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GATESVILLE, Texas—Matt Krock spent his first two years as Kalyn Siebert’s president reducing order backlogs the old-fashioned way, going from lead times of 18-20 months to 90-120 days by leaning into lean manufacturing, emphasizing “first-pass” quality, and better staging and moving trailer components and support beams. “Dealers wanted more inventory,” Krock said. “They would take anything we had. If we could give them two more trailers in a month, they wanted them because they were selling them.
“So the name of the game was efficiency and improved production.”
Now Krock is enjoying a modern assist from Engineered Transportation International, Kalyn Siebert’s parent company, which last year earmarked $4.5 million for cutting-edge equipment intended to further bolster production capacity, manufacturing quality and trailer durability, including an advanced laser processing machine, an automated welding cell, a plasma cutter and a semi-automatic saw.
“At EnTrans, we serve over 50% of the specialized bulk transportation market, which drives our commitment to continuously enhance our capabilities,” said Jake Radish, EnTrans chief commercial officer. “As the demands of our customers evolve, particularly in the bulk and specialized transport sectors, it’s critical that we lead the market not just in production volume, but in innovation as well. Our investment in advanced technologies at Kalyn Siebert—whether it’s automated manufacturing processes or enhanced engineering systems—ensures that we maintain our position as the go-to provider for the industry’s most demanding applications, delivering solutions that are built to last and engineered to perform at the highest standards.”
The Gatesville, Texas-based manufacturer’s upgrades already are paying off.
Kalyn Siebert last year secured a contract with Quality Carriers—one of the largest bulk transporters in North America—to build all the carrier’s extendable ISO tank chassis trailers thanks to its well-established willingness to customize equipment and future-focused commitment to embracing technology.
“Their new equipment is definitely boosting throughput,” said Zeek Hernandez, Quality Carriers director of asset management.
Relationship-driven manufacturer
Krock, a 10-year EnTrans veteran, arrived in Gatesville with big boots to fill.
Kalyn Siebert, founded in 1969 as a manufacturer of boat-deck trailers, joined Heil Trailer International in 2000 and transitioned to a stand-alone EnTrans brand after American Industrial Partners formed EnTrans in 2014, so the top job requires expertise in both trailer sales and production—and Radish and EnTrans CEO Ryan Rockafellow both held the position before taking on their current roles. “It’s a lot more pressure,” he joked. “I can’t bamboozle them because they know this business too well.”
As one of the largest employers in the area, Kalyn Siebert also is well-known throughout the community—and the heavy-haul industry.
Kalyn Siebert today employs nearly 200 people on a sprawling 40-acre property located 40 miles west of Waco that boasts 13 total buildings with 300,000 sq. ft. of combined space. The company primarily serves the oil-and-gas, towing-and-recovery, and heavy-haul sectors but also builds fueling systems, and flatbed and van trailers for the agriculture, construction, defense, and forestry industries. It also creates highly specialized units, including transports for NASA space shuttles and SpaceX rockets. “Kalyn is known for customization and innovative designs when the market needs them,” Krock said. “So, just in the last seven years, we’ve come out with four new trailers that changed things.
“Our VersaMaxx is extremely popular in towing and recovery, our MiniDeck is taking off in the heavy-haul section, and our forestry chipper trailer and this year’s ISO chassis launch have really broadened our product offerings.”
The manufacturer, which built 815 units in 2023, runs six production lines with total capacity ranging from 1,000 mixed units to as many as 2,000 smaller units. Kalyn Siebert sells most of its trailers to its 30 dealers but also deals directly with select customers, like the Israeli military, which turns to Kalyn Siebert for refuel tanks, and now—due in large part to the elbow-grease efforts of Krock’s team—Quality Carriers. The CSX-owned bulk hauler ordered 175 ISO chassis in 2024 and plans to buy more this year.
“We’re happy with the relationship,” said Shawn Harris, Quality Carriers vice president of tech services. “When we’re looking for equipment providers, we’re seeking people who are relationship-driven—not transactional.
“Kalyn has been great for us.”
Premium production equipment
Now EnTrans is rewarding Kalyn Siebert with an influx of automation.
After focusing much of its attention the last few years on its Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Heil and Polar Tank Trailer facility—the most prolific tanker manufacturing operation in North America—Kalyn Siebert’s parent delivered four high-tech machines in 2024, and more are on the way this year. “The support they’ve given us, not only to keep business here, but to grow and improve it, has been amazing,” Krock said.
The most striking addition is the Miller PerformArc 2200 automated welder.
The expandable two-sided robot cell features a 10-ft. welding-arm reach with a 70-in. rotational diameter and 2,200 lbs. of capacity per side, boosting production efficiency and consistency. “We have a great partnership with Miller,” Krock said. “They’ve been excellent for us.” Miller installers, however, were most impressed with the Mazak Optiplex Neo 3015 that also arrived in April 2024—with a $1 million price tag. “They looked at it and said, ‘That machine will have the biggest impact on your plant,’” Krock recalled. They knew it was going to be a gamechanger.”
