The Aluminum Trailer Company and Motiv Trailers

I love the trailer business, most of the time. We get to build things that we can climb into and see at the end, from my office I can see the weld jig on line 1 and I can almost see the bay at the end of the line where some of our more complex and cool units get completed.

We have a great group of people that work here and also a great group of dealers and customers that we have built relationships with over the years. Most days I feel lucky to have a business like this. Yesterday was not one of those days. Yesterday I was reminded that not all things go well all of the time. We try really hard to get it right. Really hard. Then a customer will show up, find a couple things wrong with an $80,000 custom unit and tells us how horrible we are. Yesterday we were also in mediation on a legal case for a trailer that we built a while ago that is working great but the customer wants us to pay him a huge sum of money because his unprofitable business was interrupted for a few days.

As I lay in bed last night trying to sleep I kept thinking about these two customers. I realized after lying there for 20 minutes that I had to think about something else. I reached up and felt my sandpaper scalp and remembered the event that took place Wednesday night. There were 7 guys that came together to play a very small part in helping a family thru a really tough time, but it was more than just helping the Steiners or Isaac. This fundraiser showed the generosity of our (you) community. Many of our employees, customers and vendors gave just because they wanted to help.

Wednesday night was a really uplifting experience. I personally needed to do something for someone else to take my eyes off of some of the little things that get me down. I needed to see Isaac’s small frame to be reminded that life is hard and unfair and that I need to thank God for all the blessings that I have.

Thanks to everyone for helping us raise over $20,000 for the Steiners to help pay for insurance and travel expenses!

Blessings to you all.

Rob and Sarah Steiner are close personal friends of ours, and earlier this summer they learned that their 5 year old son Isaac has brain cancer.  They have spent most of the summer down in Indianapolis at Riley’s Children’s Hospital and traveling back and forth for his treatments. Earlier in the month we sent an email out to our employees at ATC announcing that if we, as an ATC family, could raise $1200, Pete, Steve and Jeff would shave their heads.  ATC has offered to match whatever amount is raised.

As part of our valued dealer body, you are also part of the ATC family and we thought we would at least let you all know what is going on around here. We wanted to share this with you so that you might have a little forewarning why some of us may be bald come October 13, and also provide you an opportunity to support this cause.

If you do choose to contribute toward this, we would like to know by the first week in October.  Contributions to the “Steiner Fund” are completely tax deductible and checks are to be made out to Goshen Kiwanis Foundation.  Or you can visit the Isaac Nation facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TheIsaacNation?sk=app_4949752878. Regardless if you choose to contribute, please hold the Steiner family in your prayers during this challenging time.  The shaving will happen on October 13^th… and photos will be provided!

Much thanks for your thoughts and prayers,

Pete, Steve and Jeff

Just the other day, ATC celebrated our 12th year in business. It’s hard to believe it was that long ago, but I guess what they say is true… time flies when you are having fun! We’ve always wondered about those first few trailers we had built back in the Fall of 1999. Well, just the other day we got photos of our very first trailer, and we humbly share them with you. Please note, if you see any manufacturing defects, please forward your concerns on to Steve directly… since he was the rookie installing the floors and running the screw gun!

We don’t build a lot of translucent roofs here at ATC, but when we do it sure catches some attention! The lack of ceiling liner makes it a touch more difficult to have the neat clean finished look, especially when we have to run 120V wire.  Our guys did an outstanding job on this one! Kudos to the guys on the line here at ATC!

Here’s yet another exciting marketing trailer by ATC!  As shown, this customer also wanted to showcase their car while on the road.  Most times this is done with large acrylic panels, but this customer chose to do it with large RV style windows.  As you can see, this also creates quite a striking look.

Over the 4th of July break we were busy here at ATC!  We took down 204 metal halide lamps in our factory and replaced them with 172 new compact fluorescent T5 lights.  The old metal halide lamps consumed 785 kw of power each day and the new compact fluorescent T5 fixtures only consume 398 kw per day…. That’s a whopping 49% decrease in energy consumption!  Even though this was a sizable investment, it will help ATC continue to control costs and stay price competitive in today’s marketplace.  Isn’t it great when doing the responsible thing is also doing good business!  Thanks for sharing in our small success and helping ATC to reduce our carbon footprint.

For those of you have been loyal ATC customers for some time, you may recall the “famed” t6 toy hauler LQ floor plan… Well over the years we have had many requests for this configuration and we’re getting ready to reintroduce it as one of our standard LQ floor plans.  We completed a trailer last week that highlights the basic overview of what will become our new 16.5’ LQ floor plan.  This plan features a front walk though bathroom, road side slide out, a private bunk bedroom and an integrated generator compartment forward on the road side.  Check out these photos and stay tuned as we will be providing more info as it becomes available.

As you know ATC has a great design on our open aluminum car haulers, but did you know we also build some deck over designs.  See your local dealer for more details.

Many cargo trailer customers want the convenience of a ramp door but still need to have the ability to easily load their trailers from the rear with a bobcat or fork truck.  To accomplish this, ATC has designed a new cargo/ramp combination door for our 7’ and 8.5’ SS and MSX trailers.  This option comes complete with our rear stainless steel paddle locks and has a clean look to it.  This new option is competitively priced… see your local dealer for full details.

Trailers with drop down stage walls are rapidly growing in popularity.  To help make our stage trailers better, we have redesigned our stage leg supports.  These new stage legs are easier to use and much more cost competitive.   Please see the attached photo for the new ATC stage leg design.  Call your local dealer today to discuss any stage trailer questions.

This recent 26′ ATC stacker is sure to turn some heads.  This trailer features our new 7″ lower trim, redesigned cast corner, spread axles, ramp side door combo, Bard A/C with stainless steel cover and a tongue mounted Onan generator system.  Please contact your local dealer to learn more about this trailer and the many other exciting things going on at ATC.