Louisville Switching Blog

Ottawa terminal trucks have some great features that are a huge hit with our customers. The Ottawas have bright yellow platforms to designate safe stepping areas and will undoubtedly cut down on injuries. Two of the top injuries in trailer yards are caused from cranking legs up and down on the trailers and climbing in and out of the cab. Drivers who are missing out on the hydraulic lifting capability of a switcher have to manually lower and raise the legs on each trailer by hand. Using a switcher quickly removes six steps out of the old process.

1. Getting down on the ground
2. Cranking the legs up
3. Climbing back up in the truck
4. Getting down on the ground
5. Cranking the legs back down
6. Climbing back up in the truck

Think of the toll you are eliminating from your drivers. That much climbing in and out of cabs and cranking legs will wear you down and eventually result in more injuries. The brightly-painted steps on Ottawa Switchers makes it easier for drivers to clearly see where you can step, and where you can’t. This is a simple solution to a common injury that occurs from mis-stepping. On top of being a good steward of your human resources, fewer injuries will affect insurance premiums and should result in lower costs due to fewer worker’s compensation claims.

On a recent demo for a customer, a manager in the human resources department saw us from their office window and rushed out to greet us. They recognized immediately the advantages of the Ottawa as an injury reducer for the drivers. Not only are there brightly-painted platforms and steps, but also strategically-place hand rails that are brightly colored to stand out against the white color of the cab. If the 3 to 1 time efficiency of Switchers to semi-trucks was not incentive enough, the added features on Ottawa Switchers to reduce injury should be high on the list of reasons to go with Louisville Switching.

Chris Troutt is a great guy! He is talented, service oriented, and would give you the shirt off his back. He would also give you a hat if you needed one. Chris never intended to collect so many hats, it just kind of happened. With his job, Chris is regularly meeting with new companies that can benefit from Louisville Switching’s Ottawa Switchers. When Chris has shared the amazing benefits of an Ottawa Switcher with new companies, it happens. Somehow, some way, Chris usually walks away with a hat. He doesn’t ask for them, he is like a hat magnet.

When you walk into Chris’ office and look up at his file cabinet, you cannot help but notice the rows and stacks of hats. The count was at 35 last we checked. There is every color you can imagine and every logo too. Occasionally one of the crew will pass by and tell Chris that their hat got lost or it is just worn out and Chris just says, “pick one out,” and points to the top of his file cabinet.

Chris jokes that he would give a hat to everyone who buys or leases an Ottawa Switcher. In truth, he knows Ottawa is the best in the business and our customers will thank him eternally for introducing them to the Ottawa brand. One of the frequent compliments Chris receives is when he pulls an Ottawa Switcher to demo for a new company and there is a little resistance from the drivers. When Chris goes to leave with the switcher the drivers demand that Chris leave it there. With a minimum of 3 to 1 ratio over a standard semi-truck, the Ottawa Switcher will dramatically improve your time-efficiency and save you money. You may even get a hat out of it.

Your typical oil change requires pans to capture all the old oil and several containers of new oil to fill the 20 quart limit most switchers have. Between draining the old oil, changing the oil filter, refilling the engine with fresh clean oil, and transferring all the old oil and products to proper storage containers for proper recycling, there are too many spill risks and potential hazards. The other factor to consider is how long this takes for most of our clients to do on their own.

When you have Louisville Switching come to your site with our mobile repair vehicles to perform an oil change, it is clean, fast, and affordable. Our trucks are equipped with oil pumping systems that make the process efficient and safe.

Here’s how it works. The truck is parked. A heavy duty hose from the service truck is attached to the quick connect fitting at the bottom of the oil pan. The oil filler cover on top of the engine is removed. The pump is turned on and all of the oil is pumped directly from the oil pan to a waste oil tank on the service tank. When the oil has finished draining, the pump is turned off. The hose is disconnected and wound up with the hose reel. The filter is replaced with a new one. The fresh oil hose is placed into the oil filler opening at the top of the engine. The correct amount of oil to be placed into the engine is pumped and metered. When the correct amount has been pumped, the oil filler cap is replaced and the fresh oil hose is retracted with the hose reel. There is hardly any chance for oil to end up where it shouldn’t be.

There is no need for you to ever change oil yourself again. Let us come by and demonstrate how efficient and clean this process is. The goal is always minimum down time. Schedule your oil changes with us during off-peak times and you will be amazed at the time you save and the energy you conserve. Call us today with all your questions and maintenance needs. We are here to serve you.

Many times when a business transaction is about to take place, the seller of an item will offer to provide a Certificate of Authenticity. This certificate offers some comfort to the buyer, and the buyer has some additional level of security in having the certificate. The seller should have no problem providing the certificate if everything is as the seller represents it to be. You would not want to purchase something of value if you were not sure of the credentials of the seller. This is good common sense.

What would happen if you attempted to acquire a Certificate of Authenticity from your yard truck supplier? This would be interesting and could go something like this:

You: “So how long have you been an Ottawa Dealer?”
Potential supplier: “Well we don’t really sell Ottawa Trucks. We are a Brand X dealer. Brand X is cheaper but it is a better truck at least according to our salesmen. The occasional use of used parts in the building of new trucks also holds down the cost. Don’t pay any attention to the resale value of a used Brand X truck. We don’t actually believe in the old myth of maximizing your ROI. Remember, we are cheaper.”

The question of Authenticity could also go like this:

You: “So do you actually make your living being a yard truck dealer?”
Potential supplier: “Well we are actually a trailer rental company but we dabble in yard trucks. We are the cheapest in town and it is because we don’t know what we are doing and we don’t have any parts. The reduced investment in parts and expertise helps to keep our pricing low.”

For this answer you could also substitute forklift dealer, class 8 dealer or wheeler dealer.

So if you get past the first two questions and you haven’t hung up yet, then try this question:

You: “How long have you been in this business?”
Potential supplier: “We have been doing this for 5 months but actually saw one of these trucks operating about 20 years ago and we have been thinking about it since then.”

Some of these scenarios make me think about the old TV commercial where a man took his car to a garage to get the transmission worked on, and when asked about the mechanic’s experience working on a transmission He replied, “I always wanted to work on one of these.”

Cheap works for some things but when you make your living with a piece of equipment, you want that equipment to be the best and provide maximum ROI. If cheap worked best for all situations then we would all be driving Yugos.

A trusting relationship with a long-term reputable Ottawa Dealer is your Certificate of Authenticity. You can count on that and you can count on us.