Kentucky Trailer

PROVIDING CUSTOM TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS

REVOLUTIONIZINGTHE ROAD

Revving up the industry with its specialty trailers and truck bodies, Kentucky Trailer is a leader in designing and manufacturing custom transport vehicles. President, John Kwapis, discusses the company’s skills, services, and solutions

Writer: Rachel Carr | Project Manager: Michael Sommerfield

REVOLUTIONIZING

Along the west side of the Appalachian Mountains lies the US Commonwealth of Kentucky, hemmed by the Ohio River on its northern border, which flows directly next to the major urban center of Louisville.

The Bluegrass State’s largest city is home to Kentucky Trailer Manufacturing and Kentucky Truck Body (Kentucky Trailer), founded in the Gilded Age of 1879 and known

at the time as the Kentucky Wagon Manufacturing Company.

Impressively, it originally produced some of the nation’s most popular horse-drawn carts and became the largest wagon manufacturer in the world. Indeed, its unmatched quality and workmanship still stand today.

The company acquired the assets of Hercules Motor Cars in 1916 and moved its production to Louisville, becoming the first automobile

manufacturer in the city, where its primary facility remained until 2009.

“In 2009, we relocated to a new 240,000 square foot (sqft) facility specifically designed for mixed-model trailer production. Additionally, the truck body division has a 100,000 sqft facility with dedicated space for decal installation and a paint booth for trailers and truck bodies,” introduces John Kwapis, President of Kentucky Trailer.

NORTH AMERICA OUTLOOK: HOW DOES THE KT LEADERSHIP OPERATING MODEL BENEFIT KENTUCKY TRAILER’S WORKFORCE?

John Kwapis, President: “The KT Leadership Operating Model emphasizes the importance of championing our associates with a focus on delivering results.

“By encouraging open communication and transparency, team members feel heard and understood. This creates a healthy and positive environment where associates can contribute their unique insights to the business. This commitment to working together leads to innovative solutions that benefit the company and its customers.

“Kentucky Trailer’s KT Leadership Operating Model emphasizes operational excellence and social responsibility with a focus on ethical business practices. Thus, it facilitates decisions that improve the well-being of its communities and the environment, creating a positive impact.

“Our company culture is defined by a commitment to ‘Safety First and Always’ — our goal is to remain completely accident-free. Each associate is empowered to make a difference and contribute to maintaining a safe and secure work environment.”

“We produce composite, sheet and post trailers, and truck bodies for dry freight transportation, moving and storage, packaged delivery, and highly specialized transportation needs. If a company needs a customized vehicle with doors, windows, heavy-duty floor rating, interior buildouts, etc., we are the go-to solutions provider,” he continues.

Kentucky Trailer’s moving and storage clients include Allied, Atlas, Mayflower, North American, United Van Lines, and many more. Other specialty-application customers encompass the largest snack food producers and top package delivery companies in the US.

Furthermore, the company is known for extending the life of its trailer and truck bodies beyond their original purpose. Many of these moving and storage trailers are repurposed into tractor pullers, marching band equipment, football equipment, and workshop trailers.

These advantageous elements make Kentucky Trailer a prominent player in the competitive US market and a leading global manufacturer of trucks and trailers.

TRAILBLAZING TRUCKS

The manufacturing industry has experienced significant change over the years. However, with technological advancements and the recent transition to electric vehicles (EVs), Kentucky Trailer is determined to remain competitive.

“The focus on EVs adds an exciting new dimension to the production process, which includes training employees, engineering drawings, power stations, and lightweight designs. This alters the fleet owners’ needs and makes multiple power options available,” Kwapis observes.

As the US EV industry evolves, Kentucky Trailer is rapidly expanding and providing solutions to exceed its customers’ expectations.

“An important customer is using our trailers in its sustainability efforts as the company incorporates electric trucks into its fleets,” he reveals.

Indeed, Kentucky Trailer is constantly developing its products to outpace a competitive market and is launching a new plate truck body designed using state-of-the-art technology later this year.

“The plate truck body will be lighter and easier to repair, with an aerodynamic corner design that maximizes the space inside the body for many use cases to deliver products and services. Our panels exceed our leading competitors for density and resistance to delamination,” prides Kwapis.

In addition, the body will feature brighter, damage-resistant panels for increased visibility. The vehicle’s structural integrity is maintained with a robust aluminum corner cap and an extruded front-corner vertical post that allows for easy repairs.

“We offer different mounting options that are easy to affix to your chassis or can be delivered to you, as well as multiple chassis power options. In addition to gas and diesel, we also have EVs, hybrid vehicles, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) available.”

Thanks to its fully galvanized frame and cross-members, the truck body structure and side walls are incredibly durable, likely to render the industryleading five-year warranty redundant.

“With all Kentucky Trailer products, our durability delivers a low total cost of ownership, and representatives deal directly with our factory to experience unparalleled customer service and delivery performance,” outlines Kwapis.

SPECIALTY SOLUTIONS

Kentucky Trailer often needs to make modifications for specialty sectors due to its diverse client base.

“WITH ALL KENTUCKY TRAILER PRODUCTS, OUR DURABILITY DELIVERS A LOW TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP, AND REPRESENTATIVES DEAL DIRECTLY WITH OUR FACTORY TO EXPERIENCE UNPARALLELED CUSTOMER SERVICE AND DELIVERY PERFORMANCE”

– JOHN KWAPIS, PRESIDENT, KENTUCKY TRAILER

“Our innovative trailer design offers a platform that provides a 20 percent increase in cargo capacity in comparison to a straight floor trailer, a perfect solution for the moving and storage industry due to its highquality fit and finish,” Kwapis points out.

