New mobile column lift helps reduce vehicle downtime and improve cost per mile
Madison, Ind. (August 7, 2017) – Piotr Rog, fleet manager for Windy City Limousine and Bus in Chicago, recognized the value of a Rotary Lift Mach Series mobile column lift the first time his team used one last year.
They had a demo wireless Rotary MCH418 mobile column lift in the shop and decided to use it to perform a routine preventive maintenance service on an older coach. As the bus rose in the air, one of the tires on its tag axle slowly tilted out to the right. Once the bus was at working height and the lift was on its locks, the team walked underneath and quickly identified that the tie rod had dislodged.
“If a technician had checked that coach while lying on a creeper underneath the vehicle as usual, the tag axle wouldn’t have gotten off the ground, and he might not have noticed the problem,” Rog said. “It was an eye-opener.”
Windy City Limousine and Bus has reduced vehicle downtime, improved cost-per-mile and increased shop productivity since adding a Rotary Lift MCH418 wireless mobile column lift to its maintenance facility in 2016. Windy City, the 6th largest limo fleet in the United States, uses the lift to maintain its fleet of 335 vehicles ranging from sedans to SUVs and full-size vans to 56-passenger buses. Watch the video at www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/Mobile-Columns/videos/WindyCity/ to learn more.
The team went on to run PMs on all the vehicles in the fleet, identifying additional issues that had previously gone undetected. With a rated load capacity of 72,000 lbs., the lift can handle even the largest buses in the fleet. Rog then told his boss, Windy City Limousine President George Jacobs, that he wanted to keep the Rotary lift.
When Jacobs signed the check, the sixth largest limo company in the U.S., as ranked by LCT Magazine, became one of the first to upgrade its maintenance shop with a heavy-duty lift.
“It was a big chunk of money for me to consider, but when I saw the advantages of using the lift, I thought, ‘This is really going to be spectacular,’” Jacobs explained. “To be able to lift our largest coaches at the push of a button is quite amazing. Buying a Rotary lift was an easy decision. It was great to find someone who was priced reasonably and also had what we considered to be the best product. I’m very pleased we did it.”
Using the Rotary Lift Mach Series mobile column lift to work upright instead of lying on a creeper lets technicians at Windy City Limousine and Bus of Chicago perform more thorough vehicle inspections. As a result, the team has identified previously undetected issues and has significantly reduced vehicle downtime. The lift also lets the team handle jobs in-house that used to have to be sent out, saving the company time and money. Watch the video at www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/Mobile-Columns/videos/WindyCity/ to learn more.
Using the new Rotary mobile column lift lets Windy City technicians perform more thorough inspections, giving them visibility to areas they couldn’t see when working on their backs, Rog said. They’re also able to handle jobs in-house that they used to have to send out, saving both time and money. Since buying the lift, Windy City’s list of vehicles down for repairs has shrunk from an average of 20 vehicles every day to just four or five on a given day, Jacobs said. And for a busy livery company, “The vehicles don’t do us any good if they’re sitting in the shop.”
Adding the lift has significantly improved shop productivity and cost per mile. Technicians can both diagnose and repair problems more quickly. For example, replacing an air dryer system on a coach while using a creeper used to take a tech around 90 minutes. Now it takes just 15 to 20 minutes using the lift. Technicians also need fewer breaks since they’re working more comfortably, Rog said.
“On the ground, you’re really limited in what you can see and do,” he said. “Nothing compares to having the bus up in the air.”
Jacobs recommends other fleets try Rotary Lift mobile column lifts for themselves.
“Our Rotary lift has taken us a step beyond the competition,” he said. “It helps us get vehicles repaired and back on the road quicker. I really believe that it’s a good product.”
To learn more about Windy City Limousine and Bus’s experience with the Rotary Lift Mach Series mobile column lift, watch the video interview at www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/Mobile-Columns/videos/WindyCity/. To discuss your shop’s lift needs, contact your local Rotary Lift distributor or call (800) 640-5438.
Windy City Limousine and Bus’s new Rotary Lift Mach Series mobile column lift has 18,000 lbs. capacity per column, for a total rated load capacity of 72,000 lbs. That’s enough to lift any vehicle in the fleet, including the biggest 56-passenger buses, to a comfortable working height. Watch the video at www.rotarylift.com/LIFTS/Mobile-Columns/videos/WindyCity/ to learn more.
You can also find Rotary Lift on Facebook, facebook.com/RotaryLift and Twitter, twitter.com/RotaryLift. Additional videos are available at rotarylift.com/videos.
About Rotary
Rotary is the leading brand of vehicle lifts and wheel service equipment in North America. Rotary was founded in 1925 by the inventor of the first automotive hydraulic lift and now offers the broadest line of lifts and wheel service equipment for use in professional automotive service, commercial truck and transit applications. Its products include two-post, four-post, inground, scissor, mobile column, parallelogram, and platform lifts, as well as alignment lifts and instrumentation, tire changers, and wheel balancers.
Rotary is a Vehicle Service Group (VSG) brand. VSG is a strong, diverse and dynamic global leader in the vehicle service induastry. It comprises 13 major vehicle lifting and collision repair brands: Rotary, Chief®, Forward®, Direct-Lift®, Revolution®, Hanmecson®, Ravaglioli, Elektron, Blitz, Nogra, Butler, Space and Sirio. With its American headquarters in Madison, Indiana, VSG has operations worldwide, including ISO 9001-certified manufacturing centers in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Rotary products are available through GSA contract #GS-07F-8953D and several other government procurement programs, including NASPO ValuePoint (formerly WSCA-NASPO), NJPA, HGACBuy, CMAS, TXMAS, KCRPC and OGS.