March 2016, Vol. 71, No. 3
Business
Felling Trailers Focus On Relationships Leads To Innovation
Felling Trailers, a family owned and operated full-line trailer manufacturer based in Minnesota, has grown from a small shop to a factory and office complex since its humble beginnings in 1974. Perhaps the sense of community and family-oriented style of business has played a role in the company’s success, as the commitment to relationship building rings true throughout both the creative and business processes of Felling Trailers.
Gary Knudsen, a trailer consultant with Felling, exemplified the company’s aim to build working relationships through common interests, familiarity and trust when he, an avid motorcyclist, began attending an annual two-day motorcycle run held by Felling Trailers, but he could not have predicted the innovative piece of machinery that would result from the relationships built on the open road.
Months before Felling Trailers’ annual motorcycle run, a regional manager of a road building company that doubles as a Felling Trailers dealer contacted Knudsen in need of trailers for the transport of their skid steers, which Felling Trailers was able to meet with its FT-14 I drop deck trailer, which has a 14,000-lb. capacity. Later that year Knudsen and the aforementioned regional manager both attended the company’s annual motorcycle run, by chance, and covered 500 miles of open road together, forming a comradery and friendship along the way. When the regional manager found himself in need of a semi-trailer to transport paving machines, he called Knudsen for assistance in finding a piece of machinery tailor-made for the job.
The two men, in partnership with Felling Trailers’ engineering department, worked to design a customized semi-trailer equipped with an 8-degree, full-width hydraulic bi-fold ramp and upper deck ramp systems. This impressive custom-built semi-trailer became Felling Trailers FT-100-3 MX-L with a 100,000-lb. capacity distributed, 65,000-lb. capacity in 10 feet, and 59,500-lbs. in four feet.
The FT-100-3 MX-L’s front-hydraulic ramp feature diversifies the trailer, allowing the capability to load rollers, skid steers and other equipment on the upper deck of the semi-trailer. The semi-trailer’s bi-fold ramp provides the ideal degree of incline for a variety of low-clearance equipment.
Over the course of three years, the road building company’s regional manager has ordered multiple FT-100-3 MX-L semi-trailers, and each year, he and Knudsen travel together to ride in the annual Felling Trailers Motorcycle Run.
Felling Trailers currently manufactures more than 4,000 trailers per year, ranging from a 3,000-lb. utility trailer to a 120,000-lb. hydraulic gooseneck trailer, with a standard line inclusive of more than 220 models; however expansive the company’s growth, the people behind the brand never lose sight of the value found in building trustworthy business relationships. 800-245-2809, www.felling.com.
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