Similarly, the extreme durability and maximum interior heights improve the speed of loading and offloading for the package delivery sector, last mile delivery, less-than-truckload (LTL), and third-party logistics (3PL).

While Kentucky Trailer Specialty Vehicles (KTSV), in Michigan provides commercial transport for mobile data centers, kitchens, workshops, classrooms, and marketing activities, it also supplies the medical industry and the US government with even more specialty modes of transportation.

“KTSV and our AMST division in Illinois facilitates the provision of medical services to hospitals and underserved areas by transporting both equipment and people.

“To ensure the safety, comfort, and security of patients and staff, we implement radiofrequency (RF) shielding for diagnostic imaging systems. Additionally, we design vehicles for sterilization, mammography, endoscopy, mobile laboratories, and workshops to meet the necessary standards,” explains Kwapis.

The US government, meanwhile, requires a mobile sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) and includes disaster response, recovery, national defense, communications, training, and laboratories through KTSV.

“KTSV also provides enclosed

transport delivery vehicles for luxury automobiles, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and other high-end applications.”

Regarding its manufacturing procedures, Kentucky Trailer employs automated processes and pioneering equipment to build sidewalls and floors to attach key components.

“Telematics and smart trailer assist devices are becoming more prevalent in the industry, such as back-up cameras, vehicle diagnostics, and tire pressure monitors, with many more options becoming available each year,” he divulges.

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’

Since its inception 145 years ago, Kentucky Trailer has undergone many transformations.

Its latest incarnation occurred in 2014 when the company became a majority-owned subsidiary of Alleghany Capital Corporation (Alleghany).

The Tway family, whose bold vision led to truck-drawn trailer production when R.C. Tway purchased company assets in 1936, retained a minority stake after Alleghany was acquired by the Berkshire Hathaway Group (BHG). Kentucky Trailer is now part of Marmon Holdings Inc., which is owned by BHG and includes 11 industry groups.

KENTUCKY TRAILER – KEY ADDITIONS

2001 – Kentucky Trailer Services opened an 80,000 sqft facility in Louisville, offering complete trailer and truck body repair, reconditioning, and aftermarket support for modifications.

2003 – Kentucky Trailer Specialty Vehicles opened in Michigan, heralding the start of its journey into the specialty segment. It moved to its current 132,000 sqft facility in 2018.

2010 – Kentucky Trailer Services opened a facility in California with the purchase of Western Truck and Trailer.

2014 – The company acquired AMST in Illinois and moved to its current 85,000 sqft facility in 2020 to expand its finish, calibration, and reconditioning capacity. Products and services include manufacturing mobile imaging trailers for MRI, PET/CT, and CT specialty vehicles for healthcare systems in North America.

2015 – Kentucky Trailer acquired SMIT Mobile Equipment B.V., a global manufacturer of mobile medical imaging trailers and solutions for the medical sector in The Netherlands and the UK.

2018 – Kentucky Trailer reached a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in CEI Equipment in Iowa. CEI Equipment has rebranded as KT Pacer.

2019 – KT Pacer acquired Warren Manufacturing Inc.’s animal feed transport division. It provides fabricated parts for various Kentucky Trailer divisions and

“BHG and Marmon Holdings Inc. have positioned the company for growth and expansion with new products,” according to Kwapis.

Going forward, the company’s focus is on the Lean 5S methodology, the 80/20 strategy, continuous improvement, resources for automation and innovation, and training and education opportunities for its associates.

Furthermore, Kentucky Trailer prioritizes product durability over cost-cutting measures.

“Our goal is to provide the highest

quality product at the best price possible; that model requires a constant focus on improvement and supply chain excellence,” he emphasizes.

Kentucky Trailer centralizes supply chain operations for its Louisville locations to leverage group spending, and various support personnel are available at each of its individual sites.

The company uses over 50 supply chain sources, with most partners based in the US, including divisions outside Louisville.

“Although we have some strategic

offshore resources, we are proud to possess a strong group of domestic partners. It is important to remember that your supply chain’s strength relies heavily on robust alliances. As a company, we take great pride in developing and nurturing our relationships as our partners are the backbone of what we build,” concludes Kwapis.

In the future, Kentucky Trailer will remain a significant player in the truck plate body business by focusing on innovative solutions that meet customers’ specific requirements.

Tel: 502-637-2551 marketing@kytrailer.com www.kytrailer.com

ABOUT PALFINGER:

PALFINGER USA is the premier and cost-effective provider for all your liftgate needs. We offer a full range of products for all applications, since our beginnings in 1993.

As fleet operators in auto parts, beverage, food service, rental, studio rental, general and special freight, you can rely on our liftgate technology to help keep your trucks on the road.

Innovative liftgates from PALFINGER are available in a complete range of styles to suit your specific needs: Folding, Rail, Slider, Cantilever and Cargo Van solutions. As the industry innovator in operations and safety, our high standard commitment helps confirm that your transported goods

COMPROMISE. NEVER

DEMAND THE ONE BRAND WITH DECADES OF PROVEN PERFORMANCE.

For over six decades, Truck-Lite products have delivered market-proven reliability for maximum uptime, ensuring that your operations run smoothly and confidently.

Crafted from impact-resistant polycarbonate and epoxy-sealed electronics, our lights provide the ultimate protection against the elements. Our 88- and 99-Series wiring harnesses are meticulously designed with cutting-edge technology and rugged materials for enhanced performance and durability.

Whether it’s our premium signal and marker lamps, custom designed headlamps, or wiring harnesses, Truck-Lite products have set the standard for the industry, ensuring unparalleled visibility and safety for every journey on the road.

Learn more about these products and our warranty at truck-lite.com.