Experience Great Dane’s Sustainable Innovations at TMC
SAVANNAH, GA (March 1, 2024) – Great Dane is excited to share innovations with a focus on sustainability at the...
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VIDEO SERIES: 124 YEARS AND RUNNING
Chapter One
A leader from the very beginning. That’s our story. When Great Dane first began making trailers, we quickly earned a reputation that would span the eastern seaboard. But Great Doesn’t Stop.
With decade upon decade of innovation, our trailers have served thousands of customers on rural routes and busy highways throughout North America.
VIDEO SERIES: SPINE OF STEEL
Crafters of Sheet Metal
By 1916, Great Dane is no longer simply a blowpipe systems supplier. To meet growing customer demand, the company begins fabricating light structural steel and steel plate products at its new 10,000 square foot manufacturing facility in downtown Savannah.
Lathrop Avenue
The two dozen workers at the Lathrop plant would make effective use of a 10-ton traveling crane, a blacksmith facility, and the latest cutting and punching tools to form steel for its growing list of customers. The Lathrop Avenue location would run strong for the better part of a century.
This is an original image of the first blow pipe factory in Savannah, GA from the early 1900’s.
VIDEO SERIES: NEW ROADS, NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Road to Opportunity
It’s easy to take our nation’s highways for granted. But it wasn’t always that way. With our country still reeling from the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt needed to get people working again. One way was by expanding our nation’s interstate system—something he believed was critical to our economy and national defense. Seizing the opportunity, our company chairman, George Mercer, approved the design of the original Great Dane trailer for over-the-road freight hauling.
Cutting Weight
Responding to highway weight restrictions aimed at haulers, the company develops lightweight tank trailers and van trailers made from high-tensile steel. An exceptionally lightweight stressed skin van becomes the company’s flagship product.
VIDEO SERIES: GREAT DANE - A NAME ROOTED IN STRENGTH
Chapter Three - Part 2
Our country has been through a lot over the years. Along the way, Great Dane has been trusted to keep it moving forward. Even in times of war.
With a reputation for building them out of high-tensile steel, Great Dane proves to be the right partner to have, especially with lives on the line.
Loyal Heritage
To build its game-changing trailer, the company contacted the best trailer man in the business, William Lowndes from Greenville, South Carolina. Lowndes and his employees are credited with the name Great Dane. Known for hauling milk carts long distances, the loyal Belgium breed was the perfect embodiment of the company’s new breed of trailer, nicknamed “Great Danes.”
The first Great Dane trailers were 16- to 20-foot-long flatbeds, with single axles and payload capacities of three to six tons.
Sign of Things to Come
The company changed its name to Steel Product Company to reflect its vast portfolio of steel-formed products.
VIDEO SERIES: SUPPLYING OUR TROOPS
Serving Our Country
Our country has endured a lot over the years. Along the way, Great Dane has been trusted to keep it moving forward, even in times of war. During World War II, Great Dane was handpicked to manufacture military-grade trailers. With a reputation for building them out of high-tensile steel, Great Dane proved to be the right partner to have, especially with lives on the line.
Army Navy E for Excellence
Scores of heavy-duty trailers aiding the war effort have earned Great Dane the prestigious Army Navy E For Excellence on five separate occasions.
VIDEO SERIES: FRESH THINKING
Innovation on Ice
As demand for U.S. produce increases, Great Dane innovates. Using a gas engine and blower system to circulate air over blocks of ice, Great Dane refrigerated trailers, known simply as reefers, make it possible for thousands of Americans to put fresh fruits and vegetables on the table.
VIDEO SERIES: ALWAYS A BETTER ANSWER
Always a Better Answer
The National Interstate and Defense Highways Act set limits on the size and weight of trucks and trailers to help preserve our nation’s roadways. Great Dane was more than happy to comply. In fact, we not only began building our trailers longer and bigger to hold more payload, but we also made them lighter.
Westward Expansion
By 1956, Great Dane would have sales outlets in 18 states and 31 U.S. cities.
A Brand is Born
In 1958 we officially change our name from the Steel Products Company to Great Dane Trailers, a name that reflects our past and our future. To underscore the change, a red background is added to the signature Great Dane logo.
Going All In
Comprised primarily of lightweight aluminum, Great Dane redesigned our line of van trailers and created a new line of tank trailers. They were so well received that we phased out all structural steel products. By decade’s end, Great Dane was 100% in the trailer business.
