Phoenix-based Acme Lift Co. provides solutions to rental companies across the United States that need to re-rent the largest, most expensive aerial work platforms available to their customers. But recently, the solutions provider found a solution for itself that puts the maintenance of its extensive, aerial equipment fleet in good hands no matter where it is located.
Founded in 1997, Acme Lift owns more than $50 million in equipment and purchases an average of $10 million in new equipment each year for expansion and/or replacement. A re-rental specialist, Acme's primary customers are not the end users but rather rental companies themselves. Although all of this equipment is available for rent, Acme doesn't operate a central yard or storage area where it inventories off-rent equipment. If it's not currently on rent, the equipment is normally stored at the location of the company that rented it from Acme while awaiting shipment to the next Acme customer. With rental company customers throughout the United States, Acme's equipment can be found in locations from Florida to Washington. The company keeps track of the physical location and maintenance schedule of its equipment with Qualcomm's GlobalTRACS system.
“This system collects the engine hours and location data through a piece of hardware installed on the equipment,” says Woody Weld, Acme president. “It then integrates the information automatically with our Wynne RentalMan software. We get up-to-the-minute data so we know the condition of each machine and can perform maintenance and repair as needed.”
Although Acme started the re-rental business offering large telescopic booms, the business has grown to include the rental of large-capacity telehandlers, truck-mounted cranes, and truck- and trailer-mounted aerial work platforms with working heights up to 236 feet. These machines fit Acme's business model of providing niche products for re-rental, whose utilization rates are not high enough to justify their purchase. This way rental companies can invest their capital in smaller booms and scissorlifts, which have better, more predictable utilization rates. Companies also rent equipment from Acme when they want to try new machines, test products in a new market, or have the necessary inventory on hand when opening a new location or expanding existing facilities.
In the past, most of the service work and maintenance on Acme's fleet was performed by the rental company that rented the equipment from Acme — a system that worked when that rental company had qualified service people who were capable of making the needed repairs. Not all companies or locations, however, have that capability, and repairs can become more costly when the equipment must be moved to a different location to be serviced.
A solution to this problem came in 2005 when Acme hired Jeff Heep as its first regional manager. Based in Houston, Heep previously worked for McConnellsburg, Pa.-based JLG Industries where he helped launch JLG's first ServicePlus operation. ServicePlus is a national company that specializes in the service, repair and reconditioning of all brands of aerial work platforms, telehandlers and other types of construction equipment.
ServicePlus also has a fleet of fully equipped mobile service vehicles staffed by factory-certified technicians who are on call 24/7 to provide on-location technical assistance and service when necessary. Qualified instructors on staff can provide operator and service training, and conduct Train the Trainer courses.
With factory-certified technicians on hand and acres of land to handle equipment, ServicePlus was just what Acme needed to keep its machines in top operating condition.
When Heep first started work at Acme the company had 10 large telescopic booms located within a 400-mile radius of Houston. Now, one year later, it has more than 40 machines in that same area. Machine utilization is better than 90 percent and everything runs like clockwork. When a machine comes off rent it goes to the ServicePlus location for routine maintenance and any needed repair. Rent-ready equipment is then placed in a separate location in the yard to await delivery to the next customer.
“Using ServicePlus has provided a great value to us,” says Heep. “The quality of their work and the speed at which they perform it has been excellent. And in our business, getting a machine out of the shop and back on rent quickly is where the money is.”
Joe Dixon, a former senior executive at Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. and top officer of Home Depot Rentals, and current president of ServicePlus, agrees. “Rental companies cannot afford to have equipment in their yard waiting to be repaired,” Dixon says. “By providing quality service in a timely manner we help our customers increase utilization and extend the life of their equipment.
“We currently have machines in our shop from almost every major rental company in North America. And it's not because they don't have the capability to fix the equipment themselves, most of them are using ServicePlus as an adjunct to their own service department. We are able to help them with timing, expertise or capacity issues.”
Following the success of its Houston location, JLG opened a ServicePlus facility in McConnellsburg, Pa., and, most recently, opened its newest location in Kennesaw, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Future plans call for additional locations in the Midwest and on the West Coast.
Not surprisingly, Acme Lift, following the successful business model it developed with the ServicePlus location in the Houston area, recently hired three new regional managers — one in Atlanta to work in the Southeast and on the East Coast; one in Chicago to handle the upper Midwest and another in Phoenix to service the Western U.S.
“We continue to grow,” says Acme's Weld. “Our existing customers are constantly asking us to handle new types of equipment and new customers are being added to our client list all the time. When we attend trade shows like The Rental Show, people see us at the show and others hear about us from other rental companies.
“It's all about filling a need. We help our rental company customers compete in their local market by providing them with the equipment they need, when they need it. And to do that, we need a company like ServicePlus to make sure that our equipment is always in rent-ready condition. A good working relationship like this is always a win-win situation when two companies can understand each others' needs, and work together to meet them.”
William Hindman is CEO of Industrial Marketing Services, Des Plaines, Ill.
