D.W. Congratulates All the Women in the Driver’s Seat

There’s still an underlying sense that trucking is a man’s job. But as can be seen on any given day upon our nation’s interstates, that is becoming less and less the case. At this year’s annual Mid-America Trucking Show on March 24th in Louisville, KY, the Women in Trucking Association (WTA) plans on celebrating this fact. For the third year in a row, the WTA will honor the women that drive America’s rigs and trucks in its “Salute to the Women behind the Wheel” ceremony.

Last year’s “Salute” brought 204 female rig drivers together to hear National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman praise the skill, safety record, and tireless stamina of women truckers. In fact, Ms. Hersman made the journey to Louisville from her office in Washington, D.C. by being driven by five different women truckers. It seems to have made quite an impression on her. In her speech at last year’s show, Ms. Hersman stated, “I gained a lot more respect for these professional drivers behind the wheel and I want them to know that I will keep an eye out for them whenever I’m on the interstate.”

This year’s festival, sponsored by such household names as Walmart, Freightliner, and Frito-Lay, is expected to attract more of an audience than ever before. At last year’s festival, two women truckers, Heather Hogeland and Alice Adams, were recognized for having done over 4 million miles of safe driving each. That’s an incredible statistic by anyone’s gold standard. Here’s believing, and knowing, that there are many more truckers out there just like Heather and Alice. We hope they claim all the recognition they deserve.

We Are Adding New Flatbeds to Our Fleet

As trucking companies continue their long ascent out of recession territory, the flatbed industry comes trundling after. Overall flatbed sales have jumped across the States for new and used flatbeds. Wabash National Corporation alone reported that 2011 saw for it a 91% increase in overall flatbed sales from the days of 2009, when the economic situation was looking especially grim. With the versatility of the platform (the fact is that you can put a flatbed towards pretty much a million and one uses), and with the American trucking and flatbed industry remaining one of the most robust and qualitatively competitive in the world, it comes  as little or no surprise to us that sales are on the up and up.

 As for D.W. Lift Sales, we continue to invest for the long-haul in the flatbed industry. So far we’ve purchased 49 1999 – 2002 model Wabashes from a prominent leasing company (all of them featuring flatbed dimensions of 36’6” x 102”), in addition to Great Dane and Fontaine models as well. The prices we carry them at are a trucker’s dream, ranging anywhere from $5500 - $8500. And just as our prices are convenient, so are the locations we sell at: we’re selling these newly-purchased flatbeds all over the United States. Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Montana, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Wyoming, California, Michigan, Maine, Idaho, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Illinois, and Maryland all carry our product. 

In the next couple years we expect to bring the number of new purchases from this leasing company up to something along the lines of 250 flatbeds.

The Long Road to Economic Recovery Begins in Trucking

It’s no secret that 2011 was a rugged year for American businesses all across the board. With stock markets rising and falling like oceans in an earthquake, and economic uncertainty looming around nearly every corner, many businesses – both large and small – felt a need to tighten their belts and trim their costs.

Neither is it any secret that 2012 promises to be a long, steep climb out of our national slump. That’s the bad news. But D.W. Lift Sales has good news as well: the trucking industry, for one, is booming again. The statistics would seem to prove it.

Freightliner, for instance, is adding 1,100 manufacturing jobs to its Cleveland, N.C. manufacturing plant, a full 72% increase in the number of personnel currently working at that location. The new manufacturing jobs reflect the fact that there’s a six-month backlog for Freightliner’s Cascadia truck model. American trucks are in high demand both domestically and abroad, in markets as far-ranging as Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. Likewise, in December of 2011 alone, the North American trucking industry added 5,100 jobs, a full 3.2% increase in a single month. Transportation and warehousing added a full 50,000 jobs in December as well. Part of that figure can certainly be attributed to the need for extra lifters and haulers for the Christmas season, but a number like that is still something to celebrate beyond the holidays. If the United States had an annual GDP of 3.2%, we’d be well on our way to rooting ourselves out of our economic gloom.

Being that we at D.W. are the largest combination delivery equipment packager of our kind in the nation, we’ve certainly witnessed a strong rise in sales on our end. Even as our sales ramp up, the “thank-you” notes from our clients keep pouring in. As Scott Foster, President of BLS Trucking, writes, “We have been doing business with D.W. Lift Sales for over 10 years and purchased several hundred trucks, trailers, and forklifts. They have been a key supplier of equipment for our business. It has been a pleasure doing business with them. We can always count on them to get us the right equipment when we need it and at a fair price.”

There’s a growing sense of optimism that American industry is planted firmly back on its tires, and roaring at full speed ahead again. At D.W. Lift Sales, we’re certainly proud to be at the nexus of American economic recovery.

Freightliner Announces the Ultimate Design Competition for Collegiates

It’s a brainstorm to the finish line. From November of this past year through February of this year, thousands of the brightest and most talented college students in America have been sweating out the details of designing a perfect Freightliner truck for the future. The contest is part of an overall effort by the U.S. manufacturing sector to rekindle American minds towards a passion in industrial design.

To that effect, all the stops are being put out to say the least. Three hard-working collegiate finalists, selected by commercial vehicle design experts from Daimler, will receive invitations to the 2012 Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS), where their designs will be prominently put on display. The winner among those finalists will receive a $20,000 college scholarship and the offer of a paid internship at Freightliner Trucks.

According to J.T. Reed, director of marketing for Freightliner Trucks, “Freightliner Trucks is the undisputed leader in cutting-edge truck design, innovation and engineering… The truck design contest will provide us with the opportunity to uncover not only some of the best and brightest designers, but will also keep us on the leading edge as we create the next generation owner-operators’ dream truck.”

