Heavy Equipment Blog

Tucked away in our Kansas City headquarters is the American Crane & Tractor Parts Rebuild Shop. Our shop's reputation in the heavy equipment industry is held strong by the 35 year veteran to ACTP, Jerry Duxbury. We decided to ask him a few questions about how he got into the industry and all about the American Crane & Tractor Parts Rebuild Shop. 

How did you get your start in the industry?

  "It all started back in 1973. I was 13 years old and I had started working at my dad's company, Construction Industrial Service. I guess you could say my job title was a belly boy or a mud dog, as in 'Get that belly pan off, boy.' They used boy so often I wasn't entirely sure that wasn't my name. After doing my time as a belly boy I eventually worked my way up to rebuilding engines, transmissions, and final drives. I even earned myself a new nickname, Chicken Scratch. 

Here at American Crane & Tractor Parts we pride ourselves on having an extensive knowledge of all things power train. We have 4 experienced mechanics that have a whopping 85 years of combined experience. We've had them gather up some of the most frequently asked questions they hear about power train.

How can I check my carrier for cracks?

 - Inspect your carrier for cracks by placing it in a parts washer at a temperature of 120 degrees or higher. Blow 

Nestled just on the eastern edge of the Emilia-Romagna region, a few miles from the Adriatic Sea, you will find the ancient city of Ravenna. Once a thriving seaport and covered in marshes, Ravenna now lies five miles inland but remains connected to the sea by the Candiano Canal. Wandering through the unassuming town today, you'd never imagine that for a three century span beginning in 402, Ravenna served as a capital of the Western Roman Empire, chief city of the Ostrogoth Kingdom of Italy, and a nexus of a powerful Byzantine exarchate.

 2016 is in full swing here at ACTParts and in the New Year we have decided to spotlight some of our best products month by month. As you may have noticed, this month we have focused our attention on our well stocked group of alternators and starters. Over the last few weeks we have been receiving some really great questions about our alternators and starters that we believe will be beneficial for all of you to hear the answers to.

Why is it important to use high quality components? Such as heavy duty regulators, high quality bearings, and high temperature grease.

 Standard duty regulators and bearings are prone to premature failure. Bearings not assembled with high temperature grease can cause poor lubrication and bearing failure. In some cases, lower quality bearing grease will liquefy and leak away from the bearing.

Seventy three years ago the United States was signing an agreement with Japan that ended WWII. Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away during his unprecedented fourth term as president. The Detroit Tigers won the World Series against the Chicago Cubs. Sylvester the Cat made his first television debut. The first ball point pen went on sale for $12.50. And, amidst it all, CGR Ghinassi was honing their skills in the worldwide spare parts market.

As the years have gone by it is probably safe to say that everyone has learned a thing or two since 1945. CGR Ghinassi is no exception. They have spent the last seventy years perfecting their workmanship and achieving superior quality in their aftermarket products. They cover the entire production chain, all the way from the foundry to the finished product. In the last seventy years their knowledge of spare parts for earth-moving equipment is unrivaled.

Here at American Crane and Tractor Parts we make it our top priority to serve our ever-expanding customer base. We strive to anticipate our clientele's needs and wants. For that very reason we are proud to stock aftermarket parts for Volvo® construction equipment. We stock a wide range of high quality parts for the most popular machines and applications in the North American population of Volvo®.

To ensure satisfaction we have gone one step further to make the customer's shopping experience more efficent. By offering Volvo® engine rebuild kits we are able to speed the search up and get the products into the hands of our customer's faster. You call us, we find the part number you need, and we have the entire engine kit with everything you need for the rebuild already packaged for you. This will dramatically decrease your wait time and enable us to get your product to you that much quicker,.

 Volvo® trucks have proven their Tier 4 technology reliable and ready for any off-highway performance thrown their way. Volvo® Construction Equipment leverages this expertise providing the performance demanded for the extreme conditions our customer's find themselves in. We are excited to deliver a high quality product to all of the hard-working individuals and businesses who rely on their Volvo® Construction Equipment on a day to day basis.

Ground engaging tools play a critical role in the overall productivity of earth moving equipment.  Operators who make G.E.T. a high priority in their daily inspections enjoy better productivity and fuel efficiency. When they couple attention to G.E.T. with high quality replacement parts purchased at a slice of list price, it makes for fewer headaches and, most importantly, fewer requests to open the company wallet.

At our Visalia sales and distribution center in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley, branch manager Tim Kernan heard several complaints from customers in all areas of heavy equipment regarding the weak selection of aftermarket G.E.T. For them, it had become difficult to determine the cost effectiveness of their maintenance programs due to excessively high list prices on items such as ripper shanks, cutting edges, end bits and other important wear parts.

Collaboration between Tim and our purchasing department resulted in a better inventory mix that marries well with the needs of Tim’s customers.  Our new stock is complete with dozer cutting edges & end bits, shanks & ripper tips, grader blades, bucket teeth and much more.

American Crane & Tractor Parts is pleased to announce we now offer new aftermarket parts for Volvo® Construction Equipment IN STOCK in our Dallas, TX warehouse. After carefully analyzing the North American population of Volvo® articulated trucks and wheel loaders, we have stocked a wide range of high quality parts for the most popular machines and applications.

We bring a new option for operations running Volvo® equipment. And with Dallas being at the confluence of four major interstate highways, we can put parts in to the hands of fleet mechanics throughout most of the US in 1-2 days.

Our best in the industry ordering system provides the fastest and easiest way to check pricing and availability. Additionally, the ACTP sales team is the most knowledgeable in the industry and are ready to assist you with your Volvo® Construction Equipment parts.

As our mission statement is “to deliver a high quality product from the most trusted, service oriented and resourceful people in the replacement parts industry.” We are excited to deliver on this promise to the hard working individuals and businesses who spend their days in the cabs of Volvo® equipment.

An effective debt collection strategy can be the difference between success and failure for businesses selling parts for heavy equipment. In order to anticipate problems rather than going into crisis mode attempting to solve them later, sales representatives and AR professionals must work together so that debt collection practices are tailored to fit the nature of the business’ relationship with the debtor.

Understanding each of your customer’s businesses is critical to the effectiveness of your debt collection strategy. Approaching a lifelong customer who has hit difficult financial times the same way you would approach Bernie Madoff will have an adverse effect on your business. Because what happens when they dig themselves out of the hole and remember how you treated them when the chips were down? Or, in the worst case scenario, what happens when aggressive collection departments force them into bankruptcy and you lose both the customer and the receivable? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to work through the problem WITH that customer so that you can collect the debt AND keep them as a customer?

One way to take this approach is to make it as easy as possible for customers to make payments. By understanding the pros and cons of each payment method accepted, businesses can choose the best method of payment for a customer based on their situation. Consider the following chart:

Dealing with fraud is an unfortunately prevalent part of doing business in the aftermarket parts industry. How much it affects your business comes down to how well you are educated on the types of scams in the market and how well prepared you are to identify and stop potential losses from fraud. 

Here is a quick overview of some common scams and how we at ACTParts have been able to reduce our losses.

Stolen Credit Cards

Using information hacked from financial institutions, perpetrators are able to fool sales reps into thinking a sale is legitimate by providing a valid credit card number which authorizes for payment when entered. Once the real card holder disputes the transaction, the seller will be held liable for the total amount in addition to the cost of lost inventory. 

Ways to protect yourself:

• Sales reps should demand a faxed copy of both the front/back of the card as well as a government issued ID
• Credit managers should verify the legitimacy of the card’s use with the card issuer before any transaction is finalized