Louisville Switching Blog

If you need a part for your Ottawa Yard Truck, you've come to the right place. Louisville Switching's parts department houses thousands of truck parts that are available for immediate shipping. Because we're located close to the major UPS air hub, next-day shipping is available to all 50 states and many foreign countries.

In this video shot at the 2013 Mid America Truck Show, Chris Troutt talks about emissions on Ottawa Yard Trucks. EPA regulations state that you need to burn a certain amount of emissions in order to be legal.

We had a great time at this year's Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, Kentucky. We had two Ottawa Yard Trucks on display. One yard truck was a tandem axle with a standard cab, and the other was a single axle with the new Skycab. This was well received for several reasons. When drivers enter and exit the cab they often have to duck in and out, depending on their height. With the new Skycab feature they can stand upright without their head touching the ceiling. This new feature will save the backs of spotters who are making dozens of switches a day. Chris Troutt said, "If you are 6 foot tall you may need to duck a little bit, but it is the perfect height for the average height spotter." The floor to ceiling height is 69 inches so it makes it much more comfortable for the drivers to come in and out of their cabs.

This year's Mid America Truck Show was a tremendous success. Our brand new and spacious cab was on display. This cab is known as "The Skycab" and once you see it it will become apparent how this name was applied to this design. 

The Mid America Truck Show 2013 is shaping up to be spectacular this year. This is our 13th year in a row participating in the Truck Show! We will be manning the Kalmar/Ottawa booths with another dealer and also some OEM personnel. 

Timing is often the most important thing when it comes to getting your yard truck parts. The quicker you get what you need, the faster you are getting your spotter trucks up and operational again. With the Louisville UPS hub just minutes from our office, we can ship just about any part you need "next day." If you are located within a two-hour distance from Louisville, it is common place for your parts to get to you the next day via UPS ground, so you are able to save even more money.  

We got a call from a long time client of ours that had switched to another company for preventative maintenance on their yard trucks. The other service provider made the same promises we make, except they charged less. The other service provider didn't deliver. One of the items our client had been paying this other company for was a monthly air filter replacement. They were paying $90 a month just for the filter replacement. We were called in six months after this other company was hired to replace us, and when we went to change the air filter noticed it actually hadn't been changed in quite a while. When we change air filters, we note the engine hour meter reading when the filter is changed and then we monitor the accumulated hours on the engine and track it in Chuck's "Truck Book." The date that was on the filter had been placed there by the other service provider and it was 7 months old, even though they had been charging for a new filter every month.

When that client came back and asked us to pick up where we left off, they also told us they totaled all the repairs they had to make and said, "We pay a little more for maintenance with Louisville Switching but we always save money in the long run." It's just like spending hours every year waxing your hot rod. The paint job will last ten times longer.

At Louisville Switching we never cut corners and we always deliver on our commitments. Our maintenance program has an emphasis on "preventative." Our routine maintenance for your yard trucks will save you money and reduce repairs, it's a fact. A big thank you to all of our clients and we hope to bring many more of you on in the future.