pressure and we're
(04:18):
going to talk about one specificway we can address that problem
.
But before we share ourinterview with you, we just have
to take a quick break to hearfrom our sponsors.
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We're back from our break, andbefore the break I was talking
about the real need to help ourcustomers lower their total cost
of operation.
This is a continuous theme ofthe show, and one great way to
(06:07):
do that and enhance our ownvalue proposition if we're in
the distribution game, is to bethe person who introduces our
customers to innovative products.
So listen in to my interviewbecause our guest today is gonna
help you do just that.
So my guest today is DanMcClave.
He's the president atSwitchblade Turbochargers.
That gives you a hint as towhat kind of product we're going
(06:29):
to talk about.
Dan has spent the majority ofhis career in the automotive
manufacturing andremanufacturing industry.
That means him and I arekindred spirits on the remand
side.
He's now the president atSwitchblade Turbochargers and
they serve the heavy-dutyagricultural and industrial
markets.
He's now made the full shift toheavy-duty.
(06:49):
He now is one of our heavy-dutypeople.
He is very proud of thecompany's patented design on
their turbocharger and what thecompany's patented design
actually does for reducing costs.
This is going to be a greatepisode.
I'm really looking forward toit.
Dan, welcome to the Heavy-DutyParts Report.
(07:10):
So glad to have you here.
Dan McClave (07:11):
Jamie, thank you so much.
I'm excited to be here.
Jamie Irvine (07:14):
Well, it's been a while we have been planning this
episode, so today is the day.
Let's get right into it.
What is one of the big macrotrends?
That is, pushing up the costsof operations for commercial
fleets.
Dan McClave (07:27):
Yeah, it's a great question.
I think the major trend, notjust for fleets but for you and
I as individuals, and everyoneacross the country, is the price
of fuel.
Even though there's been adecline lately, I would say from
maybe the summer months overthe past five to 10 years, fuel
prices have just consistentlyincreased and it's impacting
again you and I, but the fleetsand owner operators, farmers,
(07:51):
you name it, anyone that's inthe industrial heavy duty
industry.
It's a massive pain point forthem.
Jamie Irvine (07:57):
Right, and I know when I was selling parts I would
talk to fleets all the timeabout what their biggest cost
centers were, and it the drivers, and it was fuel, tires, brakes
, those kinds of things Fuelalways ranked in the top one to
three costs that they had tocontend with.
What has been the impact onfleets as these fuel costs have
consistently gone up?
(08:18):
I know where I am in WesternCanada right now, diesel has
been much more expensive thaneven gasoline.
It's crazy.
As a kid there was such a gapbetween gasoline prices and
diesel prices like 30 years ago,and today, where I live anyway,
that has flipped and to methat's just unprecedented.
So what does that do to acommercial fleet when that's the
(08:39):
situation?
Dan McClave (08:40):
Well, it's a massive impact, obviously to the
commercial fleet, because theyhave to keep their trucks
running, they have to delivergoods and services to all of us
throughout the country andacross the world.
But a lot of those costsunfortunately get passed to you
and I, to the consumer or to theshop owner, whoever it is.
So that cost is impacting thefleets tremendously and, to
(09:01):
their defense, they're having topass on a surcharge and now you
have inflation.
You have, you know, theeconomic state that we're in,
which I won't get into, but theincrease in the cost of fuel has
just had ripple effects acrossthis industry in a negative way.
Jamie Irvine (09:16):
I'll get into it a little bit.
We were just at the Technologyand Maintenance Council's fall
meeting and you know, one of thebig concerns that I heard from
not only the fleets but also themanufacturers that supply
products for them is look, whereis the state of the economy
going to take us?
How bad could a potentialdownturn be?
This time around we see thingsgoing in the wrong direction.
(09:38):
Tonnage is down, demand is down, costs are up.
That's a tough market forfleets to be able to operate at
a profitable level.
