Schweiss Doors contributes to unique project with a custom-made hydraulic container door

Shomotion LLC, founded by Mike Scherkenbach, and based out of Denver, Colorado with offices in Chicago, Illinois is a company that has been literally on the move for over the past decade. With a fleet of late model Peterbilt and Freightliner tractors accompanied by the most eclectic trailer fleet in the industry you know they have to be on the move.

Shomotion specializes in the transportation, repositioning, customization, and lease of equipment and drivers to assist in execution of mobile marketing campaigns and other promotional events.

These promotional events have run the gamut, from providing stadium event services for top musicians like Paul McCartney, Kenny Chesney and AC/DC. Then there's NASCAR, Tylenol, Home Depot, Burger King, Chevy, ESPN/Discover Card Gameday, and the US Army that are just a sample of the name brands that rely on Shomotion to get them from point A to in front of an audience within the 48 Continental United States, Mexico and all Canadian provinces.

Schweiss Doors received a call not long ago for a custom-made rush order job for a 28' x 7' 11" hydraulic door that was to go on a mobile container unit they were custom building for an overseas aircraft corporation - and they needed it fast - eight days fast! After much research, Shomotion selected Schweiss Doors to fabricate a complete hydraulic actuated door.

"When we got the call, we gave them top priority and went right to work on it," said Schweiss Doors president, Mike Schweiss. "We like challenges, and always strive to give the best service available. Our reputation over the years speaks for itself."

Jason Rush, Director of Intermodal Logistics for Shomotion, said Schweiss Doors came through to meet their demands as scheduled and they had a truck arrive at the Schweiss Doors factory to pick up the door on the day they were told it would be finished.

Shomotion was tasked with taking the 12-foot wide airplane fuselage on a multi-city roadshow to familiarize airline executives with Mitsubishi's newest regional jet. Due to the standard 102-inch width restrictions of traditional trailers and containers, Shomotion was forced to commission the construction of a custom 144-inch wide by 40-foot long display container with hydraulic actuated doors to showcase Mitsubishi's newest product. Mitsubishi was adamant that the side view in display mode must be unobstructed with a clear view of the entire fuselage; no simple task with the fuselage measuring over 36-feet in length.

Mitsubishi airline executives from Nagoya-shi, Aichi, Japan traveled to Denver to go over this extraordinary project with Shomotion. From that meeting, Shomotion and its partner companies and vendors came up with a unique design to showcase a mock aircraft fuselage that would be securely seated inside a mobile container.

Shomotion was given eight weeks from design to completion to get it road ready - six weeks of that period was devoted to actual fabrication time. The mobile container needed a hydraulic door that would open wide on one side, not only to view the fuselage, but also to load and unload it.

And this wasn't just any fuselage. It would be a prototype introduction for the world's next great passenger jet - the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ). MRJ is a twin-engine regional jet aircraft seating 70-90 passengers. The container with the mockup of their fuselage was driven on a 10-week tour to airshows and to show important regional jet clients in the rebuilt jet market throughout North America with one stop in Canada.

"The mockup had never before been transported in a container and put on the road all assembled," said Rush. "We custom-built a 12-foot wide x 40-foot container with a side-mounted hydraulic door on it. From the back of the trailer there is a platform set up where you could walk into a receiving area and then inside the fuselages first class and coach seating, overhead bins and some kitchen and serving areas as well."

In addition to Schweiss Doors building one hydraulic door for it, they also supplied components for the second smaller entry door. The installation went well. Jason said the guys that fabricated the container also installed the door. He said the directions were easy to understand.

"It was meant to be a tradeshow show display piece, not necessarily transported, so we had to design a system to securely fasten and tie the fuselage to the container using special strapping and blocks to minimize any shock to it. The rear receiving area and the fuselage itself were air conditioned. We needed the gullwing (hydraulic) door for a dual purpose. We needed it to be able to reassembled it on a stage and to be able to slide it in the container itself. We needed the large hydraulic door for display purposes as well," noted Rush.

"The hydraulic door worked flawlessly. It was perfect for loading the fuselage in and exactly what the buyers required. It is really a high quality door. There were a few challenges; we had to make sure we had enough clearance when the door opened and closed to clear the fuselage and that the support pieces were sufficient. The client was really happy with it. The hydraulic pump was mounted on the floor inside the front of the container," explained Rush.

"Schweiss exceeded Shomotion's expectation with an expertly crafted door accompanied by a sophisticated hydraulic power pack and pump. From Dallas, Texas to Montreal, Quebec, Canada the Schweiss product operated flawlessly. Schweiss Doors will certainly be the Shomotion's first choice for custom doors moving forward," said Scherkenbach.

Shomotion's standard trailer fleet includes: 53' air-ride vans, 53' drop deck vans, 48' flatbeds and 48' step decks. Additionally, they operate a large fleet of specialized trailers that include enclosed auto transporters, climate controlled vans, 53-foot liftgates, hydraulic actuated stages and double expandable units. All trailers are equipped with E-Track load securing systems, logistics bars, 16-foot aluminum loading ramps and straps.

Their trailer fleet is comprised of air ride van trailers (28-foot to 53-foot), drop deck van trailers, step deck flatbeds, standard flatbeds, curtainsides and box trucks - all pulled by late model Peterbilt and Freightliner tractors along with various light duty trucks to pull stepdecks, flatdecks, vans, and other specialized trailers. From one-truck club tours to 40-truck stadium tours, Shomotion has the knowledge and expertise to meet the most demanding production schedules.

Shomotion LLC is based at 1658 York St., Denver, CO 80209. They can be reached at (303) 722-1488. For more about them, view their webpage at: www.shomotion.com