Summary: Versatran, a division of Metalcraft of Mayville, builds on their line of industry renowned industrial carriers by adding a new Retriever to the pack. The 6T offers customers all across the United States an opportunity to own a Retriever capable of hauling up to 12,000 lbs. of payload without the need for a CDL license.

Watertown, WI – Versatran, a division of Metalcraft of Mayville, is launching its new 6T Retriever to the US Market June 2021. The new industrial carrier allows drivers to move up to 12,000 lbs. of payload without the need for a CDL license.

First developed in 2002, the Retriever line provides an innovative method for loading and transporting various types of equipment. The Retriever boasts an air operated curved platform, fast cycle times, idle-free system operation, fantastic hauling capacity, as well as a deck featuring a low center of gravity and the shallowest loading angle in the industry.

What’s more, the Retriever’s nimble design and rapid deck and ramp deployment are bound to increase daily deliveries. Versatran cites Retriever efficiencies improving owner returns by $60K+ per year.

“The Versatran team is thrilled to bring our new 6T Retriever to the marketplace”, explains Dan Nissen, Versatran’s Director of Sales. “Many of the same industry leading features offered exclusively to customers with CDL licenses on our 15T & 20T Retrievers are now available to the general public on our non-CDL 6T Retriever. We believe this new avenue opens doors to a wide variety of new customers, and helps solve employee shortages that many of our current customers face.”

Versatran’s partners, Boyer Trucks, Curry Supply, and Transwest, are now actively quoting and taking pre-orders for the 6T across the country. Orders are expected to be fulfilled starting in June 2021. For more information, visit any participating website.

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About Boyer Trucks:

Boyer Ford Trucks, Inc. is a dealership headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, with locations in Lauderdale (St Paul) Savage, Rogers, Superior, WI, and Sioux Falls, SD. In addition to Ford commercial trucks, the company represents the Western Star, Freightliner, International, and Isuzu brands. The company also services all makes and models of trucks, and supplies truck parts worldwide. Visit www.boyertrucks.com to learn more.

About Curry Supply Co:

One of the biggest commercial truck manufacturers in the U.S., Curry Supply Co. entered the industry in 1932. The family-owned company ships globally from its locations in Texas, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, and is known for manufacturing some of the best specialized trucks for oil and gas, construction, waste, agriculture, rail, mining, and rental. Visit www.currysupply.com to learn more.

About Transwest:

As one of the fastest growing transportation specialists in the nation, Transwest can professionally guide your organization to the next level in transportation solutions. They offer retail, fleet sales and service with applications in every industry, including a full line of medium to heavy-duty trailers for personal and commercial use. Visit www.transwest.com to learn more.

About Versatran:

Located in Watertown, Wisconsin, Versatran, a division of Metalcraft of Mayville, is a company dedicated to designing and manufacturing innovative transporters for industrial and construction equipment. Owing to their vast experience in the industry and strong customer relations, the company has managed to create the unique Retriever design, unrivaled for its safety, durability, efficiency, and eco-friendliness.

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How You Can Save Money by Purchasing a Retriever

Are you looking to reduce your delivery costs? Find out a few ways that The Retriever can help you to cut your costs.

Reduce Labor Costs

With a 35% faster loading rate, you can easily save $8,000-10,000 each year. How can it be that much faster? There are a few factors:

Because equipment can be driven onto the truck, you don’t have to worry about winching
Loads can be chained down from the ground because of low deck heights, which eliminates the need to climb on and off the deck
With a large number of tie-down points, it’s quicker and easier to secure the load

Cut Down on Idling

Because of the No Idle System™, the truck doesn’t have to be turned on to load and unload payloads. How does that work? The Retriever uses the truck’s air system rather than hydraulics to power the deck and ramp. This means you can turn the engine off every time you make a pickup and delivery. This can easily save you at least $1,500-4,000 a year, depending on how often your trucks are idling.

Decrease Repairs and Other Maintenance

The Retriever was designed to be a simple, durable, low-maintenance piece of equipment. You can save bigtime on maintenance and repair costs by eliminating the need for:

Hydraulic pump
Hose reeving
PTO shaft
Rollers
Power tracks
Slides

When you don’t have to worry about the repair and upkeep of these kinds of parts, you can be saving as much as $1,500-2,000 every year.

Have Larger Payloads

By using The Retriever, you can increase your payloads 8-12%. This is possible because it is 2,000-4,000 lighter than similar products, due to its strong yet light design. Not only can you add more to each load, but you could even save trips by increasing your payload, which could potentially translate to savings of $5,000-10,000.

Not fully convinced that The Retriever is the right choice for you? Check out some of its other features. When you’re ready to start saving some money, contact VersaTran.

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Safe Loading and Unloading

Heavy Equipment

Working with and around heavy equipment brings inherent risks, but loading and unloading the equipment from transport shouldn’t be one of them. Retriever, developed by VersaTran, Inc., includes a number of features designed to make loading and unloading equipment as safe and fast as possible.

