It’s not easy to create commonality in specialized equipment. Specific trucking jobs often require specific trailering solutions. Flatbed hauling, for example, is a different vocational beast than refuse collection and even further from food transportation. Now consider a company like MAC Trailer that serves those segments with customized solutions. Any chance it has to create commonality is a win for fleets ready for new trailers to roll onto their lots and fleets in need of service.
“We had always built our own wheel ends, but then Hendrickson came up with the Ready-To-Roll offering,” explained Mike Conny, president and CEO, MAC Trailer, manufacturer of dump, flatbed, drop-deck, transfer, dry bulk pneumatic tank, and liquid tank trailers. “Today, instead of having 30 people in my shops building axles, I have 30 people building trailers.”
In today’s supply chain-constrained market, streamlining the build process means being able to deliver products when fleets need it. Hendrickson’s Ready-To-Roll delivers completely assembled wheel ends–drums, hubs, slacks, chambers, the works–directly from the factory to OEMs. Ready-To-Roll is available on all INTRAAX, VANTRAAX, ULTRAA-K, INTRAAX SP, CONNEX and CONNEX-ST suspensions and TRLAXLE non-integrated axles, and the wheel-ends are approved for applications up to and including 25,000 pounds per axle.
“We have invested a lot of capital into being able to control the wheel end manufacturing process,” said Matt Gerstenslager, director of OEM sales, Hendrickson. “When you’re dealing with wheel ends, every component, lube, torque–it’s all an important piece of the puzzle. We have a very traceable process in which we produce this out of our plants.”
That process results in a rock-solid warranty that offers plants for three, five and seven years which means that, as Gerstenslager colorfully put it, “you only have one throat to choke” if you ever run into a warranty issue.
“With the Ready-To-Roll wheel end, if you ever have an issue, you come to Hendrickson directly and we take care of it,” Gerstenslager said.
Of course, that’s a pretty big “if.” The combination of quality and support has propelled Ready-To-Roll to be a staple in the MAC Trailer build process. He reported that there is an approximately 99% usage rate of Hendrickson Ready-To-Roll wheel ends.
“We have thousands of trailers out there running with RTR and there are no issues. We’ve never had a failure,” Conny said. “It enables us to assure our customers that their wheel end package is built properly.”
That kind of dependability builds trust–the foundation of any successful business.
“We’ve built a good relationship with Hendrickson and we trust them,” Conny confirmed. “In business, it’s very important. You have to trust your vendors and your partners in business. I don’t think that any of us run from any issues. If there are issues, we work together and we try to take care of the problem before the customer to not inconvenience the customer.”
At the end of the day, it’s all about getting the job done. Working with the right partners and solutions makes that happen. Click here to discover more about the Hendrickson Ready-To-Roll wheel ends and find the right fit for your fleet.
