CT Power, the Carrier Transicold dealer in Denver, almost tripled the size of its facility, moving into a 50,000-sq-ft building on a six-acre site on June 1, 2000. "We moved from a 17,000-sq-ft building with four drive-through service bays into a facility that the company already owned that has 38 doors and 15 drive-through bays," says Tom Fries, chairman of CT Power.
The new location is one of five in the CT Power network that also operates Carrier Transicold dealerships in Albuquerque NM, Las Vegas NV, and Phoenix AZ. In addition to these full-scale dealerships, the company operates a branch of the Denver location in Greeley CO. The Denver dealership is open daily from 7 am to 8 pm and offers 24-hour service on call.
The new dealership is on property adjacent to CT Power's previous location. "When our tenant in the larger building that we now occupy left, we took the opportunity to move," Fries says. "The new headquarters provides a much better base for increasing our business in Denver and all along the Front Range from Cheyenne WY down the Interstate 25 corridor to Pueblo CO. We have numerous accounts in Colorado Springs, and Greeley provides a tremendous volume of business. In fact, Weld County probably has more trucks per capita than any other region in the western US."
All Work Indoors The new dealership has offices, parts warehousing, and service facilities all under one roof. In fact, CT Power operates the largest dealership under a single roof in the Carrier Transicold network, Fries says. The big advantage of the new building, he says, is the capability it offers for all service work to be done indoors.
"In some of our locations, the climate allows work outdoors under protective awnings," Fries says. "In Denver, working outdoors in winter is not always possible. Besides, we are convinced that we provide higher quality repairs and service by working indoors. The enclosed work area has one other benefit. Refrigeration technicians are in short supply. Providing a roomy, comfortable work environment enhances our ability to attract and retain highly qualified technicians."
The Denver dealership employs 20 refrigeration technicians, all of whom are factory-trained by Carrier Transicold. Having every technician factory-trained is an accomplishment, Fries says. "All technicians in the company are qualified, but Denver is the only one where every mechanic has been to the factory for training," he says.
Mobile Service Fleet In addition to its indoor service work, CT Power operates a fleet of five mobile service trucks for maintenance at customer sites. The company is especially active in providing on-site maintenance for leasing companies and their customers.
In addition to normal sales and service, CT Power also is an authorized service facility for Carrier Transicold marine container refrigeration equipment. "We may not have an ocean nearby, but we service a lot of container units," Fries says. "On any given day, we have five to 10 containers on the property for inspection prior to picking up meat loads at nearby packing plants."
CT Power also has dedicated a portion of its new facility to used refrigeration equipment. Older units are inspected and rebuilt as needed.
The move into the new building was made without any interruption in work. "Creative planning by our managers and crew allowed us to move everything on one weekend without a work stoppage," Fries says. "For instance, a large portion of the parts inventory was moved without emptying the shelves. We simply wrapped the parts bins with stretch wrap and loaded them on a platform trailer for the short trip to the new building. Obviously, we couldn't handle large, heavy, or bulky parts that way, but the smaller items were easy to move with the shelving intact."
In addition to operating a Carrier Transicold dealership, CT Power is the parent company of Iceberg Enterprises, a refrigerated truck and trailer rental and leasing company. Intended for daily rental or short-term leasing, the Iceberg fleet contains more than 100 refrigerated vehicles.
