FORWARD, TOGETHER
McCook Daily Gazette
Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 – 7
A view from the top
Photo courtesy Red Willow Aviation/Griff Malleck
Kaufman Trailers of Nebraska building in Beaver City
In November 2010, this is what the Kaufman Trailers of Nebraska Inc. manufacturing plant site in Beaver City, Nebraska, looked like from the air as Red Willow Aviation owner/pilot Griff Malleck of McCook, Nebraska, shot this aerial photograph. The plant opened in late 2005; the first trailers came off the line in March 2006. The long, low building on the southwest is new, two years old, and is designed for trailer and parts storage and expansion. The Furnas County fairgrounds buildings are in the foreground, on the east side of Ninth Street.
CONNIE JO DISCOE REGIONAL EDITOR
BEAVER CITY, Nebraska — Kaufman Trailers of Nebraska in Beaver City, Nebraska, had a record week two weeks ago — manufacturing and selling more trailers in one week than any other week since the manufacturing plant opened in late 2005. Heck, Kaufman Trailers had a record year last year — building and selling more trailers than any other year in the company's five-year manufacturing history. Kaufman Trailers general manager Steve Forbes of Beaver City said Monday that Kaufman teams built and sold 49 trailers during the second week of February, continuing the pace set during a record-setting 2010, when the crews built and sold 1,130 trailers — 286 more than 2009. "Even with the rough economy, we had a $63 million year last year," Steve
said. "Yeah, that's a success story." *** Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman and Kaufman Trailers co-owner Robb Kaufman cut the ribbon on Kaufman Trailers' new Nebraska manufacturing plant on Nov. 4, 2005. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Gov. Heineman called Kaufman's expansion from North Carolina into Nebraska, "evidence of a positive business climate in Nebraska." Nebraska State Senator Tom Baker called Kaufman Trailers, "a great, great asset to Beaver City and the area." The first trailers came off the lines in the Nebraska plant in March 2006. Since that time, the company has built and sold 4,153 trailers. *** Even with a faltering economy in 2010 and into 2011, Kaufman Trailers in Beaver City is selling trailers built to customers' orders. "We're building customers' trailers as fast as we can,"
Steve said. The plant set a new weekly record earlier this month, manufacturing 49 trailers. The plant averages 25 trailers a week. "Twentyfive is a real good average," Steve said. "That keeps everyone busy." Work orders indicate that the teams are four weeks out on trailers to be built. The plant maintains 22-25 full-time employees, including welders, finishers and painters. The steel-cutting saw runs from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m., Steve said. Three teams work one shift a day, building fender trailers, gooseneck trailers and air brake trailers. A new style is a "detach," with a detachable neck that allows the equipment to be driven up and onto the flatbed. One "detach" is waiting for shipping to Watertown, South Dakota, right now. Kaufman trailers range from 8,000 pound to 80,000 pound GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating).
The Kaufman plant in Beaver City covers sales from Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, parts of Louisiana and west. "Basically from the Mississippi River west," Steve said. They transport trailers to the West Coast for shipment to Hawaii, Alaska, Guam and Australia. In 2010, a good number of trailers was sold in Canada, Steve said. The trade dollar is favorable, he said, and, with trailers coming from that far away, one person doesn't buy just one trailer. "One gentleman bought 11 trailers," he said, "knowing he'd have no trouble reselling them in the oil sand (oil drilling) areas in Canada." *** Finished trailers are certified and then transported to customers from Beaver City. Shipping trailers can be "quite a puzzle," Steve chuckles. A fender trailer is loaded on top of the air brake trailer; a gooseneck is loaded on top of that and an-
other fender trailer gets loaded on top — those four trailers made up a trip Monday to California and Utah. No load can be too tall, Steve says, and the order in which trailers are delivered determines the order in which they're stacked. The last trailer loaded is the first trailer delivered and unloaded, he said. "It can be quite a challenge to figure out how to make a trip work," Steve said. *** Kaufman Trailers advertises its wares on its own website and regularly in a nation-wide and regional publication called, "Tractor House." The word's getting around Nebraska, Steve said. "Nebraska's been good to us," he said. According to Kaufman Trailers' website: "Kaufman Trailers offers high-quality, cost-effective equipment trailers, gooseneck trailers, car hauler trailers and utility
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trailers to meet customers' needs. Kaufman Trailer has been an industry leader in the manufacturing and sales of auto transport, equipment and utility trailers for over twenty years. Kaufman Trailers are not only NATM (National Association of Trailer Manufacturers) certified, but each trailer also meets Kaufman's rigorous internal certification standards as well. We've earned a reputation of manufacturing trailers that are durable, long-lasting and a great investment." *** Contact the Kaufman Trailers manufacturing plant in Beaver City at (308) 2685036; or check out the Kaufman Web site at www.kaufmantrailers.com The Beaver City manufacturing plant is located at 1025 Ninth Street, at the north end of Beaver City's main north-south street, across the street west of the Furnas County fairgrounds.
McCook Area Chamber of Commerce
-2010 Award Recipients-
Community Service Award McCook Christian Church
402 Norris Avenue, Suite 203 McCook, NE 69001 308-345-3200 800-657-2179 info@aboutmccook.com w w w. a b o u t m c c o o k . c o m
Ag Builder Award Don and Norma Klein
Ag Builder Award Cal Siegfried
Loading trailers for delivery
Connie Jo Discoe/ McCook Daily Gazette
Kaufman's general manager Steve Forbes operates the fork lift as he and Lyle Dow stack Kaufman Trailers for a trip to new owners in California and Utah.
Chamber Volunteer of the Year
Duane Tappe
Community Builder Award Dr. John Batty
Cordial of the Year Brenda McGuire
Serving Area Businesses as our own Since 1925