But no one is saying that designing a dream truck is going to be easy. Functional challenges like aerodynamics, reduced ease of maintenance, increased payload capacity, and personal comfort (a serious consideration since so many trucks are their drivers’ homes away from home) are being scrutinized meticulously by the judging panel. Freightliner hopes and expects that the results will be nothing short of path-breaking, and we at D.W. are inclined to agree.

We’re looking forward to learning who wins the contest. Why wouldn’t we be? Chances are, we’ll be stocking their product within the next coming years.

What Happens in Vegas… Starts Happening Everywhere

It doesn’t get much larger-than-life than Las Vegas, and that definitely includes the business conferences that come rumbling through this town of wheelers and shakers. It’s a city where more often than not the trends of tomorrow are broadcasted (as loudly and as splashily as possible) in the trade shows of today. And the upcoming Guardian Building’s Spring Products Show in late January, “the largest annual gathering of independent lumber and building material dealers in the United States,” isn’t about to prove itself any disappointing exception.

D.W. Lift Sales is pleased to report that we’ll be setting up our own booth at The Guardian Building Spring Products Show in Las Vegas. Since so much of our freight clientele is in the business of hauling lumber and building materials from one end of the interstate to the other, and being that we’re one of the industry’s top 200 key-most suppliers, D.W. feels a strong pull to make its presence felt at the Show. Namely, we’ll be there showing off our line of 2013 Freightliner trucks (among others) to those who stop by our booth. These state-of-the-art beauties are meant to be driven with the love, precision, and work ethic only a real trucker can possess.

But freight tractor trailers and lumber won’t be the only talk of the town, come January. Gala receptions, cocktail welcoming parties, keynote breakfast buffets are all in the works. And after all, there’s always Las Vegas to explore. All the big casinos casinos will be decked to the nines for an event this size, and will be offering your choice of evening’s entertainment, everything from a Cher concert at Caesars Palace to other, more “classic” Vegas-style performances at Bally’s.

Either way, we at D.W. are sincerely looking forward to meeting faces, greeting hands, and doing some good business with the best in our class. Stop on by and join us at the show, or stay tuned for our upcoming blog entry about what happened in Vegas… we promise, we’ll tell you everything.

Ever Wonder How They Get the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree into Place?

We’ve got to hand it to our friends out there in NYC. Not only do they have to haul a gigantic 75-90’ Norwegian spruce into Rockefeller Center in the heart of Midtown every December, but they’ve got to pass over innumerable bridges, toll-roads, tunnels, and streets to get there. That’s quite a feat of engineering that goes into providing the Big Apple with its Big Tree each year, especially when it involves carrying it on a custom-made, 100’ telescoping trailer equipped with an all-terrain, hydraulic crane. It doesn’t seem very likely, does it, a giant tractor trailer snaking its way through the streets and alleys of America’s largest city in the dead of winter? Apparently they drive it into Manhattan in the middle of the night accompanied by a full-on police escort. That way, nobody gets hurt and morning rush-hour doesn’t grind to a halt on account of a Christmas tree.

We here at D.W. Lift Sales can appreciate the huge logistical undertaking, but our equipment’s actually performed similarly complex jobs throughout our time. Some of the most heavyweight (and similarly most delicate) lifting done to this date in America has been done with the help of D.W. trailers and cranes. In fact, Mayor Bloomberg, if you’re looking around for a lifting company to help you get your tree into NYC this upcoming December, 2012…

D.W. Lift Sales has the trailers in its inventory to keep America lifting high and heavy. It’s part of our can-do spirit, whatever the weather, season, occasion, or holiday. It’s simply the way we roll. Happy holidays from all of us in Columbus, OH.

Gentlemen, Start Your Savings!

This is an offer from D.W. Lift Sales that big-rig truckers probably don’t want to skip town on.

It goes back to 2008, when President Bush signed H.R. 5140, otherwise known as the “Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.” By way of this Act, IRS Section 179 deduction limits increased from $125,000 to $250,000. And the money’s just been going up ever since. The latest and 5th version of this is H.R. 4853, the “Tax Relief Act of 2010.” It goes above and beyond the old 2008 legislation, raising the limits of Section 179 limits to $500,000 and – get this – lets a business take a tax depreciation deduction equal to 100% of the cost of the new equipment. The increased Section 179 limit’s been extended through tax years beginning on or before December 31, 2011. The 100% depreciation deduction is available on new equipment purchased before December 31, 2011. That includes computers. That includes machinery. That means office furniture (if you’re into that kind of thing). But most importantly for you and for D.W. Lift Sales that means depreciation on business vehicles that have a gross weight of over 6,000 pounds.

Need a modification on your truck? No problem, as long as the modifications come with the complete purchase price. Need an extended warranty with that Peterbilt or Freightliner? You bet, so long as they’re included in the total purchase price of the vehicle.

At D.W. Lift Sales we sell brand-new Peterbilts and Freightliners to those hardy souls who keep America up to speed and delivering on time. And being in this business for as long as we’ve been in it, we get just how big an investment a freight truck is for almost anybody. So in all honesty, you should probably go ahead and consult a tax advisor before making the big trip down to our shop.

That being said, the deadline reads clearly, “December 31, 2011.” That means it’s down to the wire, no fine print about it. Don’t wait for the New Year’s Ball to drop on this one. It’s time you started 2012 with a new engines – and massive savings.