Implement Parts Delivery By Helicopter

Implement Parts Delivery By Helicopter SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 6-2-18 Moore Equipment, of Dresden, Ohio, promises fast repair and parts service to its farmer customers ù and really means it. Breakdowns in the field can be serviced "on the spot" in a matter of minutes, thanks to the firm's helicopter parts delivery service. For the last five years, owner Kenny Moore has been flying parts to his customers in an F-28 Enstrom helicopter. The aircraft travels at 120 mph and can land in any field or farm yard. It can carry a payload of 300 lbs. in addition to the pilot. Moore says that the helicopter service has paid for itself every year since he started it. "The pay-off is in picking up more customers over awider area and making more sales. Last year, for example, I got a new customer 40 miles away even though he has three dealers within 8 miles of his farm. The difference was that I can provide fast service and they can't," he says. What does it cost to have helicopter delivery? Moore's present helicopter cost about $120,000 new and has been running with minimum maintenance for three years. It costs about $40/hr. to operate. Moore delivers parts to his customers in a 50-60 mile radius of the shop. That makes it about a 30-minute trip. He also flies to pick up parts from the nearest branch warehouse, or from other dealers. "It's only 55 miles or 22 minutes by air to Columbus to the branch parts office, but I often have to waste time getting clearance to land at the commercial airport," he says. "So, it's usually cheaper and faster to fly as far as 120 miles to get parts from another dealer in an emergency." Service by helicopter doesn't cost Moore's farmer-customers any more than ordinary delivery service. The parts cost the same and there's no extra charge for delivering the parts by air, rather than by car or pickup.

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