When you've got everythinggoing, what's seemingly in the
wrong direction, Right, exactly,and it is going in the wrong
direction.
Dan McClave (09:54):
So there has to be some relief.
Again.
I think prices for diesel fuelhave come down a little bit, but
if you look at the overalltrend over the last 10, 15, 20
years, it's a net negative interms of higher pricing for
these fleets and, again, theconsumer.
We have to fill up our gastanks as well, so it's a pain
point for everyone, butespecially fleets and the heavy
(10:17):
duty market.
Jamie Irvine (10:18):
Yeah, and I think when you're on the part side of
the business, you're limited toparts to offer solutions to
fleets.
Right, I mean, there's not alot we can do about
macroeconomics, geopolitics anddemographic conversion.
Those things are what they areand there's not even a lot that
we can do when it comes to someof those other inflationary
costs.
But, as parts people, one thingwe can do is we can turn and
(10:42):
look at our own products.
Before we actually talk aboutyour specific products, tell me
a little bit about the cultureat your company and the way of
thinking that you and your teamat Switchblade and I partnered
recently, this past year withJim Blaylock, who's the founder
and the inventor of theSwitchblade Turbo.
Dan McClave (11:12):
But Jim has been in business since 1980.
He has been remanufacturing andrepairing turbos since that
time and has developed a betterproduct.
So his years and years ofseeing the product that's been
on the market the failure rates,the failure modes, what's been
happening he just was driven toproduce a better product.
(11:33):
So he is a wonderful humanbeing, a wonderful man.
Everybody in the industry knowshim.
I've known him for 15 years.
We just have recentlyreconnected and decided to
partner together.
Recently reconnected anddecided to partner together on
this product.
So he just runs an honestbusiness.
I'm privileged and honored tojust be partnering with him to
try to get this product to morepeople.
Jamie Irvine (11:54):
Well, I've met him in person at HDAW actually this
year, earlier this year, and Ican attest to that His passion
for this industry is reallycontagious.
How has that impacted the otherpeople that work at your
company?
Dan McClave (12:12):
They're all striving for excellence.
Jim is in Baxter Spring, kansasI'm just outside of
Philadelphia, but I go therevery often and they are all just
striving for excellence.
They just want this to besuccessful and they're impacted
as well by the problem we'rediscussing.
So they know they're sitting ona solution, which is why we've
(12:32):
partnered together to kind ofmatch our skill sets to get this
product to the market in abigger way.
Jamie Irvine (12:38):
You know you got to have the right combination of
people.
That is absolutely true.
There are so many really greatproducts out there that they
just they need something more tobe able to get them out to more
people and have a bigger impact.
Right, and I think that's veryexciting, that you have
partnered and come together.
So what are you doing from aculture perspective, from a
(13:01):
leadership perspective in yourcompany, to add something in
addition to what Jim brings tothe table?
Dan McClave (13:08):
Well, my background , jamie, was with Cardone
Industries, so a family-owned,privately held business.
I worked there for 20 years.
We did everything with thecustomer in mind.
My background there wasengineering, which went into
product development operations.
I was fortunate to do aninternational assignment in
Belgium for about 5 or 6 yearsand Jim and I again, we met 15
(13:32):
years ago through ourrelationships at Cardone when we
were getting into turbos.
And just like you've met himthis past year, immediately when
you meet Jim you feel likeyou've known him for 20 years.
So when we reconnected again itwas just kind of matching his
skillset, his passion for theindustry, with my background of
growing businesses and improvingproducts and leveraging
(13:54):
connections that I've beenfortunate and blessed to have
over the past 30 years.
Jamie Irvine (13:59):
One of the things that I've seen in my career.
I've seen this done well andI've seen this done poorly.
So let me lay out the poorlyedition of that and then you
tell me what you're doingdifferently.
