Schweiss Doors Helps Mobile Marketing Company Meet Lofty Expectations

Shomotion LLC, founded by Mike Scherkenbach, is quite literally a company on the move. Based out of Denver, and with offices in Chicago, IL, the company specializes in the lease of equipment and drivers to assist in the execution of mobile marketing campaigns and other promotional events. Its fleet of trucks are comprised of late model Peterbilts and Freightliners, while its trailers are an eclectic mix intended to accommodate whatever the needs of its customers.

The air-conditioned container, housing a mockup of the airliner fuselage, was driven to airshows and to the locations of important regional jet clients in the rebuilt jet market throughout North America and Canada.

This unique 40’ x 12’ mobile container was designed and built by Shomotion LLC of Denver, Colorado. Inside is a prototype fuselage of Mitsubishi’s soon-to-be-produced 70- to 90-passenger regional jet. Schweiss Doors custom-built a 28’ x 7’ 11” hydraulic door for it.

Shomotion has a large semi and trailer fleet. They specialize in the transportation, customization and leasing of equipment and drivers to assist in mobile marketing campaigns and other promotional product and music events in the continuous United States, as well as in Canada and Mexico.

The company’s clientele include top musicians like Paul McCartney, Kenny Chesney and AC/DC, as well and entities like NASCAR, Tylenol, Home Depot, Burger King, Chevy, ESPN/Discover Card Gameday, and the US Army. Its customers rely on Shomotion to get their displays and equipment from point A to point B, which can be just about anywhere in the United States, Canada or Mexico. Needless to say, customer satisfaction is tantamount to the company’s success.

Customer service has always been a hallmark too of Schweiss Doors, one of the world’s premier manufacturers of bifold, hydraulic and designer doors, many of which are custom designed. Schweiss recently supplied a hydraulic door for a custom trailer Showmotion was constructing for an oversees aircraft corporation. It was not only the door application that challenged Schweiss, it was the time frame. They needed the 28’ x 7’-11” hydraulic-actuated door—manufactured and installed—in just eight days!

“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.

The need for the door came about after Shomotion was tasked with taking a 12’-wide airplane fuselage on a multi-city roadshow to familiarize airline executives with Mitsubishi's newest regional jet. Due to the standard 102” width restrictions of traditional trailers and containers, Shomotion was forced to commission the construction of a custom 144”-wide x 40’-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’ long.

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 LLC went right to work building this container that had an eight-week window for completion. Here you can see the Schweiss hydraulic door from the inside as it is mounted on the container in progress.

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’-wide x 40’-long 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 re-assembled 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 expectations 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.

About Schweiss Doors

Schweiss Doors is the premier manufacturer of hydraulic and bifold liftstrap doors. Doors are custom made to any size for any type of new or existing building for architects and builders determined to do amazing things with their buildings, including the doors. Schweiss also offers a cable to liftstrap conversion package. To learn more, visit www.bifold.com or www.schweisshydraulicdoors.com.

And to learn about Schweiss' new Build Your Own Door Kit, which gives customers the plans and essential components to build their own Schweiss Doors, visit  www.bifold.com/build-your-own-door.php.