I was thinking about the past,no A.C.,cable black and white,manual opening outriggers,company radio that sometimes worked,truck electrics,cant call it electronics,hyd.oil cooler that was minimal at the least,I.E water hose,oh those wide sweep elbows,no grease lines,just reach behind that nasty hopper for a hiding zerk fitting.150 bucks a week was good.Now,GPS inside of truck that figures fuel consumption,A.C.,cell phone that works everywhere,digital read-out on wireless remote that runs like a dream,digital operation of pump that keeps track of everything except the number of shop rags used. Auto-greaser for backend and boom.What feature do we need next to make life easier on a pump?

How about a cup holder...

Big T

The pump owners (most) can not seem to raise the prices to make the profit they want. So when asked the question about the "what if" technology the answer is to remove the operator from the equation and replace him with a laborer with a CDL.

I hope your pump breaks down.

Nah, have your kids and grand kids run the pumps. If they do a real good job, take them to Mickey D's.

Continuos flow pump, imagine the possibilities

  Oh progress is so wonderful,half the rodbusters have their phone stuck in their ear,most of the drivers wouldn't help you in a pinch,they too are busy on the phone.How about developing a "stickless" hopper,now that would be nice.

On what pump companies charge for our/their services, they all want all the work. Instead of doing jobs at a reasonable price where their profit margins stay where they should be, they want all the work and bend over and let the contractor dictate the prices, instead of them dictating the price. Good ole fashion greed gets in their way of making a decent return on their equipment. Seems like they all try and make up for it on quantity verses the smart way. If they did it they could do less work for higher profit and less wear and tear. Just one mans observence over the years....

Before I ad my $.02, I just want to point out that this thread has officially been hi-jacked...

Anyhoo, say there are 150 pump jobs in your market on any given day and there are 200 pumps in the area - what does that do to the supply/demand chart? 

It seems like just when there's almost a point of equalibrium, a new pump company rolls into town and lowers the standard to obtain some market share.

...and getting back to the thread question on technology - I'm with Big-T  a cupholder would be nice....that's kinda low-tech soooo....maybe one of the manufactures could put a sensor in the cupholder to monitor temperature and fluid level.  There ya go.

Art Art Art, LOL ! Thanks for the amusement!