One of the dangers, I think, isyou can sit around in a
boardroom for a very long timeand you can sit around a couple
tables with engineers and youcan come up with what you feel
to be truly great ideas, but ifyou fail to involve the customer
(14:23):
in that conversation and gettheir feedback, you can miss the
mark by a wide margin.
So what are you doing to ensurethat doesn't happen?
Dan McClave (14:31):
Well, we have an incredible customer base.
We have a lot of people.
If you just go on YouTube andGoogle switchblade Turbochargers
, you'll see a lot of positivetestimonies and Jim has just
worked with customers throughoutthe years as he's developed
this product and he's nailed it.
I mean, this thing works.
This is not a conceptual ideain a lab somewhere.
(14:53):
There's product in the fieldand happy customers saving
dollars on fuel.
So the testimonial really wouldbe don't listen to me, don't
listen to Jim, Talk to thecustomers, talk to people that
he's partnered with and havebeen using his product and
continue to use his product.
He's an honest man.
He does what he says he's goingto do and, again, that's
(15:14):
another reason why Jim and Iwanted to connect and be
together.
Jamie Irvine (15:18):
So, dan, your company, has looked at
turbochargers as an opportunityto not only provide a high
quality product, but a productthat works differently and that
creates a better result.
Right, so let's walk throughthat product.
What makes your turbochargerdifferent than a turbocharger I
would get elsewhere in themarket?
Dan McClave (15:37):
Yeah.
So, jamie, the difference herewith our turbo compared to
what's on the market today iswe've essentially created two
turbos in one.
To keep it very, very simple,there is one additional moving
part in the turbine housing ofthe turbo that at start or at
rest it's a small turbo.
There's an internal moving partthat chokes off or closes off
(16:01):
and makes the turbo a smallerdiameter than original, so that
eliminates turbo lag.
It aggressively gets more airpressure into the turbine
housing, which then spools theturbine wheel much faster, so
you have faster takeoff.
And then at top speed thatinternal part opens up and now
you have a larger turbo asyou're going down the road at
(16:23):
top speed.
So it's really the best of bothworlds not to get too technical
, but we have.
Basically, the boost pressureis higher than the back pressure
of the turbo, and if you talkwith anyone in the industry,
that's unheard of.
But we found a way, a very,very simple, easy way to achieve
this.
Jamie Irvine (16:43):
That's awesome.
It's an intriguing concept tome.
Tell me more about that.
Dan McClave (16:47):
If you ask anyone in the turbo world, what do I
need for faster boost andelimination of turbo lag?
Well, you need a small turbinehousing at start, but at top end
speed that doesn't work well.
At top end you need a largerturbo housing.
Well, with our design we'vebeen able to achieve both in the
same turbo, so that internalvein is closed at rest and
(17:10):
creates a small turbo.
It spools up a lot faster andthen when we get to speed that
vein opens up, and now we have alarger turbo than the original.
So that's what gets the boostin the back pressure to be equal
instead of a two to one ratio.
Jamie Irvine (17:25):
What role did being a remanufacturer and doing
failure analysis?
That's one thing I know.
When you're in the remanbusiness, you get to see a lot
of cores, so you get to dofailure analysis and that often
leads to innovation.
So what role did being aremanufacturer all these years
play in developing thisdifferent approach to a
turbocharger?
Dan McClave (17:44):
Yeah.
So the one main thing thatwe've noticed there's a lot of
internal moving parts in theturbine housing of a turbo.
What we've been able to do hasbeen to eliminate all of those.
So it's a much, much simplerdesign than the original design
that's out there A lot of theVGT turbos that are running
around and we just thoughtthere's got to be an easier,
(18:06):
simpler, better way.
And again we've just been ableto come up with a way to at rest
make the turbine housingsmaller and then at top speed,
because our turbo is a littlebit larger than the original.
So it's essentially an upgradeto the existing OE turbo system
that's on any vehicle right now.
Jamie Irvine (18:27):
Okay, so if you know anything about ICE vehicles
and how they run, if you getmore oxygen, more fuel, you get
more power.
