SAUK CENTRE, MINNESOTA (February 15, 2016) – Motorcycling is about the machine, the ride, the people, the culture and the experiences along the way. As an avid motorcyclist himself, Gary Knudsen, a Felling Trailers trailer consultant, was more than obliged to attend an annual 2-day motorcycle run that a Felling Trailers dealer holds each year.
Even though the attendees come from various fields, they share the common love of cycling. The hope for events like this is to of course enjoy the open road, but also to build working relationships by adding to their familiarity and trust.
That had been the case when Knudsen called on a regional manager at a road building company (a Felling Trailers dealer) a few years before attending his first motorcycle run. “I called on one of the regional managers for a couple of years before he called and asked to stop in at Felling Trailers one day in early spring. At that time, the company’s dealer’s need was for trailers that could transport their skid steers. Felling Trailers met that need with its FT-14 I (14,000 pound capacity) drop deck trailer.
By chance later that year in July, both Knudsen and the regional manager mentioned earlier attended the 2-day motorcycle run. Over the 2 days, the group covered approximately 500 miles including to and from the event, and during that time, the two men got to know each other better and formed a comradery. Later that summer, the regional manager contacted Knudsen for assistance in ordering a semi-trailer to transport paving machines. Pavers are infamous for being difficult to load due to the low-ground clearance of the machines. The two worked together along with Felling Trailers’ engineering department to design the end product: a FT-100-3 MX-L (100,000 pound capacity distributed, 65,000 pounds in 10’, 59,500 pounds in 4’) semi-trailer that was equipped with an 8º full width hydraulic bi-fold ramp and hydraulic upper deck ramp systems.
The next winter the regional manager contacted Knudsen stating the trailer was working great and placed an order for a second unit similar to the first one. The bi-fold ramp provided the ideal degree of incline for the variety of low-clearance equipment that the company transported regularly. The feature of the front hydraulic ramp (8’ in length) further diversified the trailer to be capable of loading rollers, skid steers or other equipment on the upper deck of the semi-trailer. The FT-100-3 MX-L worked so efficiently for the regional manager, he referred another regional manager within his company to contact Knudsen to order two of his own FT-100-3 MX-L’s.
Over the course of 3 years, the mentioned company/dealer has purchased multiple units, and each year Knudsen and the regional manager travel together to take part in the motorcycle run, creating many more road tales.
For more information, visit Felling Trailers.
