72 INDUSTRY TODAY

PROFILE • HEIL TRAILER INTERNATIONAL

INDUSTRY TODAY 73

HEIL TRAILER INTERNATIONAL • PROFILE

EIL TRAILER INTERNATIONAL, INC. WANTSto be nothing less than to be the world’s best spe-cialized transportation solution provider. But beingthe “best” means more than just being the most suc-cessful.

True, Heil Trailer International has achieved enormous suc-cess. This developer, manufacturer and marketer of tank trailersranks as the world’s largest aluminum petroleum and dry bulktrailer provider, and it owns the leading market share in theUnited States. But the Athens, Tenn.-based company’s fondestwish is to reach Olympian levels of preeminence. As Babe Ruthwas the best in baseball, Brando was the best in acting, and TheBeatles were the best in pop music, Heil Trailer seeks to be thebest in its industry. It aims to achieve this with a potent combi-nation of superior product, unheard-of service levels and posi-tive customer relationships previously unrealized.

That means that Heil Trailer can never be truly satisfied withwhat it accomplishes (even though accomplishments thus far arequite considerable). But that relentless drive transforms into avision that, in turn, translates into a mission. And that mission

involves five key areas: quality, performance, safety, customersupport and overall value. All remain ever present in everyone’smind. “The mission is a daily, even hourly exercise,” emphasizesHeil President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Hewitt.

HEAD OF THE CLASSThe product line includes best-in-class liquid, dry bulk, oilfield,construction, platform, specialized, towing and defense trailers.Applications for this transport equipment menu are industrial,commercial and military. Heil’s strongest focus is on aluminumtrailers. “Aluminum is lighter, stronger and safer than carbon,”Hewitt points out. “On the aluminum side of the business, we’rethe market leader. Our experience dates back to 1929. Now, wesell aluminum trailers in 85 countries.”

Heil also has an enormous dry bulk trailer line, as well as aspecialty trailer line sold under the Kalyn Siebert brand. “Weacquired the company in 2000, and it primarily focuses on heavyhaul/low boy transport,” informs Hewitt.

The fourth major category is its specialized military productline, which is used for refueling and bulk transportation. “We are

BY GOING THE “EXTRA MILE” FOR ITS CUSTOMERS, HEIL TRAILERINTERNATIONAL HAS CREATED FOR ITSELF A GLOBAL HIGHWAY.COMBINE PRODUCT EXCELLENCE WITH A STRONG CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND YOU HAVE A ROAD THAT GOES EVER ON. DAN HARVEYDESCRIBES A COMPANY CELEBRATING 110 YEARS’ SUCCESS.

74 INDUSTRY TODAY

PROFILE • HEIL TRAILER INTERNATIONAL

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INDUSTRY TODAY 75

a major supplier to the U.S. military, and our equipment ties intoall branches: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and NationalGuard,” tells Hewitt.

CUSTOMER FOCUSAt the front and center of all product development is the cus-tomer. “We foster customer intimacy by listening to their voice.This enables us to develop the most appropriate solutions,” saysHewitt. “This ties into product management, engineering andcross-functional teams which combine to drive new solutions.”

For instance, the company recently enhanced two products tohelp improve customer business. “This fall, on the dry bulk trans-port side, we are introducing our Sander II model, which is thenext-generation version of our Sander specialized trailer that, asits name implies, was designed to transport sand,” reports Hewitt.“It’s stronger and more durable, and it’s lighter by 300 pounds.”

To comprehend that improvement, you only need to do simplemath: A vehicle that is 300 pounds lighter means a company cantransport 300 more pounds of sand.

The enhanced product also features improvements in terms ofperformance, such as loading and unloading, reports Hewitt.

A second introduction, another enhanced product, is the Heil1700 Super Jet, designed to transport food-grade items such asflour. “That’s what makes it unique,” says Hewitt. “Clean boreconstruction allows for easy and complete loading and unload-ing, which is critical to the transport of food-grade products.Like all of our products, its development involved our five keyelements that drive up value.”

FIVE DIFFERENTIATORSHewitt explains what these five elements mean to the customersand to the company:

Quality: Heil strives to provide consistently superior productsand the highest levels of craftsmanship. “We’ve endured formore than a century and have grown throughout the worldbecause our quality has been the best-in-class,” he remarks.

Performance: “The performance of our equipment is optimalin terms of customer needs, and these include durability, fasterloading and unloading capabilities, weight and productivity,among other capabilities,” Hewitt says.

Safety: All Heil products are designed with the user’s welfarein mind. “That’s extremely important to our customers becauseof the types of material they transport,” explains Hewitt.

Customer Support: “We have the best customer support sys-tem, both during and after sale,” says Hewitt. “We even continueproviding after-market support for equipment that is 20 to 40years old.”

Overall Value: “Because we do the previous four items so well,we provide customers the best total value,” says Hewitt.

These five elements differentiate Heil from the competition,Hewitt adds.

HERITAGE OF INNOVATIONThese five elements were present at the company’s outset andallowed Heil to thrive for more than 100 years. Indeed, HeilTrailer International is celebrating its 110th anniversary.