How does this translate intobetter fuel economy, lower fuel
consumption.
Dan McClave (18:40):
Well, it's increasing the boost pressure
and decreasing back pressure.
So we've completely eliminatedturbo lag.
So a lot of applications thatare a lot of start and stop take
trash trucks, for example, orthings like that where it's a
lot of stop and start, you'relosing fuel initially.
So our design basically burnsfuel more efficiently than the
(19:02):
existing system.
So that boost pressure to backpressure relationship, evening
it up and making it actually aone-to-one ratio instead of a
two-to-one ratio, is really thesecret sauce in the way that
we've been able to achieve thesefuel improvements.
Jamie Irvine (19:18):
So modern diesel engines are pretty complex
pieces of really engineeringmarvel really, when you think
about it, there's a lot ofthings to go wrong in an engine.
So, as you change thesedifferent specs based on the
upgrade to the turbo, how didyou, from an engineering
perspective, handle any of thepotential issues of changing the
parameters of how the turbo?
How did you, from anengineering perspective, handle
any of the potential issues ofchanging kind of the parameters
(19:40):
of how the turbo operates?
Did you run into any troubleand, if you did, how did you
deal with it?
Dan McClave (19:45):
Yeah, I think, jamie, we're actually making it.
We're boiling it down andmaking it simpler.
It is a one-to-one exchangefrom the original design of a
turbo that's on an engine to ourdesign.
So we're simply getting moreair into the engine at a higher
rate than what has been achievedbefore, and that's resulting in
(20:06):
, again, better improvements infuel efficiency.
And another improvement that wehaven't really talked about yet
has been extended oil life.
So the black smoke that you'reseeing come out of a stack of a
truck or of a piece ofagricultural equipment that's
just unburnt fuel.
Our turbo eliminates thatvirtually 90%.
(20:26):
So we have again a lot ofcustomers that have posted
videos of a stack spewing outblack smoke and, side-by-side, a
stack with a switchblade turboon it spewing out, you know, 90
to almost 100 less.
So the environmental impact ofthis is massive, as well, yeah,
it's a.
Jamie Irvine (20:46):
That's a measurable difference if it's 90
.
The trend of the last few yearsin the trucking industry, with
with the actual technology ontrucks, has been trending
towards increased complexity.
Your company seems to be goingagainst the grain.
Tell me more about why you'retaking this more simplistic
approach.
Dan McClave (21:05):
Yeah.
So, jamie, we have seen a lotof being a remanufacturer.
We've seen the complexity inthese parts, the failure modes.
I mean it's just plain andsimple.
I think the more moving partsyou have, the more potential for
problems.
So we've taken the oppositeapproach and have been fortunate
to come up with a very, verysimple design that, again, we
(21:26):
show people and they understandhow and why it works.
They're just surprised with howsimple it is and they almost
will say that's it.
We said, well, yeah, that's it.
Why complicate something thatworks?
So it was something that we'vejust come across and are very
(21:47):
happy and proud to say that itis a more simple design than
traditional.
Jamie Irvine (21:49):
Okay, so when I have a truck and I've got a
turbocharger with an actuator onit and it's time for that
turbocharger to be changed, Iorder a switchblade.
What do I do with my core?
Dan McClave (22:00):
You can return it to us.
We have a remanufacturingindustry, repair industry as
well.
You could keep it yourself.
I mean we don't require thatyou send it back to us, because
the switchblade turbo is a brandnew product.
It's not a remanufacturedproduct from a core.
So to kind of clarify thatissue.
So this is a product that weare tooling up.
We're producing it in the US.
We're very proud to say that itwill always stay in the US as
(22:23):
well, but it's a brand new unit.
If you choose and want to sendthat core back to us again, we
wouldn't say no to it, wewouldn't turn it down.
But it's not a requirement atall.
Jamie Irvine (22:33):
Do you have a core buyback program in place?
