American Crane & Tractor's international business grows

500% over 4 years with DHL

DHL announced that American Crane & Tractor (ACT Parts), a distributor of new, used and rebuilt parts and components for heavy construction equipment, has experienced triple digit growth, for a 500 percent increase in its export business since 2001, due to DHL's leading international experience and customized tariff schedules. As ACT Parts' principal international shipper, DHL provides express services, including DHL World Priority Express and DHL International Document Service, to ACT Parts customers in 70 countries.

In the construction industry, each day a machine is left idle awaiting replacement parts can cost companies tens of thousands of dollars. ACT Parts identified DHL as the optimal choice for all international exports when DHL cut one to five days off the delivery time with expedited shipments through Customs. ince 1998, ACT Parts has relied on DHL to ship pieces ranging from five to 15,000 pounds to its international customers, and has since found that many foreign-based heavy equipment users have turned to them for supplies of heavy construction parts.

Another competitive advantage DHL provided was the creation of customized tariff schedules for the company's entire product line. These schedules enable ACT Parts' customers to place orders online and obtain the fully loaded cost of goods, door-to-door, when making a purchase. With the availability of the tariff schedules, fully half of ACT Part's customers now place orders online, including a substantial increase of web-based orders from international customers. All-inclusive online pricing also means that international customers in countries where work is done on Saturday and Sunday can place orders while ACT Parts staff is off on weekends. ACT Parts was officially recognized as "Exporter of the Year" by the company's home state of Kansas.

"Thanks to DHL's superior international expertise and personal customer services we have been able to deliver products to customers from door-to-door faster than most of our competition could offer on a door-to-airport basis in the same countries," said Jeff Weiner, president of American Crane and Tractor.

"Personalized service tailored to the needs of each customer is part of the competitive advantage DHL provides," said Janet Flores, area vice president of sales for DHL. "As the long-time leader in international shipping, DHL is committed to leverage its expertise expediting international shipments to help companies like American Crane & Tractor compete in the global marketplace."