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this show goes on the road

4Front has a demonstration and training room at its Carrollton, Texas, headquarters, but it also sends a custom-built 53-foot trailer to customers' facilities.

It's not unusual for material handling equipment vendors to invite customers to their headquarters to train on their equipment and learn about maintenance and repair. But 4Front is different: It brings its products to the customer.

The holding company for dock equipment makers Kelley, TKO, Serco, LoadHog, and APS Resource, 4Front does have a demonstration and training room at its Carrollton, Texas, headquarters. But it also sends a custom-built 53-foot trailer to customers' facilities. It takes just 10 minutes to set up 4Front's products inside the trailer (the devices are powered by electricity or generators). Visitors can then "test drive" and learn how to maintain dock levelers, dock doors, and the like—right outside their door.


Customers like Pepsi, Target, Wal-Mart, and Sherwin Williams have invited the trailer to their warehouses and DCs. To date, the trailer has visited more than 1,000 sites in 40 states and has hosted more than 3,400 individuals.

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