We do, yep, fantastic.
Well, it's good, because wedon't want those cores just to
go to waste, right, we don'twant them to end up in a
landfill.
Remanufacturing is also anadditional part of
sustainability, because it's areal measurable way of keeping
things out of landfills and notrequiring as much raw materials
to reproduce a working productthat can go back out into the
(22:55):
market.
So I think that's great.
To reproduce a working productthat can go back out into the
market, so I think that's great.
What is maybe one of the realtangible stories of a fleet or
an end user that you know ofthat bought this product,
upgraded their turbo and thengot tangible results?
Could you give us a case study,if you will?
Dan McClave (23:14):
Sure, yeah, we have a handful.
We have actually many.
One person that's in ourrevised and updated marketing
literature and on our website isa guy named Otto Hildebrand of
Bloom Recyclers.
He's in Ogden, utah, and I hadthe pleasure of visiting with
Otto last year and he put aswitchblade on his 93 Peterbilt.
(23:34):
It's an old cat 3406 engine.
No way, yeah yeah, and in hiswords, not mine.
It is the best running truck hehas now in his fleet.
He went from 4.1 miles pergallon to 5.8 overnight.
That's not insignificant.
It's not insignificant Overall.
The engine is running better,the truck is running better, so
(23:56):
the fuel savings are there.
He has, I think, eight or ninetrucks in his fleet and we're on
a path to just keep changingthem over for him.
But again, he's one of manycustomers that we have that have
been talking about theimprovements of the Switchblade
Turbo.
Jamie Irvine (24:10):
And how do you go to market?
Do you have a network ofdistributors and dealerships
that are selling your product,or are you going direct to
consumer?
How?
Dan McClave (24:18):
does that work?
I mentioned our revised andupdated website.
We now have the ability topurchase a product on our
website, whereas we never hadbefore, and the reason I really
got involved in Switchblade isto expand the market and start
selling distributors and startselling larger fleets.
Jamie Irvine (24:40):
Okay, so you're moving into pioneering this with
distribution AbsolutelyFantastic.
Well, there's lots to talkabout there that we can have
further conversations on,because that's a great way to go
to market.
And there's lots of companieswho are pioneering really new
products that are exciting andthat have a big impact and then
(25:00):
they realize after a period oftime that adding a distribution
side to their business andmanaging that so that there
isn't channel conflict is agreat way of really rounding out
the business and getting itinto the hands of more people
who really need this solution.
Right, yeah, exactly.
So that brings my originalinterview with Dan McClave from
Switchblade Turbochargers to aconclusion.
(25:21):
But a few weeks after I recordedthat original interview, I
caught up with Dan at a tradeshow and we had another
conversation.
He gave us more detailedinformation about their product
and he also gave us an update onhow they're doing so I wanted
to share that with you now.
Finally, we spoke toSwitchblade Turbo.
Now, this is a fascinatingcompany.
They've been on the podcastbefore and in the links in the
(25:43):
show notes you'll be able to goand listen to that original
interview that I did.
But I think what's reallyinteresting about my
conversation with them today ishow, at the end of the day, all
they did is they took somethingthat was complex and they
simplified it and they got it towork better and to challenge
the status quo.
It doesn't always mean you haveto go in the direction of
(26:04):
greater complexity.
This is a great example ofwhere simplicity actually is
better for everyone.
Listen into my conversationwith Switchblade Turbo.
My guest today is a returningguest on the show Dan McClave,
president of Switchblade TurboChargers.
Dan spent the majority of hiscareer in automotive
manufacturing and theremanufacturing industry.
(26:24):
That's close to my heart.
And now you're the president atSwitchblade Turbochargers.
You're serving the heavy-dutyagricultural and industrial
markets.
Dan, welcome to the Heavy-DutyParts.
Dan McClave (26:33):
Report in person.
Thank you, nice to see you.
Yeah, you too.
