Manac manufactures its 100,000th semitrailer

July 26, 2004
Manac, the largest manufacturer of semitrailers in Canada, delivered its 100,000th unit on July 13 to a long-time customer, Groupe Guilbault from Quebec. During a short ceremony held at Manac's head office in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, representatives from Groupe Guilbault (which has a fleet of 325 trucks and 1,600 semitrailers) took ownership of its new 53-foot tandem aluminum van, painted with a display of Guilbault's 75th anniversary.

Manac, the largest manufacturer of semitrailers in Canada, delivered its 100,000th unit on July 13 to a long-time customer, Groupe Guilbault from Quebec.

During a short ceremony held at Manac's head office in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, representatives from Groupe Guilbault (which has a fleet of 325 trucks and 1,600 semitrailers) took ownership of its new 53-foot tandem aluminum van, painted with a display of Guilbault's 75th anniversary.

Manac has been manufacturing semitrailers since 1966 and delivered its 30,000th unit in 1994, a van built for a lottery held to raise money for a home for terminally ill cancer patients. Although it took 30 years to fabricate the first 30,000 semitrailers, in only 10 additional years Manac has reached the milestone of 100,000 units produced.

"It's a nice coincidence that the 100,000th Manac unit has become part of an order from Groupe Guilbault," said Charles Dutil, president and chief operating officer. “We are happy to have followed the growth of Groupe Guilbault during the past 40 years and we have grown thanks to devoted customers such as Groupe Guilbault."

The 100,000th semitrailer is a 53-foot aluminum van that has several characteristics that will become part of Groupe Guilbault's standard vans: the floor cross-members and the galvanized steel door frame, a short rear threshold plate and a floor sealed with epoxy resin. The van is part of an order of 64 two- and three-axle vans.