The 10-kW laser can cut parts from steel sheets up to 5’ wide, 10’ long, and 1” thick.
“Now we can run quicker, and we can run more accurately, with better quality and more consistency,” Krock confirmed.
Read more: Operations Profile: EnTrans International's flagship facility
The new Messer Titan III plasma cutting system with Hypertherm XPR300 technology—Kalyn Siebert’s third plasma cutter—further supports “first-pass” quality with repeatable precision for plates of aluminum and steel up to 2” thick. The advanced, CNC-controlled system comes fully equipped with an air-booster package and a vented water-injection gas console.
“If you’re cutting a sheet and the machine jogs the wrong way, or cuts at a slightly incorrect angle, you’re scrapping that material, and you have to run the program again,” Krock explained. “This new plasma cutter is far more consistent, with much tighter tolerances than our other machines can hold. It just has newer technology.”
Finally, a new semi-automatic HydMech V-18-60 vertical band saw is simultaneously boosting fabrication safety and productivity.
Krock also expects to install a Key Plant Automation submerged arc welder and automated paint booth in early 2025. The new sub-arc, which will replace an existing machine, is spec’d with a Miller SubArc DC-1000 power supply, boasts dual-table capacity for improved throughput, and uses Hobart sub-arc wire for greater weld penetration. The paint booth, which features two fully autonomous robots, will help Kalyn Siebert’s military division strengthen its long-term relationships with the U.S. Army, U.S. Marines, and the Israeli Defense Force by meeting the increasing volume demand they’re forecasting for 2025 and beyond.
“Kalyn Siebert became a leader in heavy-haul trailers by targeting those customers who value quality and attention to detail in their builds,” Rockafellow said. “To ensure we continue setting a premium standard in all segments Kalyn serves, we’ve invested in the latest production equipment, and we’ll continue to do so. Our employees and customers all benefit from the many investments we’re making in Gatesville.”
A well-equipped, safer workforce
Highly automated equipment won’t replace employees, leaders emphasize.
Instead, automation makes their jobs easier and safer, and helps generate interest in younger workers. “It will help us address workforce challenges,” Krock maintained. “Sometimes it’s difficult to find qualified people in our area, so none of the equipment that we’re bringing in is replacing jobs. In many cases, automation is about taking skilled welders and painters, and developing them into programmers or material specialists.
“Then they can apply their welding expertise in new, more technical roles.”
Kalyn Siebert also takes an active approach to finding and retaining qualified male and female workers. The manufacturer helped Gatesville High students build a trailer for their senior project in 2023. It also partners with nearby trade schools, including TSTC Texas State Technical College in Waco and CTC Central Texas College in Killeen, and offers in-house welding and safety training. An instructor was leading an ongoing course on hand safety when Trailer/Body Builders visited in October.
Those critical iniatives are producing results as well.
Kalyn Siebert won a Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association Plant Safety Award and a CEO Most Improved Safety Award in 2023. “I’m proud to say we’ve really reenergized our focus on safety over the last several years,” Krock said.
Employees also benefit from those efficiency upgrades that elevate workplace conditions.
Material handlers now use compartmented metal racks to organize and present build kits to welders, helping to reduce missing-parts time, and improve line load times and worker well-being, since material handlers aren’t running around searching for parts at the last minute while welders wait impatiently. Kalyn Siebert also uses unique “roll-around” trailers crafted from leftover iron to deliver support beams and critical components to the shop more effectively and safely. “These parts presentation racks and roll-arounds have had multiple benefits that we didn’t anticipate,” Krock said.
Hitched to custom trailer design
Lean manufacturing improvements, led by lean coordinator Precious Ross, and advanced equipment investments convinced Quality Carriers that Kalyn Siebert could meet its demanding delivery schedule and durability requirements. But the manufacturer’s long-standing enthusiasm for collaborating with clients to develop unique transportation solutions sealed the deal on their business-boosting relationship. “We have four versions of these ISO chassis trailers in our inventory now, from four different suppliers, and theirs is by far the best,” said Randy Strutz, Quality Carriers president.
That’s why Krock intends to stick to Kalyn Siebert’s roots as a medium-volume, specialized manufacturer, even as it leverages its new capabilities to spur growth in a more normalized trailer market. “If a customer wants something, and they’re willing to work with us, we’ll figure it out,” Krock said.
The company’s 2025 plans include relaunching its entry-level hydraulic removable gooseneck (HRG) trailer into the general construction segment—with advanced automation, Kalyn Sibert can be “more aggressive, and make more at a competitive price,” Krock explained—and introducing the new SlideMaxx trailer, a lighter-duty unit aimed at equipment rental companies, in April at the Florida Tow Show.
“We want to preserve our identity as a custom-trailer designer,” Krock said.
“That’s who Kalyn has always been—and there’s still a need for it. Everybody wants to make as many trailers as possible, but there is a place for companies that are responsive to customers with specific hauling conditions.
“Those are the people who we’re trying to serve.”