Jamie Irvine (26:36):
Thanks for taking some time away from the booth
and coming to see us.
Like I said, it's so busy inthere.
Dan McClave (26:40):
I almost lost track of time, so it's been great.
Jamie Irvine (26:43):
So since the last time you were on the show, some
things have changed.
Walk us through what's changed.
Dan McClave (26:49):
Mostly what's changed is we've made progress.
I mean, business has picked up,and thank you again for having
me on the show.
We started building out ourteam in the technical
engineering aspect sales andmarketing and just continued to
build inventory to start tosupply bigger customers.
Jamie Irvine (27:04):
Yeah, it's fantastic to watch a company
with a great product trying tosolve a real problem and having
the success you deserve.
So what is exactly the productthat you're promoting?
Tell us more.
Is it just another shop thatrebuilds turbochargers, or
what's different?
Now, people who've watched theoriginal episode, which we'll
put- links in they already knowthe answer to this, but maybe
(27:25):
the ones that are new to theshow haven't seen it before.
You can tell them.
Dan McClave (27:28):
Well, the main product that we're manufacturing
and selling is called theSwitchblade Turbocharger.
It is a modification to anexisting OE turbo that
significantly improvesperformance to heavy-duty trucks
, ag equipment, you name it tothe tune of significant fuel
savings in dollars.
Jamie Irvine (27:46):
Right, okay, so let's go a little bit deep on
the actual product.
So in a turbocharger, in itscurrent setup, the way that it
comes, oe from the truck, right,we hear about turbos and the
VGT, and then you're going toretrofit with the switchblade
turbo.
So talk about the differencesin the actual turbocharger and
how it works.
Okay, definitely turbo.
(28:06):
So talk about the differencesin the actual turbocharger and
how it works okay, definitely so.
Dan McClave (28:08):
The switchblade turbocharger we basically have
and it's a patented design byjim blaylock.
We're essentially adding oneadditional moving part to the
turbine housing of the turbo.
Okay, that fluctuates and andgoes up and down throughout the
operation of the turbo.
So really, what he's inventedis a two-in-one turbo.
(28:28):
It's small at rest so it spoolsup a lot faster than a
traditional turbo, no turbo lag.
And then, as you're gainingspeed and pressure's increasing
in the housing, that vane opensup, and now it's a larger
housing at speed.
So you're getting the best ofboth worlds.
So, at takeoff, fast takeoff,increased boost, pressure, no
(28:49):
lag and at speed, major fuelefficiency and savings.
Jamie Irvine (28:52):
Okay, so if I retrofit my truck with your
turbo charger, when I take outthat other one do I need the VGT
part?
Dan McClave (28:59):
No, you don't really need the VGT part.
There's no electronics, whichmight sound scary to some people
that how can you do somethingwithout electronics?
But it's a very simple, easydesign and it really just
replaces the, the stock turbo orwhatever turbo is on the
vehicle at the time, whetherit's uh, you know, a cat engine,
detroit, cummins, you name itokay now, one of the things that
(29:20):
people will hear me talk abouta lot on the show is, uh, that
you have to look at the wholesystem.
Jamie Irvine (29:26):
So turbo is part of a larger system.
It impacts the after treatmentand other systems in the engine.
So what have you done to makesure that the rest of the system
continues to operate as it'ssupposed to?
Dan McClave (29:40):
Well, we've had sales for the last five or six
years of this product.
We've never had one problemwith an engine failure or
anything resulting from ourturbo.
So it is an existing system andpart of a larger system.
But what we're really doing,jamie, is enhancing the
performance of the engine.
And again, go to our website.
Look at our customertestimonials.
People are just, uh, singingthe praises of this turbo and
(30:03):
it's just a matter of scale.
Jamie Irvine (30:05):
Now we have to get it to to more people so, um,
there's, there is a component Iremember you talking about with
with pressure and back pressureand things like that can you
explain that?
Dan McClave (30:14):
yeah sure.
