Equipment

Going up and down

Sept. 1, 2004

On-Lift, a division of Patriot Lift Company, says its air-powered On-Lift Unit is designed to raise or lower trailer landing gear in less than ten seconds, with or without a load. According to On-Lift president Paul Baumann II, the 9-lb. unit features an air motor from Ingersoll-Rand and is designed to deliver virtually maintenance-free performance for 1,000 hours of operation. We like to say it is

Wendy Leavitt

On-Lift, a division of Patriot Lift Company, says its air-powered On-Lift Unit is designed to raise or lower trailer landing gear in less than ten seconds, with or without a load.

According to On-Lift president Paul Baumann II, the 9-lb. unit features an air motor from Ingersoll-Rand and is designed to deliver virtually maintenance-free performance for 1,000 hours of operation.

“We like to say it is ‘air, pure and simple,” he notes. “The only maintenance required is to keep the motor properly lubricated, which means adding a dab of oil every two or three months. We are so confident about On-Lift's performance that we are offering a two-year warranty.”

The On-Lift system mounts under the trailer and can be installed in less than two hours, notes Baumann. “It is also easy to transfer between trailers,” Baumann says.

“The standard unit is designed to lift loaded trailers weighing up to 60,000 pounds, while the heavy-duty unit is designed to handle up to 100,000 pounds,” he adds. “The per-unit retail price is about $1,600.”

Unlike most new product introductions, On-Lift already has a long working history, according to company CEO David F. Rivers. “The original concept was developed by my brother over a decade ago,” Rivers says, “but it was never seriously marketed. I acquired full rights to the technology two years ago and have applied for patents worldwide.”

Kodak is one of the earliest users of the On-Lift system and still a customer, according to Kodak's fleet manager, Steve Lasch. “We have been using the On-Lift system since about 1995,” he says. “We have about 200 units in use here at our plant facility and our operators love them. The facility is three-and-a-half miles long and our drivers move trailers from building to building. They may drop and pick up trailers thirty times during a single work shift,” he explains.

Other air-automated products for the trucking and RV industries will be available soon, according to Baumann, including I-ProGate, an automated rear gate system; I-ProLoad for belly dump or hopper/conveyor trailers; and AND-Lift, for trailer or RV front-end stability.

About the Author

Wendy Leavitt

Wendy Leavitt joined Fleet Owner in 1998 after serving as editor-in-chief of Trucking Technology magazine for four years.

She began her career in the trucking industry at Kenworth Truck Company in Kirkland, WA where she spent 16 years—the first five years as safety and compliance manager in the engineering department and more than a decade as the company’s manager of advertising and public relations. She has also worked as a book editor, guided authors through the self-publishing process and operated her own marketing and public relations business.

Wendy has a Masters Degree in English and Art History from Western Washington University, where, as a graduate student, she also taught writing.