Carter Lumber:
Cat® lift trucks provide reliability and uptime for this harsh application
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The ease-of-use and dependability of the Cat lift trucks, I would say it’s number one.
Russ Murphy Operations Manager
Carter Lumber
Carter Lumber is one of the nation’s top building materials retailers with 146 locations across 12 states. More than just a lumberyard, the Carter Lumber family of companies is dedicated to providing builders and do-it-yourselfers with a broad range of quality building materials and exceptional customer service.
50+ Years & Still Going Strong
Carter Lumber first added Cat® lift trucks to its operation more 53 years ago today. Their goal was to upgrade to a better fleet of forklifts – with their hearts set on finding a solid lift truck that delivered power, maneuverability and ease-of-use.
“People can go anywhere to buy a two-by-four,” says Russ Murphy, operations manager at Carter Lumber. “They come to Carter Lumber for customer service. And Cat lift trucks provide us with a reliable machine to take care of our customers’ needs.”
Built For The Application
With a diverse, heavy-duty application, Carter Lumber relies on a large fleet of Cat 3,000 lb. – 15,000 lb. capacity forklifts for every aspect of its operations - from loading / unloading incoming freight and outgoing trucks to building loads and moving material around the yard.
“[The P6000 forklifts] are very nice for maneuverability and getting into tight spots,” says Louis Fehn, yard foreman for Carter Lumber. “The 8,000 pound [capacity] machines are about perfect for loading and unloading freight. It’s a lot easier to load a truck with that machine. You can grab a couple of units of lumber at once, rather than one at a time.”
Reliable On Tough Terrain
The Carter Lumber yard has terrain of all types - gravel, dirt, mud and deep stone.
“The machines have to be able to travel on different surfaces, and the double tires in the front make it a little bit easier to get around — makes my day a lot easier," Fehn comments.
“Some of the smallest things make your day easier – from the lid that keeps the guys from getting rained on to the dual wheels on the front so that you don’t get stuck in the mud or in the snow on a nasty-weather day," says Dave Calkins, corporate department manager, Carter Lumber.
50% Time Savings
Carter Lumber works with 13 Cat lift truck dealers across its 146 locations for forklift service. They rely on their dealer’s strong service and support to keep their forklifts running at peak performance.
“The service we get from the dealers keeps [the forklifts] up and running,” says Calkins.
Adds Murphy, “The techs are great, they’re knowledgeable….they know the machines like the back of their hand.”
The company also utilizes Cat Lift Trucks One Bill to help centralize their billing into one monthly bill, consolidated across all locations. This helps save their team valuable time and gain efficiency across the organization.
“The consolidated bill comes in,” Calkins explains. “It’s downloaded very easily. It’s probably saved us 50 percent of the time that we used to use on just doing data entry on billing. I would absolutely recommend Cat Lift Trucks to other businesses."
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