The White House Transportation Agency (WHTA) has purchased two Rotary Lift SmartLift inground lifts for its dispatch and maintenance facility in Washington, D.C. The lifts are being used to perform light maintenance on the Presidential limousine, Secret Service cars and other official vehicles.
WHTA provides motor vehicle transportation to the White House, including 24-hour ground transportation for the First Family, White House staff, official visitors and other authorized personnel. The agency supplies vehicle support for Presidential motorcades in the District of Columbia area, throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Rotary Authorized Installer B & R Associates of Gaithersburg, MD, installed the new SmartLift inground lifts as part of a facility renovation and upgrade. B & R Associates has a long history with this WHTA facility. The company installed the original Rotary Lift inground lifts when the facility was built back in the Nixon era. The installer still has the autographed presidential pen from President Nixon that he received as a thank-you for the job.
When it was time to replace the original inground lifts after more than three decades of service, WHTA officials again called B & R Associates.
“They wanted to go with the lift that had served them well over all those years,” explains Jeff Hewig, product manager, Commercial Truck and Transit Division, B & R Associates.
The agency purchased the lifts through the GSA program. Rotary makes 145 products available to governmental customers through its GSA contract. Federal government customers can buy through GSA Advantage or from Rotary Lift by calling (800) 445-5438 ext. 655. State and local governmental entities can buy directly from Rotary or through their local Rotary distributor. Rotary’s network of factory-trained Rotary Authorized Installers (RAIs) provide professional installation, service and support.
SmartLift inground lifts are available in a variety of configurations for just about any light-duty vehicle service application. One of the twin-post SmartLifts installed at the WHTA facility is a drive-on model, equipped with ramps and rolling jacks.
All SmartLift inground lifts include a number of environmentally friendly features. This is an important consideration for federal agencies, which have been instructed by various laws and Presidential Executive Orders to strengthen their environmental practices, including purchasing products that contain recycled content, and are bio-based, environmentally preferable and energy-efficient.
SmartLift inground lifts are entirely self-contained in a polymer composite housing made from recycled materials. The housing protects the environment from any potential hydraulic oil leaks, while at the same time protecting the lift from the environment. A SmartLift uses less than five gallons of hydraulic fluid, compared to the 95 gallons required by old-fashioned inground lifts. Bio-fluid can be used in place of petroleum-based hydraulic oil.
SmartLift inground lifts also have a smaller footprint than two-post surface lifts. They can be installed in 11-foot-wide bays, whereas a surface two-post lift should not be installed in a bay narrower than 12 feet. As a result, 12 SmartLift inground lifts will fit in the same amount of space as 11 surface lifts. Lifting capacity is from 10,000 to 12,000 lbs.
For more information about the SmartLift inground lift or other Rotary Lift products, visit www.rotarylift.com, contact your local Rotary distributor or call (800) 640-5438.