Safety Features

Decks as low as 41″ reduce the need for climbing in order to secure the load.
Shallow ramp angles make it easy to drive the equipment right on the deck.
140 tie-down locations make it easy to secure any load.
A non-skid deck surface improves traction even in adverse weather.
Steps and grabs offer even more security.

Improve driver and operator safety with Retriever equipment transporters.

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Idling: What’s the Big Deal?

All across America, drivers are being educated about the harm that idling does to their engines and their environment. Most states have even taken it a step further, passing anti-idle laws for truckers that limit the amount of time they can run their engines when the truck isn’t moving, and truckers who ignore these regulations risk big fines.

In most places, there are exceptions to these anti-idling laws for when the trucks engine is being used for power takeoffs involving cargo or work functions, which means that you’re not risking a ticket by powering hydraulics or other essential loading and unloading features. But what about all the other problems that come with idling, like fuel consumption, engine wear, and high emissions?

The Retriever’s No Idle System is a better solution for loading and unloading. Instead of hydraulics, the Retriever is pneumatic, using pressurized air to move your loading deck and ramp. It only takes a few minutes of driving for your truck’s air compressor to fill the No Idle System tank, so your it should always be primed at full power, ready to complete a full load/unload cycle. Because of the No Idle System, using the Retriever can result in as much as a 95% reduction in idling time, with fuel and maintenance savings of $1,440 or more per year.

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Versatran Teams with Curry Supply and Transwest to Present the Retriever

Versatran is thrilled to work with Curry Supply and Transwest to present the Retriever line of industrial carriers, one of the most exciting transport industry developments in recent years. Versatran was acquired by Metalcraft of Mayville in 2019, which broadened the product families already offered by the company and enabled Versatran to establish itself as a world-class industrial transporter manufacturer.

“The Versatran team is excited to partner with Curry Supply and Transwest to represent our Retriever brand in the marketplace”, explains Dan Nissen, Versatran’s director of Sales. “Our companies share many similarities in terms of our culture, keeping our promises, as well as our core values. We believe this partnership will benefit all of our companies, and we look forward to many years of success in supporting the hauling and transport needs of our customers.”

Curry Supply and Transwest now offer the Retriever 20T and 15T models across the country. The two will also take part in launching Versatran’s eagerly anticipated non-cdl 6T model early next year. For more information, visit currysupply.com and transwest.com.

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A Truck for All Trades

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Fleets of Trucks

Due to maintenance, unplanned breakdowns, fuel usage, etc., managing a fleet of trucks can get expensive; however, to meet the needs of various clients, it’s necessary to have several trucks to haul the different sizes of payloads.

VersaTran’s Retriever

VersaTran offers a more affordable and flexible option. Own one truck instead of many. With a ground level loading dock, a ramp that can serve as a deck extension, and without the weight of a hydraulic system, Retriever trucks are the perfect solution to help you cut back costs, while still getting it all done.

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Improved Productivity = Increased Profitability

There are several ways Retriever can increase the profitability of your business:

Delivering Larger Equipment on Smaller Vehicles

You can move more different kinds of equipment easier, and for less, with Retriever.

If your delivery equipment options are only a semi-trailer and/or a rollback, you're often faced with the dilemma of too much or too little truck for the job. Retriever solves that problem because of it's ease of use and adaptability to a wide range or equipment.

Retriever's Unique Features

Since Retriever does not use hydraulics to move the deck or ramp, it's lighter, even though it's constructed of heavy gauge materials. The missing hydraulic system weight is available for payload, letting you haul heavier equipment on smaller trucks.

Retriever's multi-position ramp can be used to extend the effective length of the deck, allowing the handling of longer equipment.

The Financial Gain

Larger, heavier equipment generally produces greater rental income per delivery.

Smaller trucks can be driven by lower-paid, non-CDL drivers. (Retriever can haul up to a 11,000 lb. payload on a non-CDL truck, reducing your operating costs.)

The combination of increased revenue and lower cost per trip produces greater profits per trip.

Handling more Vehicles per Day

Retriever's Unique Features

Retriever is simpler and easier to operate than either rollbacks or trailers. (You don't have to be able to back up a trailer to use Retriever.)

Retriever can also handle more different kinds of equipment, so a Retriever can be busy more hours of the day.

Retriever can make either ground or dock level deliveries/pickups.

Due to its integral Rear Hitch, Retriever can trailer additional equipment when the deck surface is fully loaded, permitting higher revenue single-trip deliveries.

NOTE: Smaller, narrower equipment, such as scissor lifts, etc. can be loaded side-by-side on Retriever.

The Financial Gain

Driver/operators spend less time per delivery, meaning they make more deliveries per pay period, which both generates more revenue per period, and reduces the cost of each delivery.

Individual deliveries can involve multiple pieces of equipment, and/or larger equipment, increasing the revenue produced per delivery, and reducing the cost per dollar of revenue.

