Fewer mistakes occur, less furniture gets scratched, and less lifting means fewer employee injuries, said Rustin Cassway, VP of Demountable Concepts, Inc., the firm which is pioneering the concept. Star is very image conscious, and did not like the look of large semi-trailers delivering in residential neighborhoods. Demountables look like regular delivery trucks, have a good turning radius, and local drivers do not have to be DOT-certified. Demountables also helped Star overcome employee reluctance to expansion. It's only three hours from Houston to Austin, but that's six hours of drive time and eight hours of delivery, which is too much.
Furniture is a tough commodity to deliver.
We were reluctant to ship to Austin because we thought furniture might move around on the back of a trailer. There are 36 bodies for 24 delivery trucks. Each night, furniture is shuttled from the central warehouse to six retail stores in a three-state area. The bodies are staged overnight at the stores for next-day delivery. Good's has used the system since 1990.