Karl's Party Rental Reaps The Benefits Of The Demountable System - Summer 2001

Over the past 20 years, Karl's Party Rental of Oak Creek, WI has been responsible for the success of over 50,000 events nationwide. Presently a leading supplier of party equipment for the Midwest, Karl's recently opened a new, 53,000 square-foot facility with the intent of both improving distribution to their local consumers and securing a place in the national market. However, with such endeavors, Karl's was forced to scrutinize their current delivery system. With an existing fleet of approximately twenty vehicles, Karl's explored possible methods to improve delivery so that their customers could be served more quickly and efficiently. Karl's search ended after being introduced to the demountable truck body system offered by Demountable Concepts Inc.

Like many party rental firms, such as Party Perfect of Virginia, Karl's Party Rental operates often at the mercy of their trucks' promptness to and from event sites and the warehouse. When a truck loaded with dirty party wares returns to the warehouse after hours, the result is usually additional overtime. In order for a truck to be ready for the next day delivery, crews would have to unload the truck at night. This system of delivery, already inefficient, becomes increasingly more problematic when multiple events are scheduled. Rising costs, inefficiency of the warehouse, and fear of endangering customer approval prompted Karl's decision to adopt the demountable truck body system. 

Located in Glassboro, NJ, Demountable Concepts manufactures the TruckTainer demountable truck body system, which enables a standard straight truck chassis to implement multiple, interchangeable bodies. This system outfits trucks with an easy-to-use lift system, which can safely detach or "demount" bodies at dock level so that bodies can be loaded while trucks are out making other deliveries. John Schlueter, Vice President of Karl's Party Rental, remarked, "Using demountables is like having a truck that can do the work of two. Being able to load freestanding bodies while our trucks are out making deliveries allows us to get an earlier start on the next day's delivery, smoothing out operations in our warehouse. " By employing the demountable system, Karl's was able to reduce its fleet (and associated costs), improve delivery efficiency by loading bodies in the absence of trucks, while augmenting customer satisfaction by supplying their equipment in the quickest way possible.