Trailer Equipment and Hyundai Translead have some big plans.
“The Midwest is going to be blowing up with our trailers,” says Robert Arnold, advertising and marketing manager. With Hyundai Translead locating a new plant in Illinois and Trailer Equipment’s own expansion plans.
Trailer Equipment was started in 1982 by Ross Wellman with a couple of trailers, a mechanic and a salesperson. Wellman is still CEO but the business is quite a bit larger these days, with 135 employees, two locations and a rental fleet that has quadrupled in size. It’s also now a three-time finalist for the Trailblazer Award, powered by Successful Dealer (2023, 2024).
“We have grown tremendously which has brought on a lot of things we’ve had to work through and grow and get better at,” says Rachael Martens, controller. One of the things the company has worked on is its culture. The employees all have an idea in their minds that they’re all here together for one mission — to serve the company’s customers.
Trailer Equipment, which represents Hyundai Translead, Dorsey, Manac, Extreme, LBT and Capacity switcher trucks, tries everything for its customers.
“Everyone can come to us for all their solutions,” Arnold says, including truck and trailer washing and volume deals that not every trailer dealer can handle. But it’s the company’s can-do attitude that keeps customers coming back.
“When you’re solving customers’ problems, it makes their lives easier,” says Roger Swierbut, sales manager. “It makes them more effective. It makes them more money.”
Solving problems might mean sending out mobile service, customizing a large order of trailers, turning deals out quickly, sending out parts or just replacing a mudflap. That’s free. Jon Lynam, director of service, says it’s one of the company’s biggest marketing expenditures but it pays off.
“If you’re in Michigan, you can’t drive more than a couple of miles without seeing our mudflaps,” he says. And it’s not just Michigan. Trailer Equipment has customers — and mudflaps — in every state.
In fact, the company offers so many different services that it made a booklet to outline everything they do. It’s attached to emails and is available for employees to hand out to customers and potential customers.
A key component of the company’s growth has been its employees. It does the regular things such as baseball games and company events, but it also provides leadership training and leaves room for both professional and personal growth in its plans.
“If you leave work loving life, you go home, your family is going to see it,” Lynam says. “When you get that attitude, it’s addictive. Other people see it. It rubs off just as fast, that positive energy.”
The company pays for training and tuition for employees and is working to change the way technicians are certified to make trailer technician more of a viable career. Along with professional organizations and trade schools, Trailer Equipment is working to get a trailer repair certification.
“That’s not any one company’s job, but the value our executive team places on personal and professional growth … that’s how much they value it,” Swierbut says. “Our competitors don’t think like that. They don’t think about moving an entire market.”
It also lays out clear pathways to advancement, complete with additional compensation and in-house training. That makes Trailer Equipment a place where people want to come to work and take pride in what they do and how they serve the dealership’s customers.
“Achieving those goals is a lot more attainable if everyone’s rowing in the same direction and they understand why they’re doing it,” Lynam says.
Trailer Equipment also stays involved in the larger trucking industry, something Arnold says gives the company a competitive edge as it stays abreast of issues and solutions. It’s also involved in the larger community. The employees prefer using their time to help the community through food banks and other projects rather than some other sort of teambuilding experience.
Winning the Trailblazer Award would be a sign that all of Trailer Equipment’s efforts are paying off. As a three-time finalist, the dealer’s employees are well aware of the award and “would like to see us hang that up this year,” Lynam says. “Bringing it home and having everyone see it would be a good hurrah for all of us.”
The Trailblazer Award was created in 2023 recognize and honor North America’s trailer dealer community for their essential support of the transportation industry. The Trailblazer Award is graciously sponsored by Hendrickson and Procede Software. To learn more about the program, go the award page.