So to get a little moretechnical uh, typically the
ratio of boost pressure to backpressure is two to one.
Uh, double the back pressure tohalf boost pressure.
What this system does is itactually increases the boost
pressure to basically equal thatof the back pressure.
And people will say that'simpossible.
Jamie Irvine (30:34):
It's not.
Dan McClave (30:34):
We have data, we have customers that have videoed
their boost and back pressuregauges.
While the switchblade isrunning and it's just attributed
to that design, we're gettingmore volume of air into the
system, which is getting intothe engine, and it's just
burning fuel a lot cleaner.
Jamie Irvine (30:48):
A lot cleaner, more efficient.
So I remember you saying thatwhen this system is installed,
things like, for example, theblack smoke coming out of the
stacks is eliminated.
What is that actuallyeliminating?
Not just the smoke, but there'ssomething more about that.
Dan McClave (31:02):
There's really two things.
There and again we have tons ofvideos from customers showing
this with and without theswitchblade, and all the black
smoke is coming out of the stackis unburned fuel.
That's waste, and when I was akid I thought, wow, look at that
truck, the black smoke looksreally cool.
Jamie Irvine (31:17):
It's not.
Dan McClave (31:18):
So all that fuel now is being burned more
efficiently, so it eliminatesthe black smoke.
The flip side of that with allthat unburned fuel is it's
putting soot into the oil, sooil changes are more frequent.
We have one customer inparticular.
He doubled his oil life on allof his equipment.
Jamie Irvine (31:36):
Caterpillar has tested this this is not I'm
saying it, but it's verifiedAbsolutely.
Dan McClave (31:42):
So he went from 100 hours oil change to 200.
Jamie Irvine (31:45):
So at the outset of our conversation you talked
about a significant improvementin fuel.
Can you go into more detailabout what the expected gains
will be from retrofitting tothis?
And really it's not really aretrofit, it's more of an
upgrade to this switchbladeturbo.
Dan McClave (32:00):
Yeah, so we're calling it, Jamie an investment
in your equipment.
It's not a sunk cost if youhave to replace your turbo with
ours.
It's not a sunk cost if youhave to replace your turbo with
ours.
It's actually going to save youmoney.
And this is a touchy subjecttoo, because fuel efficiency
there's so many factors involvedwith it, not just the turbo.
So we tend to say this with adisclaimer, right, but we've
seen some of our customers.
(32:21):
Again, I have references.
They've gone, you know, fromfour miles a gallon to almost
six.
We have one customer inparticular near me.
He's saving $140 per day infuel that his truck is running.
So the turbo paid for itself inabout a month and he just keeps
asking for more turbos toretrofit his fleet.
(32:41):
So that's really what we'reseeing on the fuel saving side.
And again, it's going to differbecause guys drive differently.
fuel costs differently so theamount of weight that you're
hauling all factors, but we canpretty much stand behind that.
You are going to seesignificant cost savings.
Jamie Irvine (32:58):
Yeah, it's one thing to have a marginal
difference that you know okay,great, I'm picking up a little
bit, but how much, right.
It's another thing to get to asignificant amount where you can
actually calculate it indollars saved, like with that
one example, and that's what'sreally important here.
So I think what do yourecommend when somebody is
thinking like, okay, I want todo this, I'm convinced, but
(33:19):
before I start, do they call youand do you guys talk through
their vocation and their fleetand what they're up against and
kind of help them to see whatthe possibility could be?
Like how do you work with yourcustomers to really kind of take
that first step?
Dan McClave (33:32):
Yeah, that's a great question and again,
they're more than happy, willingto call us.
There's information on ourwebsite.
It really has to do with whatengine you're running and what's
your horsepower, because thatwill determine the type of turbo
that we supply you and in somecases there's other accessories
that are needed.
So we now have the ability youcan order off the website.
We would get the order andimmediately call the customer
(33:54):
and say hey, we just got yourorder.
