As the original provider of animal collision protection guards for trucks in North America, for the last 14 years Ali Arc has been providing Protection Up Front® to owners of truck fleets, individual truck owners and truck operators. These aluminum guards are known by various names (moose bumpers, cattle guards, Ali Arc’s, deer catchers, etc.). But irrespective of what they are called, one thing is the same – Ali Arc guards provide added protection to the driver and the truck when involved in a wildlife collision.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are more than 1.5 million deer-vehicle crashes in America annually, causing $1.1 billion in property damage. This statistic does not include companies’ or drivers’ loss of revenue due to the truck being unable to complete its delivery on time or the costs of the truck being off the road to complete repairs. Even more dramatic is that, according to the Institute, in 2008, 210 people died in collisions with animals, most of them deer.
Clancy Unger, Maintenance Manager for Funk’s Livestock Transport Ltd. in Steinbach, Manitoba says, “Thanks to Ali Arc bumpers, we have reduced our insurance costs considerably over the last few years…I believe this is one of the best investments we ever made. Not only do we save money on actual damage but also on down time. Since installing Ali Arc bumpers we have not had a single unit miss a load or lose miles due to hitting wild life.”
An Ali Arc guard consists of three separate components, the steel tow section, the aluminum bumper and the steel tow pin. The steel tow section has been designed to be securely fastened to the chassis, and also incorporates the integrated center tow hitch and easy access tilt system. The aluminum bumper includes a 1/2-inch thick bumper channel shaped to the contours of the truck, at least two ‘I’ beam uprights and 2 1/2-inch diameter tubing welded between the uprights and the channel to provide protection to the trucks grill and lights. Strict adherence to documented quality processes and being ISO 9001 certified ensures a consistency of high-quality workmanship on each Ali Arc product.
The truck bumper being fabricated from aluminum offers many advantages. Aluminum has a high tensile strength, will never rust and is relatively elastic, which means under extreme strain (such as striking an animal) it tends to absorb the shock and bend as opposed to break. Of course the other big advantage of using aluminum is that it is lightweight. Ali Arc bumpers only weigh between 260 – 340 lbs.
According to Kevin Small, President of Agr-Tel Transportation Inc. in Beausejour, Manitoba says, “Over the past years, we have been using Ali Arc bumpers on our highway trucks. We are completely satisfied with our return on investment. In the event of a collision, we have dramatically decreased our downtime and repair costs.”
Currently, Ali Arc manufactures over 23 guards to fit the various models of Kenworth trucks, and, they have the flexibility to make minor variations to these guards (such as having four uprights or inserting additional light tabs) in order to meet a customers needs.
The time has never been better to install an Ali Arc guard on your truck. Visit your preferred Kenworth dealer for more information and ask about special pricing available through August 31.
For general information on Ali Arc products, visit http://www.aliarc.com.