Mike,

If you are still looking for a fleet program for your material handling equipment please contact me. We have a program used by numerous Fortune 500 companies that can be used with multiple service providers and any fork lift dealer.

Mark Cragle - 214-902-1304

I KNOW THAT NISSAN DOES OFFER A NATIONAL PROGRAM
BUT WE HERE IN NEW ORLEANS HAVE DONE SOME OF THIS THROUGH OUR DEALERSHIP
OUR SALES MANAGER HAS DEALINGS WITH SOME MAJOR CORPS.
PLEASE CONTACT US AT 504-885-8932 MAYBE WE CAN WORK OUT ANY ISSUES YOU MAY HAVE
ASK FOR BOB LANDRY OR DON HANNAN
THANKS

Dear Mike,
In today's business climate,many of the major lift mfg. companies offer National Acct
programs to certain qualified companies.That being said Mike,be aware
that no two lift companies will necessarily
have the same requirements,for purchasing
as a,"national account" end user.Many things are taken into account by the dealer
or more likely the manufacturer,in deciding
whether your business fleet qualifies?Mike,
the other concern to deal with here,is whether or not your fleet can run well on
one type of lift?Do you need diversity in the
equipment?Often times,one particular mfg.
cannot offer all the material handling options that you need?It depends on your
application.That being where and how the lifts shall be used?If you already have a solid business relationship with a local material handling dealer(factory authorized)the service or sales manager there,can probably help you determine whether you can qualify for national account status?If you like,you are welcome
to contact me at my e-mail address,and we
can launch into more specifics?You can reach me at [email address removed]
Best Regards,
Bill W.-V.P.

Mike it sounds like your company understands that your Material Handling fleet cost alot of money. Don't focus purely on the purchase price, there are so many cost areas that you need to watch for like safety, accounting practises, operators, productivity, labor, parts, fleet size, age of fleet, management.

Based on your message I'm going to guess your fleet is fairly old, not used, creating safety concerns, can't get rid of them becuase your accounting department put them on the books for 15 - 20 years. etc...

Bottom line is if you are a national account level customer you need to get the internal operations fixed first, then focus on national accounts to include pricing (Careful, can your company audit specific to Material handling) Brand of OEM, dealer networks, tracking etc...

Call me if you have question I might be able to guide you in the right direction.
972-548-2388

If you're gonna spend the money, you're gonna get top notch service, no matter where your locations are. National accounts are highly touted in my dealership, no matter where the headquarters are. You buy a lot of truck and service, you get a good deal. Plain and simple.

One of my customers is a medical supply company. They are nation wide and have contracted with my employer on a national level to purchase and maintain their fleet. They have recieved discounts on trucks, parts and labor. But they comsume ALOT of those three things.

One problem with this sort of commitment is that usually your company isnt centrally located and you end up with the headquarters on the east coast, a dist. center in Kansas, another in Denver and one in LA. When you go with a national account, each location will end up with the same equipment but will each have a different dealer servicing each location. What should be all on an evel keel, may not as each dealer has different commitments to service, different skill levels and different capabilities.

There are so few companies that have branches nation wide it becomes difficult to keep everything level, due to dealer differences. This can even get down to individual mechanics, salesmen and service management, which could all change the bottom line that eash division of your company has to deal with.

There are serious advantages though. If you can find a Manufacturer that has its own branches nation wide, or at least in your area, you can negotiate for lower truck prices, lower service labor rates, and volume parts buys. Again as Dave and Wayne said this isnt simple cut and dry. Volume, needs and relationship play a big parts of this. This really only works if you are buying a "stock" type truck. If you need special engineering, well, its not going to happen as easily or as cost effectively.

I'd be happy to talk to you more on this, please anyone interested, send me an email at ntoleranse @ yahoo.com and I'd be happy to help anyway I can.

Doc.

hello mike, I am also in the same situation as you. Trying to consolidate company spending on forlift parts.
If you get this message I would be interested in talking.

Hi Mike
I don't think you will.
Most lift truck suppliers will analyse business potential from proposed customers and make their offering accordingly.
It would normally be based on all elements of the business relationship, equipment, finance, parts, service etc.
Each element is looked at as a separate cost/profit centre so discussions and proposals with you the customer is essential.
It's interesting you see lift trucks as a commodity, of course they are not, it's a technical piece of equipment which has to tailored and specified to suit your business as does any support package that goes with it.
I would suggest you build a tender and go to the market and then fine tune your requirement.
There will be someone out there that will offer you a solution that will fit the bill.
Regards
Dave