Each incremental delivery/pickup generates significant profit margins, since the only meaningful additional expense is fuel cost.

Operating One Vehicle Instead of Two or Three

Retriever's Unique Feature

Retriever's lower "empty" weight and greater operational flexibility lets you handle more, different kinds of equipment with a single vehicle.

The Financial Gain

You have to buy and maintain fewer pieces of hauling equipment

There are fewer "idle" hours per piece of hauling equipment, which reflects an increase in the overall profitability of your hauling operation.

Depending on the range of equipment you handle, you may not have to employ people with specialized skills who utilize those skills only infrequently, reducing head count and overhead expenses.

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What would you do with $15,000+ in your pocket?

By far the most efficient product in its category, at 50,000 miles per year and 10 cycles per day The Retriever will easily reduce your delivery costs by $15,000 per year or more.

35% Faster loading, Labor Costs saving $8,000 - $10,000/ year

25 seconds from setting the parking brake to ready to load.
Low loading angle and curved deck allow equipment to simply be driven on eliminating time consuming winching.
Low deck heights allows operators to chain down loads from the ground, no climbing on and off of the deck.
Large number of perimeter and center keyslot tie-down points makes secure chaining fast and easy.

Larger Payloads, $5,000 to $10,000 per year.

Retriever is 2,000 to 4,000 lbs. lighter than competitive products. We accomplish that by eliminating the heavy hydraulic components and complex mechanisms found in conventional products and by using high strength steel throughout our design, keeping the strength up and the weight down. The benefits to you are larger payload capabilities and elimination of the parasitic loss created by dragging around all that dead weight. That’s 8% to 12% larger more payload, saves trips, saves $$$$ at the weigh station, value $5,000 to $10,000/year.

Retrieve’s extremely low deck height, just 5-1/2 inches above the truck frame, improves bridge clearance significantly for safe transportation of many of those tall loads that had to go out on a semi before. At the same time the lower center of gravity improves truck handling on the highway. Missed a bridge, never knew it, how much is that worth?

Reduced Maintenance, $1,500 to $2,000 per year

Elimination of hydraulics and complex mechanics simply reduces the potential number of items that require maintenance and sometimes repair. With The Retriever there’s no PTO, hydraulic pump, rollers, slides, power tracks or hose reeving. There is no hydraulic oil to leak. Just simple, rugged, low maintenance components designed to keep your truck out of the shop and making money. Savings, $1,500 to $2,000 per year.

Retriever’s No Idle System greatly reduces the #1 cause of emission system problems in modern diesel trucks, excessive idling. Modern diesels with EPA compliant emissions systems are an engineering marvel. Truck engine emissions have been reduced by 98% since 1990. However, they just don’t do well idling. They run dirty and plug up Diesel Particulate Filters while wearing major engine components at over twice the rate of on highway driving. This leads to emission systems issues and premature engine overhauls.

“500 hours of idling = 64,000 miles of engine wear”

- Cummins Engines “Idling Myths”

No Idling During Loading, Annual Savings $4,000 per year

Engine Idling burns about 8/10 of a gallon of fuel per hour. At 2 hours of idling per day that adds up to 400 gallons of fuel per year or $1,500 potential savings.
Excessive idling is the #1 cause of emission system problems on modern diesel engines. The No Idle System makes it possible to reduce idling to less than 10% eliminating $500 per year in unnecessary expenses and likely even more cost for downtime.
If you’re going to allow diesel engines to idle more than 10% of the time you should increase the frequency of oil changes, at $250 to $300 for an oil change to a diesel truck engine a couple more of those per year starts to add up. $500 to $600 per year.
Excessive idling greatly accelerates engine wear moving that $20,000+ overhaul closer. The No Idle System pushes that overhaul back down the road, where it should be. Saving $1,500 plus per year.

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Less Down Time

Retriever Will Earn You More, Because Retriever Can Work More Hours

The other benefit from Retriever's reduced maintenance costs is increased "up time", and a higher up time percentage translates into increased incremental revenue, reduced operating costs and a stronger competitive position due to enhanced reliability.

Retriever is simply available for work more hours of more days than any unit requiring even modest upkeep.

Retriever has so few moving parts there is virtually nothing that can wear out. Retriever is built from such heavy gauge materials, there is virtually nothing that can be broken in normal use.

Winter-weather proof

No hydraulics means Retriever is unaffected by low temperatures. It can make deliveries in winter weather that has hydraulic units stuck in the shop. Being available to your customers on a more consistent basis builds their reliance on your services.

Increased Utilization = Increased Profits

We understand that limited fleet utilization is just as expensive as down time.

Retriever's versatility to handle various pieces of equipment for all industry types means you have fewer vehicles to buy and maintain... with stronger utilization in the trucks equipped with the Retriever body and fewer specialized trucks and trailers sitting around, eating up profits, waiting for something that only they can haul.

With Retrievers in your fleet, you can reduce the types of specialized vehicles, and increase utilization of the vehicles you do have running for more hours every day.