.jpg) A 1946 Fruehauf semi-trailer (mated to a 1952 Federal 45M truck tractor) on display at the Henry Ford Museum in 2012 | |
| Industry | Semi-trailer manufacturing, defense industry |
|---|---|
| Founded | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. February 27, 1918 |
| Founder | August Charles Fruehauf |
| Fate | Acquired by Wabash National |
Fruehauf Trailer Corporation, previously Fruehauf Trailer Company (1918–1963) and Fruehauf Corporation (1963–1989),[1] was an American company engaged in the manufacture and sale of truck trailers, and other machinery and equipment, with headquarters located in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1918 in Detroit, after August Fruehauf created the semi-trailer and launched a new industry. The Fruehauf trailer company introduced revolutionary inventions to trucking and transportation with hydraulic dump trailers, bulk tanker trailers, and automatic fifth-wheel couplings among their more than one thousand patents, including the shipping container in 1956. Expanding across the country, Fruehauf had 16 plants and more than 80 distributorships for parts and service. Globally, the company expanded into Europe, South America, and Asia.
Following a proxy battle in the late 1980s the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1997. International divisions became independent, U.S. subsidiaries such as Kelsey Hayes, Pro-Par, Budd Wheels, and Hobbs were sold; Wabash National acquired the crippled company in 1997.