The biggest change in rankings was made by Fruehauf Trailer Corporation. For the prior year of 1993, Fruehauf was in 10th position, building fewer than 10,000 trailers. In 1994 Fruehauf moved up to fifth position by building over 16,000 units in North America.

To make the top ten list in 1994, manufacturers had to build more than 10,000 complete trailers, not counting containers or chassis. To make the top 20 list, manufacturers had to build more than 3,000 complete trailers.

Adding all the reports from individual manufacturers together, the top 17 manufacturers built 209,816 complete trailers in 1994. After deducting trailers manufactured in Canada and Mexico, the top 15 manufacturers built about 87% of the total reported by the Commerce Department.

This may not be accurate. The Commerce Department figures may understate actual production by as much as 10%. A good example is the report for refrigerated trailers. The five largest manufacturers of insulated trailers say they produced 30,290 reefers in 1994. That is more than 5,000 or 20% above the 25,224 insulated trailers reported by Commerce, not counting the insulated trailers built by smaller manufacturers.

Another example is evident in intermodal units. The largest trailer manufacturers reported that they built almost 60,000 chassis and 29,000 containers in 1994. After deducting the number of containers and chassis manufactured outside the US, this is 16% more than the total number of intermodal chassis and containers reported by the Commerce Department, not counting the chassis and containers built by other than the top manufacturers.

Commerce reports that total truck trailer production was up 23% in 1994, rising from 185,741 the previous year. Many manufacturers report production increases of 20% also, and some report double that figure, in the 40% range. The leading manufacturer had a 52% increase.

Wabash National Corporation manufactured 34,308 trailers and RoadRailer trailers in 1994, up from 22,600 in 1993. In addition, Wabash built 1,371 chassis. Of the van trailers, 1,884 were refrigerated. Production in 1995 will increase further. Wabash is ramping up production at its second plant in Lafayette, Indiana. Stock analysts are predicting sales of $800 million for Wabash in 1995, which would represent production of about 50,000 trailers. The company will have the capacity to produce 70,000 trailers a year by the end of 1995, according to Jerry Ehrlich, president of Wabash.

Great Dane Trailers built 29,756 complete trailers in 1994, of which 17,449 were dry vans, 9,876 were refrigerated vans, and 2,431 were platforms. In addition, Great Dane built 4,271 domestic containers (of which 264 were refrigerated) and 4,639 container chassis. Production in 1995 could be much greater. Great Dane has announced that another large plant will be added this year in Terre Haute, Indiana. Tooling is being installed now in 500,000 square feet of the former J I Case manufacturing plant there. The first production line is expected to be operating by midyear.

Utility Trailer became the third largest trailer manufacturer in 1994 by building 19,482 trailers, a 41% increase. Two-thirds of these trailers are refrigerated vans. Utility built 12,600 reefers in 1994, more than any other manufacturer. Production will increase gradually throughout 1995 as Utility ramps up production at its new dry freight van plant in Paragould, Arkansas.

Trailmobile Inc built 18,050 trailers in 1994, of which 3,530 were refrigerated. This is about a 20% increase, and Trailmobile expects another 20% increase during 1995. Earlier projections had been about the 24,000 mark, but component shortages are forcing some scaling back from that much increase. Trailmobile expects to build 21,000 to 22,000 trailers during 1995 at its main plant in Charleston, Illinois, and its new large-order plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Fruehauf Trailer Corporation counted 16,092 trailers produced in its North American plants in 1994. This includes the LBT Inc tank trailer operation in Omaha, Nebraska, as well as the Fruehauf de Mexico plant north of Mexico City. Fruehauf's van plant is in Fort Madison, Iowa, and its platforms are built in Huntsville, Tennessee. In the prior year (1993), Fruehauf built only 9,445 trailers.

Strick Corporation built 15,599 dry freight vans and platforms in 1994, a 22% increase. Strick nearly doubled its container chassis production, going from 6,500 in 1993 to 12,700 in 1994.

Pines Trailer Limited Partnership had a 44% increase in 1994, building 14,865 dry freight vans, after adding another plant in Kewanee, Illinois. In addition, Pines built over 500 domestic containers.

Monon Corporation built 13,478 trailers in 1994, as well as 7,575 container chassis and 6,000 containers, for a total of 27,053 units. The production emphasis switched to trailers last year after domestic container inventories filled up. Monon's output was hurt temporarily by a five-week strike in 1994.

Dorsey Trailers built 12,010 trailers in 1994 (including about 2,400 refrigerated trailers) plus 200 converter dollies. This represents an 18% increase over 1993. Production in 1995 could be up again.

Stoughton Trailers built 11,750 trailers in 1994. Stoughton's intermodal business increased significantly in 1994 after two new plants came on stream. The company built about 7,000 domestic containers including the all-insulated containers produced by Stoughton Composites. Some 400 of these were refrigerated. Stoughton also built 3,700 container chassis.

Hyundai Precision America built 6,500 highway trailers at its Hyundai de Mexico (HyMex) plant in Tijuana, Baja California. This represents only a half year's production, since HyMex did not start building trailers until midyear. HyMex is estimating 1995 production at 13,000 trailers. Hyundai also built 22,500 container chassis and 11,200 domestic containers. Thus, Hyundai is North America's largest manufacturer of total units, building 40,200 units in 1994.

Lufkin Trailers built 4,840 vans, platforms, and dump trailers in 1994, and signs are good for a repeat in 1995. Van trailer ordering continues strong, filling 1995, and some orders have been placed for 1996 deliveries.

Transcraft Corporation built 3,591 platform trailers in 1994, and plans are being made to increase production substantially.

Kentucky Manufacturing Company built 3,300 van trailers in 1994, including dropframe furniture and electronics vans and dry freight vans.

Manac Inc built 3,150 trailers in1994, most of them in its plant in Quebec. Manac expects to build 6,000 trailers in 1995, following opening of its new van trailer plant near Toronto, Ontario, in November 1994.

The Oshkosh Trailer Division manufactured 3,045 van trailers, plus 1,275 container chassis and 180 flat racks, a domestic container version of a platform.

Ajax Manufacturing Company in Somerville, New Jersey, specializes in container chassis. It built over 6,000 chassis in 1994. The vast majority were new, but some were built as new frames on remanufactured bogies.

Other manufacturers such as Fontaine Trailer Company and Wilson Trailer Company are believed to have built over 3,000 trailers each in 1994, but do not report their production figures.