Any questions?
Cause we just talked to someoneat the show and he's he's been
ready to take the plunge withthis, and then that's almost why
I was late we, I think,convinced him to go ahead and
try one, but it's a differentproduct.
Some people haven't believedthe claims of the cost savings,
which is fine, but honestly,what I've done is I've given a
(34:15):
turbo away, said look, don't payme for 90 days.
If you're not happy, I'll takeit back.
If you are, then let's start abusiness relationship.
Jamie Irvine (34:24):
Ever had anybody send them back?
No, now, when you do retrofit,you've got a core.
What do you do with?
Dan McClave (34:29):
that they can keep it.
We are also remanufacturers, sowe're happy to take that off
their hands as well.
So it's a conversation.
Jamie Irvine (34:36):
Yeah, fantastic, fantastic.
Well, if you want to learn moreabout this great product, first
of all I would say, go back andlisten to the original episode
and also go over toswitchbladeturbocom.
That's where all theinformation is, and now you can
buy it off the website.
So thanks for taking some timereally great to see you too.
Okay as well, thanks what agreat conversation with dan
mcclave from switchbladeturbochargers.
(34:58):
Now it's time for that's notheavy duty.
In this edition of that's notheavy duty, I wanted to talk
about jumping to conclusions.
So when we originally aired theinterviews with Dan, we put out
some content promotingswitchblade turbochargers, and
we did this by cutting a fewsmall clips of our conversation
(35:20):
and putting it on social media,and what I noticed is some
people kind of had thisknee-jerk reaction.
They watched a 30-second clipand they jumped to a conclusion,
and those conclusions typicallywere incorrect, but they were
convinced that they had arrivedat the right conclusion.
The fact that you're listeningto this episode to the end and
(35:41):
you've listened to the entireset of interviews with Dan tells
me that you're not this type ofperson.
You actually want to take thetime to listen to the entire
conversation, and it's soimportant when we're selling
parts, when we're buying parts,that we get all of the
information right Because, let'sface it, not every part works
(36:03):
in every situation.
There are certain parts, thereare certain technologies, there
are certain innovations, thereare certain innovations that are
really good in one vocation orone application and they don't
apply to another and it isn't aone-size-fits-all.
So it's really important, ifwe're going to do things the
heavy-duty way, is that we takethe time to do our research
(36:24):
right, make sure we're pickingthe right part for the
application, for the vocation,for the scenario, and also make
sure that the product issomething that is going to
actually contribute to loweringtotal cost of operation.
That's heavy duty.
So this brings our episode to aconclusion and really want to
(36:46):
thank you for listening to thisweek's episode.
If you're listening to thisepisode on the day that it drops
, then I am in the great stateof Alabama and I am training
salespeople on how to sell heavyduty parts.
If this is something thatinterests you, we are developing
a whole series of trainingprograms that are specifically
(37:08):
targeted for four areas of theheavy-duty parts business
Outside sales parts management,hiring managers and executive
leaders.
If this interests you, reachout to us.
We'd love to talk to you aboutthese programs and how they
might help you and your companyand help people in your business
to succeed.
(37:28):
After all, at the end of theday, we have to help heavy duty
people thrive.
That's how we keep our truckingindustry strong and that's how
we support them to do what theydo to keep our society strong.
Thank you again for listening.
If you haven't already, headover to heavydutypartsreportcom,
click on the follow button onour website.
That takes you to our sign uppage, to our email.
(37:50):
We only send out one email aweek.
You're not going to get anyspam.
Just keep you up to date on newcontent.
If you listen on a podcastplayer, make sure that you hit
that follow button for free.
If it gives you the option,give us a five-star rating and
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That helps us to share our showand really helps with reach
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(38:11):
And if you watch the videoversion on YouTube, make sure
you hit the subscribe and bellnotification so you never miss
out.
Thanks again for listening and,as always, I want to encourage
you to be heavy duty.
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