Innovation wasn’t explicitly stated in the five elements but cer-tainly factors into success. It’s an ongoing theme in the com-pany’s history. Founder Julius P. Heil began transforming thetransportation industry as soon as he started the business in 1901in Milwaukee, Wis. (as the Heil Railjoint Company). He pio-neered the use of electric welding and, as the company grew, he

HEIL TRAILER INTERNATIONAL • PROFILE

Pictured opposite (from top): Tag trailer, for a 19 meter B-double running inAustralia, built at Heil Asia;

above (from top): Heil Petroleum Trailer;

Heil Super Flo Vacuum Trailer;

Northwestern Petroleum Truck Mount & Pull;

a triple road train built to transport crude oil in the outback of Australia,built at Heil Asia.

76 INDUSTRY TODAY

began building truck bodies, hydraulic hoists and a variety oftruck trailers for the burgeoning automotive industry.

“The company invented the first riveted oil tank for the horse-drawn wagon in 1902,” adds Hewitt. “Then, in 1929, we builtthe first aluminum tank truck.”

In 1993, Heil was purchased by the Dover Corporation, amulti-billion-dollar international enterprise that has about 35independent manufacturers beneath its umbrella. “As far asacquisitions, Dover is attracted to the top brands and the mostinnovative companies, and we’ve enjoyed a very productive rela-tionship,” says Hewitt.

Indeed, Dover supports Heil and its employees in their con-tinuing efforts to develop the most innovative products and serv-ices. “Dover has provided us additional capital resources, and itshares best practices gleaned from across all of its businesses.However, it has always allowed us to remain entrepreneurial andto manage our markets and our customers,” says Hewitt.

GLOBAL ENTERPRISEToday, Heil Trailer International has five production facilities.“The Athens plant, which measures more than 200,000 squarefeet, is one of our largest,” says Hewitt.

The company also has two facilities in Texas: in Rhome (about100,000 square feet) and in Gatesville (about 200,000 squarefeet). “That’s where the Kalyn products are made,” says Hewitt.

Heil Trailer also has a 60,000-square-foot facility in Canuelas,Argentina, and a plant in Ayutthaya, Thailand that comprisesroughly 130,000 square feet. All facilities embrace the Heil pro-duction philosophy – to deploy the most innovative technologiesand techniques to build the most innovative, highest-qualitytrailers available in global markets.

PROFILE • HEIL TRAILER INTERNATIONAL

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INDUSTRY TODAY 77

True to the “International” component in its name, Heil offersproducts through a large dealer network that takes in the UnitedStates, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and South America.Further, Heil Trailer offers its industry’s best after-the-sale serv-icing. It boasts the most comprehensive warranty. Plus, if atrailer should need unexpected repair, the company possesses theindustry’s most extensive service and repair network, includinghundreds of dealerships and service shops. This ensures that cus-tomers have local representation and support, no matter wherethey operate the vehicle.

However, customers may not often need to access such serv-ice. After all, the company develops its trailers to address totalownership costs. Heil’s trailer designs help eliminate costs asso-ciated with scheduled and unscheduled maintenance – as well asreducing operational costs and increasing utilization.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYBeyond its five key elements, Heil trailer operates with the high-est ethical and moral standards. This corporate responsibility notonly involves protection (protecting customer investment, pro-tecting users, protecting its own personnel) but also extends tothe environment.

Heil Trailer has always met or exceeded requirements of rele-vant environmental laws and regulations. Now, it is movingtoward an ambitious environmental and health and safety man-agement system that will include all of its facilities. This willinclude ISO 14001 (environmental) and ISO 18001 (health andsafety) certification by 2011. Already, most of the company’sfacilities are ISO 9001-certified.

“Our efforts to minimize waste and pollution goes beyondexisting laws and regulations,” says Hewitt.

SURVIVING THE RECESSIONMeanwhile, Heil Trailer International remains financially stableand competitive, thanks to its unremitting drive to change andimprove itself to meet customer demands. “Certainly, like allmanufacturers, we have been challenged by recent economic cir-cumstances,” says Hewitt. “But with our five key propositions,and the loyalty that we have built through the decades, we havebeen able to navigate our way through the severe downturn.”

In fact, during the downturn, Heil intensified its efforts in the five areas, and it spent time trying to better understand customer needs. As a result, customer emphasis only becamemore intensive.

Still, a tough road lies ahead. It’s going to be a slow recovery,Hewitt observes about the economy. “However, we’ve seen slowto moderate improvement, but we feel things are moving in theright direction,” he adds, assessing what has happened in the lastsix months. “Specifically, for us, we’ve witnessed the funda-mental market coming back, particularly in the commercial side.One thing that has helped us is that our international businesshas grown, as developing country’s economies have grown. Sothat has helped, as the North American market has gone down.At the same time, our market shares have risen, pretty much inall of our business segments.”

Here’s where the Heil approach becomes important. “Like allbusinesses, we can’t control the market, but we can influence it,”says Hewitt. “We do that by introducing new products, alldesigned on the five aforementioned value points.”

As such, Heil Trailers ensures industry-leading performance.That’s why it is navigating its customers through the toughest ter-rain and navigating itself through the toughest economic times.•

HEIL TRAILER INTERNATIONAL • PROFILE

Pictured opposite (from top): Heil Defense Refueler Trailer;

Kalyn Sibert Oil Field Trailer;

above (from top): Heil 45,000 Litre Tri-Axle Petroleum Trailer;

Heil Trailer International manufacturing facility located in Athens, Tenn.;

Greg Hewitt signing Heil Environmental Policy Statement.