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FOR fleets with walk-in vans that are high on mileage, Morgan Olson has an answer.
Al Freve, Morgan Olson's service center sales manager, says the time was right in January 2009 to re-establish the company's refurbishment business - and remains right for it to prosper.
"With the economy, we felt this was a good time to offer a new idea to this market - refurbish what our customers currently own, any body style, not just Morgan Olson vehicles," he said. "We felt that fleets would be holding off from purchasing new vehicles, but if we could demonstrate that for 65% of the price of a new vehicle, they could essentially have a new vehicle."
Marketing manager Kenneth Klein says every company has enjoyed the day it acquired a new walk-in van.
"The miles started adding up," he says. "Over time, that new walk-in van became "experienced,' and then comes the downward spiral of maintaining your vehicle and the upward costs of maintenance. When the new paint became old and the decal package began pealing, you considered new paint and decals. That bought you some time, but the miles on the engine and the frame continued to grow.
"After carefully weighing your options and being informed your walk-in van's "depreciated asset value' was now at a zero, you have to make a decision. Scrap the old truck for its metal value and buy a new van. It was the only good business decision you had to make. That's where Morgan Olson has stepped in and said, "We have a better idea. The majority of your van still has value. Why scrap everything if we can help businesses save what they have and create a better option than the scrap yard?'"
The cost of new technology on the chassis has driven fleets to re-think buying new versus restoring what they already own. The bodies are designed to last 20 years but chassis components such as the engine, transmission, tire, and...