VIDEO SERIES: PATH TO GREATNESS
Taking Alternate Routes
With companies finding new ways to carry freight—shipping “piggyback” trailers on railroad flatcars and “fishyback” containers for maritime cargo—Great Dane completed its first piggyback trailer order. We followed this up two years later with our first maritime container order.
Serving the Eastern Seaboard
Great Dane blanketed the Eastern U.S. with sales outlets in 24 states. Direct piggyback and maritime container partnerships were made with companies like the Fruit Growers Express Company, the Chesapeake & Ohio R.R. Co., Xtra, Inc. and the Grace Line.
Expanding Into Europe
In 1966, Great Dane entered into European manufacturing agreements with Adamson & Hatchett, Ltd. of Dukinfield, Cheshire, England, to serve the British Commonwealth nations and with Van Hool & Fils of Koningshooikt, Belgium, to serve the European market. This same year, Great Dane announced a $2M expansion program that doubled trailer production.
Freight Forwarding
In 1967, Great Dane became a subsidiary of United States Freight Company (soon to become Transway International Corporation), the world’s largest freight forwarder.
VIDEO SERIES: UP TO THE TEST
Acquiring Arrow
With the purchase of Arrow Trailers in Memphis, Tennessee, we now have our second manufacturing facility. Dedicated to platform trailers, the Memphis plant increased production nearly twofold.
Putting Brazil on the Map
Great Dane built a new dry van manufacturing plant in Brazil, Indiana—an ideal location for serving Western and Midwestern trailer markets. The plant would then double its output in 1978 with the addition of refrigerated trailer production.
Up to the Test
In I974 Great Dane broke new ground with its Research & Development Lab. Here, space-age road simulation equipment exposes trailers to 10 years’ worth of wear and tear in a matter of weeks.
Savannah Surges
With our Brazil plant taking on production of straight frame, aluminum, and FRP dry freight vans, Savannah steps up its reefer van capacity. New insulating technology adds to the increase.
VIDEO SERIES: RAMPING UP PRODUCTION
Ramping up Production
In a period of explosive growth, Great Dane expanded into international markets, including Canada, England, Turkey, Mexico, and South America.
Massive Expansion
Our Brazil plant expanded in 1984 to include a large order line for trailers and, one year later, a Composite Panel Plant to manufacture Fiberglass Reinforced Panels and similar products. A new Parts Distribution Center also began serving the Western aftermarket.
Robotic Technology
Robotic welding was introduced to our Memphis plant. Plasma arch cutting followed soon after.
Growing Commitment
International Controls Corp acquires Great Dane’s parent company in 1986, making an even deeper commitment to truck-trailer manufacturing.
Gathering Data
Experimental trailers undergo over-the-road service to gain data prior to the introduction of the ThermaCube reefer in January of 1988.
SuperSeal
In 1988, Great Dane acquired the SuperSeal reefer production plant in Wayne, Nebraska—a move that created the broadest line of reefers in the industry.
State-of-the-Art Testing & Design
Computer-driven Road Simulation Equipment was installed at the company’s Research & Development Lab—the only one of its kind still operating today. This was followed closely by the introduction of Finite Element Analysis software, which proved essential in achieving optimum strength-to-weight product design.
Merging Interests
International Controls Corp merged with Checker Holding Corp in 1989. Meanwhile, another Parts Distribution Center opens in Memphis.
VIDEO SERIES: BRANCHING OUT
Terre Haute
The 90’s are an ambitious period for Great Dane. In 1996 the company opens a dry van plant and parts distribution center in Terre Haute, Indiana.
World’s Largest
The 90’s were an ambitious period for Great Dane. In 1996, we opened a dry van plant and parts distribution center in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Full-Service Approach
Nearing 100 years in business, Great Dane began modernizing its branches. In the process, our Little Rock location went from a sales office to a full-service branch, complete with parts and service bays. Branches in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Dallas, Texas, soon followed.
VIDEO SERIES: BUILDING MOMENTUM
Chapter Eleven
The close of the 20th century was an important milestone for our company and the world.
As people across the globe celebrated a new millennium, Great Dane celebrated a century in business.
This new chapter in the company's history brought an expanded footprint and the latest innovations.
