THE STORY OF TRAIL KING INDUSTRIES

2000 CHAMPION | PROFESSIONAL

The story of how this reputation was built began in Mitchell, South Dakota in 1974, when Gordon and Shirley Thomsen founded Western Ag Sales. During the first few years, the company was primarily a distributor and sales representative for manufacturers of agricultural equipment. However, in 1978, Western Ag Sales purchased another Mitchell-based manufacturing company, Plains Industries, and moved into their manufacturing facility. With this purchase, Western Ag also brought a new line into their product offerings — a line of trailers called “Trail King”.

During the next few years, Western Ag expanded this line to include trailers with many enhanced features to better meet customers’ specific hauling needs. Probably most notable of these was Trail King’s development of what many at the time considered the best hydraulic detachable gooseneck in the industry – a system that made hooking up and unhooking a simple, one-person “60-second connection.”

As the 1970’s drew to a close, the company’s emphasis shifted away from the distribution of ag-related equipment in order to focus exclusively on the manufacture of Trail King Trailers. And to reflect this commitment, Western Ag Sales officially changed its name in 1983 to Trail King Industries. This specialized focus led to an expanded product line, and along came increased sales and increased production capability demands.

As Trail King sales continued to grow and strain production capacity at the seams, the plant was expanded in 1992 and again in 1994. Today, the total square footage of Trail King’s facilities in Mitchell alone stands at 295,000 square feet, providing state-of-the-art production capabilities for a workforce of over 450 employees.

In 2010, Trail King was acquired by CC Industries, Inc (CCI), which is headquartered in Chicago, IL. This acquisition not only expanded CCI’s portfolio of leading industrial manufacturers, but it also afforded Trail King the expertise and support necessary to enhance Trail King’s long-term strategic growth as North America’s leading specialized trailer manufacturer.

Yes, change has been a big part of Trail King’s history. Yet, despite all this growth and change, Trail King will always strive to lead the way in the trailer industry, delivering trailers that are engineered and manufactured to the highest standards of quality, performance, and reliability. And, as it has through all these years, Trail King will continue to value “the human element” of doing business.

GORDON & SHIRLEY THOMSEN

TRAIL KING: GORDON THOMSEN & FAMILY

NO LIMITS ON THE SOUTH DAKOTA PRAIRIE

PHOTOS

Do You Have a Great INVENTION IDEA?STEPS TO FILING A PATENT APPLICATION

Keep records of your invention1

Make sure your invention qualifies2

3

4 Do a thorough patent search

Prepare and file your application5

Assess the prospect of sales & profit

Record every step of the invention process in a notebook. Describe and diagram every aspect of the invention, including how you came up with the idea. You may want to build and test a prototype. Document these efforts in your journal or notebook. Sign and date each entry and have two reliable witnesses sign as well.

You cannot get a patent on just an idea. You must show how your invention works and it must be new. This means it must be different in some important way from all previous inventions, and cannot be for sale or be known about before you apply.

To make sure your invention is new, you need to search all the earlier developments in your field. This involves searching U.S. (and sometimes foreign) patents, as well as other publications like scientific and technical journals, to find related inventions.

It costs approximately $1,500 in fees to file and obtain a patent from the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). Before you spend the time and money to file a patent application, you need to research the market you hope to enter and decide if it’s worth the outlay of funds.

This is a regular patent application. It starts the examination process at the United States Patent and Trademark Office that’s necessary for getting the actual patent.

A PPA is not an actual application for the patent itself. Filing a PPA simply allows you to claim patent pending status for the invention and involves only a small fraction of work and the cost of a regular patent application.

REGULAR PATENT APPLICATION PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION

RPA PPA

TRAIL KING INDUSTRIES HISTORY & MILESTONES

1974

1983

1995

1995

2000

2010

2015

2018

Company founded as Western Ag Sales

Company name changed to Trail King Industries

Trail King acquired by Carlisle Companies, Inc.

Trail King acquires assets of Ti-Brook, Inc. (Brookville, PA)A D D E D E N D D U M P A N D D U M P B O DY T R A I L E R S TO T H E T R A I L K I N G P RO D U C T L I N E

Trail King acquires Red River Mfg, Inc. (West Fargo, ND)A D D E D L I V E B OT TO M A N D B OT TO M D U M P T R A I L E R S TO T H E T R A I L K I N G P RO D U C T L I N E

Trail King acquired by CC Industries, Inc.J O I N S H E N R Y C RO W N & C O M PA N Y ’ S FA M I LY O F P R I VAT E LY H E L D O P E R AT I N G C O M PA N I E S

Trail King acquires assets of Dakota Trailers (Yankton, SD)A D D E D A L U M I N U M G R A I N H O P P E R A N D G R A I N H O P P E R C O N V E YO R T R A I L E R S TO T H E T R A I L K I N G P RO D U C T L I N E

Trail King teams up with GoldhoferTO P RO M OT E A N D S U P P O RT E AC H OT H E R ’ S P RO D U C T S B OT H I N T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S A N D A RO U N D T H E W O R L D

T R A I L K I N G E N G I N E E R I N G D E PA RT M E N T, 1 9 8 7

T R A I L K I N G P RO D U C T L I N E , 1 9 8 0

CELEBRATING 45 YEARS IN BUSINESS

1480 S. MAIN, CHAMBERLAIN, SD 57325SDEXCELLENCE.ORG | SDHALLINFO@GMAIL.COM | 05.234.4216

SOUTH DAKOTA HALL OF FAME