Now known as PalFleet, the former Fontaine Truck Equipment operation is equipping trucks for delivery to just about anywhere
It has been a period of transition for the group of former Fontaine Truck Equipment branches that had been owned by Omaha Standard.
In 2008, Palfinger North America acquired Omaha Standard, a major truck body manufacturer based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. With that acquisition came the network of former Fontaine truck equipment shops.
Now known as PalFleet Truck Equipment, these distributing locations have a name all their own.
“Palfinger strongly believes in independent distribution” said Mark Woody, president of Palfinger North America. “The PalFleet name gives our distribution company an identity distinct from Palfinger's manufacturing companies. It reflects PalFleet's independent management and operations.”
Ed Clowdus, a Fontaine veteran, is now vice-president of operations for PalFleet's southeast regional. He believes that the truck equipment operation will benefit by being part of the Palfinger North America Group.
One thing has not changed — the series of truck equipment locations remains a major upfitter of commercial trucks. The company has two facilities west of the Mississippi (Dallas, Texas and the other in Council Bluffs, Iowa). It also has locations in Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Charlotte, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; and Tiffin, Ohio. And with its Louisville branch located just down Fern Valley Road from Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant, PalFleet can serve customers throughout the country with the Ford ship-through program.
“Our name has changed,” says Wayne Hill, manager of the Louisville operation. “But our core business remains unchanged. We are still a full-line truck equipment distributor. With our ship-through program, we can put completed trucks anywhere the Ford freight system operates.”
Hill says that even though his truck equipment operation is owned by a major truck body and truck equipment manufacturer, the parent company treats them like a truck equipment distributor.
Ship-through comes through
The proximity of the Louisville location to the Ford plant that produces the Super Duty has been a major plus.
“Because of our relationship with Ford, we sell a lot out of this location,” Hill says. “More than 50% of what our national sales guys sell comes through here.”
But it is the combination of the ship-through program and the multiple other locations that has enabled PalFleet to be competitive.
“Other companies offer ship-through programs, too,” Hill says. “But our 10 branches really help. Many of the trucks we produce here in Louisville get delivered to a customer who is not very far from one of our other locations. So if there is work that needs to be done on one of our trucks, we have a location close by.”
The other locations also come in handy when customers order a truck that can't be packaged in the Ford freight system.
“A crane truck is a good example,” Hill says. “We can't mount a crane on a truck and have it shipped by the Ford system. But we can ship the crane loose to our nearest branch for installation. It's not unusual for us to do 90% of the work on a truck here and then finish up at one of our other branches.”
Remote ship-through
Ford produces most of its F-Series — The F-250 through F-550 at its Kentucky Truck Plant. But PalFleet's Louisville plant also can handle other Ford products — including the Ranger and Explorer — through Ford's remote ship-through program.
Under the remote ship-through program, these trucks are shipped from the factory to the Louisville location. PalFleet performs the work that the customer requests and then puts the vehicle back in the Ford freight system.
“It involves a rerouting code, and there's an extra charge,” Hill says. “But the freight is still less this way, and we can provide the customer with a one-stop purchase.
The company also operates several chassis pools.
“Chassis pools seem to be the first place dealers and fleets look for trucks these days,” Hill says.
PalFleet operates chassis pools throughout its system. Ford pools can be found at the Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, and Council Bluffs locations. Nashville and Council Bluffs also have General Motors chassis pools. The Nashville and Indianapolis branches are authorized Dodge Truck pools.
Pulse of the market
Operations such as the PalFleet branch in Louisville help keep Palfinger's Omaha Standard truck body manufacturing division close to the customer.
“We have a limited amount of fabrication equipment here in Louisville,” Hill says. “If the customer wants something out of the ordinary such as a special ladder rack, we can build it for him. We want ideas like that to evolve and get to the point where we can turn them over to Omaha Standard and have them mass produced.”
The past couple years have brought changes to the Louisville operation.
“We are a lot more service oriented now,” Hill says. A few years ago, we had plenty of new installations to perform. Now we have two dedicated bays for service and repairs. That change in the way we do business helped us make it through the downturn. We did not have to lay anyone off.”
The type of work being done in the shop has changed as well.
“With the increased cost of new trucks — largely the result of the new emissions regulations — we are also seeing a lot of customers who want new bodies on used vehicles. For some work-truck fleets, the chassis is just a way to get the equipment to the job site. In those cases, they are looking for a way to save on chassis expense.”
The pulse of the market has increased in recent weeks, according to Hill.
“Things have been picking up the last three or four months,” he says. “We have seen a big jump in fleet business. The next step is that dealers need to be confident that the increase is here to stay.”