Get FinancingAerial Titans Is Focusing On The Right Customers With LiftsToday
The overriding mission of Aerial Titans is to provide a wide variety of customers with the quality new and used lift equipment they expect for their money. The dealership uses LiftsToday and other Sandhills Global platforms to market its inventory from JLG, SkyTrak, Genie, Skyjack, Haulotte, MEC, Niftylift, and JCB.
“I think that LiftsToday has been beneficial,” says Andrew Johnson, one of Aerial Titans’ owners. “Because prior to that, Machinery Trader may not have been segmented in the marketing side specifically for lifts only, which is generally all the things that we’re selling.”
“It’d be akin to going to a Cheesecake Factory” restaurant, adds Andrew Huggins, also an Aerial Titans owner. “And there’s so much stuff on the menu, that can be a little overwhelming. So, the fact that Sandhills segmented LiftsToday allows the shopper to not be overwhelmed by all the different options. Having that narrowed focus is nice.”
‘Like The “Carvana” Of Equipment Supply’
“We’re a high-volume and high-transaction volume construction space dealer, and we’re selling roughly 20, 25 machines a day all across the U.S.,” Huggins says. “We’ve been around for roughly 14 years, and have been working with Sandhills for the majority of that time.”
“We’re a little different than most dealers,” says Johnson. “Most dealers are regional, generally. We’re trying to be more like the 'Carvana' type of equipment supply.” Aerial Titans uses its locations in Georgia, Ohio, Texas, and California to ship new and used telehandlers, boom lifts, and scissor lifts where they’re needed.
“We stage machines regionally, so we’re able to ship anywhere at a fractional cost comparatively if you’re trying to ship something across the country,” Johnson says. “So no matter where the customer is, they’re looking for machines, they find us, and we’re able to supply them with good prices.
“It also does help with the companies that we’re disposing assets for, especially on the used side,” Johnson continues. “So we’re able to take those from anywhere and move them closer, save us on freight, help the people that are supplying us, and everybody wins.”
Marketing Everywhere
Besides running editorial ads in LiftsToday, Aerial Titans leverages the power of priority pages in Machinery Trader and Tree & Landscape Equipment Trader. Additional priority pages in the Latin America edition of MarketBook help Aerial Titans reach customers farther south.
“We’re trying to market everywhere,” Johnson says. “Sandhills, in the same breath, is doing the same thing. You’ve got different regions all throughout the country. You’re able to get the customers everywhere. You’re doing the magazines. So all of that together, along with the AuctionTime component, gives us the ability to do any number of different things with Sandhills to move our machinery.”
AuctionTime
Besides Sandhills’ retail platforms, Aerial Titans has occasionally used AuctionTime.com to sell the odd asset. “We use it to move product along that may not be for the retail side,” says Johnson. “And that’s what AuctionTime has kind of helped us on.”
“It isn’t a lever that we pull often,” Huggins says. “But it’s just simple, frictionless, easy. We don’t have to wait long periods of time for a specific auction to come into play. AuctionTime is immediate. We can get things in and out quickly and efficiently.”
‘Critical, Important’ Market Data
“We have a very good rep in Sandhills’ Dylan Scheele, and he is proactively bringing us data, showing us reports, and giving us insight into things that we might otherwise not see across the United States,” says Huggins.
“Just the other day, Dylan brought to our attention a market report looking at some of the assets that we have that might be overpriced, and where we need to move to meet the market,” he continues. “And that was critical. And that was important. So the data and the scale with what you guys provide us is great.”
At The Sandhills Global Forum
In June 2025, Huggins and Johnson once again attended the Sandhills Global Forum, where hundreds of industry professionals convene to network and learn about the latest products to help grow their businesses.
Huggins remarks on how informative it was to hear about what other dealers are seeing in their markets regarding consumer sentiment, government policies, and other dynamics that impact business. “We’re all kind of looking at some of the same pressures, and at the same time looking optimistically into the future, and how we can all grow and scale healthily and sustainably.”
“We’ve been to a bunch of these forums, and generally we take good information away from them,” says Johnson. “And also things that we can glean from other dealers, and try to learn a little bit more about what’s happening and what’s going to happen into the future.”
A version of this article first appeared in Sandhills Magazine. You can find current and back issues in the Sandhills Magazine Archive.