Celebrating the Century Mark
With the new millennium, Great Dane reached a rare milestone: 100 years.
One year later the company acquired Strick’s Eastern Van Manufacturing facilities in Danville, Pennsylvania and Abbeville, South Carolina and two of Trailmobile’s manufacturing facilities in Jonesboro, Arkansas and Charleston, Illinois. Their proximity to existing plants helped our company better serve the Northeastern U.S. and Canada.
SSL Dry Freight Van Makes Its Debut
Offering considerably less maintenance than plate and composite wall trailers, the SSL dry freight van’s sheet-and-post construction with patented steel-lined interior walls offered unmatched durability and cargo protection. Introduced in 2002, the versatile interior lining can be converted based on the products being hauled.
One-Stop-Shop
Charlotte’s complete service experience featuring a high-tech paint booth, more service bays, expanded parts warehouses, and plenty of yard space, set the pace for all to follow. This led to grand openings in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, and Dallas, Texas.
Huntsville
In 2004 Great Dane announced the acquisition of a Huntsville, Tennessee plant previously owned by Wabash National Corporation. Within the year, the Freedom line and other platform trailers kicked off production.
All-time Company Record
By 2006 nearly 33 percent of the market demand for refrigerated vans and more than 28 percent for dry freight vans were fulfilled by Great Dane. In total, more than 60,000 trailers were shipped from our nine factories. Regarding dry freight sales, SSL models made up nearly 15 percent of the industry’s total shipments.
Saying Goodbye
For nearly a century the Savannah plant supplied the transportation industry with the most innovative, highest–quality reefers available. But economic strains and the need for more efficient production factored into the decision to close the Savannah manufacturing plant and build a new plant in nearby Statesboro, Georgia.
VIDEO SERIES: GROWTH AND EXPANSION
Goods Mobility
Great Dane dropped the word “trailers” from our name to reflect our complete lineup of transportation solutions—offering the Alpine and Sahara truck bodies, with dry vans as Champion, reefers as Everest, and flatbeds as Freedom. A new oval logo was added to all reefers and dry vans.
Growing By Leaps & Bounds
In 2010, Great Dane expanded by opening a reefer plant in Statesboro, Georgia, and acquiring Johnson Truck Bodies. Expansion continued in 2016 with the launch of a dry van plant in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.
New Corporate Office in Savannah
Great Dane returned to its original home city of Savannah, Georgia, in 2016 by opening a new corporate office.
The new office, which includes the industry’s most advanced research and development lab, shows Great Dane’s commitment to its people and customers.
The Future of Goods Mobility
Great Dane is in the midst of yet another transformation: from a trailer company to a goods mobility company. Driven by data, our FleetPulse Smart Trailer System is putting all the information you need right at your fingertips, from yard operations and delivery to cargo protection and compliance. Now more than ever, running with Great Dane means running smarter—year upon year, mile after mile.
VIDEO SERIES: FUTURE FOCUSED
Chapter Thirteen
Safety is a core value of everything we do at Great Dane. The company’s Think Safety First initiative promotes safe work behaviors and raises awareness about how injuries impact team members and their loved ones.
Safety is a part of every workday, evident in the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association awards won by Great Dane manufacturing plants in 2020, 2021, and 2022, adding to the nearly 50 the company has won since its inception.
New Look, New Brand, Same Great Dane
In February 2022, the company unveiled a new brand evolution – including an update to the iconic Great Dane logo.
The new brand identity, which includes an update to Champ, represents our collective focus on providing end-to-end solutions for the transportation industry. It embodies our shared values of strength, pride, and a forward-thinking approach.
This new brand identity helps connect Great Dane’s historic past to the company’s exciting future.
Top Place For Women To Work In Transportation
In 2023, Great Dane was honored with a prestigious award named a Top Company for Women to Work For in Transportation by the Women in Trucking Association. This award is an incredible honor for Great Dane and a testament to the talented, hard-working women on the Great Dane team.
FleetPulse Steps Out On Its Own
Five years after launching our smart trailer solution, FleetPulse branched out from the Great Dane umbrella to a standalone business entity in 2023.
What's New on the Great Dane Blog
Great Dane Welcomes Bill Davidson as EVP of Manufacturing
SAVANNAH, GA ( January 17, 2024) – Great Dane is pleased to announce the company has welcomed William (Bill) Davidson...
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