Powder coated steel wheels from Accuride Corp. will become standard equipment on all the trailer lines produced by the Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co.
“The powder coated wheels provide improved durability and corrosion resistance and compliment our stainless steel rear frames as standard, our premium five-year wheel end package and our premium Michelin tires,” reports Stephen Bennett, the trailer maker’s vice president.
“Accuride’s premium powder coating and light weight are excellent additions to Utility’s premium light weight trailers,” he says.
“Their product attributes of high strength and light weight are in line with ours,” notes Rick Schomer, Accuride’s senior vice president of marketing and sales, “and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
Based in the City of Industry, Calif., Utility has been producing trailers since 1914. According to Bennett, the company is the nation’s oldest privately owned family-operated trailer manufacturer.
It engineers and builds dry freight vans, flatbeds, refrigerated vans known to truckers as “reefers” and Tautliner curtain-sided trailers. Utility is the largest producer of reefers and the third-largest trailer manufacturer overall in the U.S., Bennett says.
“As a family run business we have the opportunity to remain committed to the ideals of teamwork that were the hallmarks of our founders,” says Craig Bennett, senior vice president of sales and marketing. “While we are certainly aware of the unique challenges facing the industry, we realize that our future success rests on our team’s ability to stay focused on delivering cutting edge solutions for the industry.”
The company has five regional plants located in Clearfield, Utah; Paragould, Ark.; Glade Spring, Va.; Adkins, Va.; and Enterprise, Ala.
Accuride’s products include commercial vehicle wheels, wheel-end components and assemblies, truck body and chassis parts, seating assemblies and other components. Brand names include Accuride, Gunite, Imperial, Bostrom, Fabco, Brillion, and Highway Original.
Its Brillion Iron Works Division recently received a Supplier of the Year Award for achieving a 95 percent “standard of excellence” in quality, cost and delivery from Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing in Columbus, Ind., where Toyota lift trucks are produced.
The Brillion facility is “one of the largest and most versatile iron foundries” in the country, says Randy Brull, general manager of Accuride’s cast products division.
“Our dedication to building world class products, our constant focus on cost effectiveness and our commitment to delivering product on time has allowed Accuride and Brillion to build strong reputations within the industry,” Brull says.
For more information, visit www.accuridecorp.com, www.michelinman.com and www.utilitytrailer.com.
