At SmithCo, we’ve learned a lot about how to build a side dump over the past 25 years, which is why we now build the best in the industry.
The company began with Greg Smith, who owned a small trucking company. After experiencing expensive tipping issues with his end dump trailers, he was told to find another way to do his trucking or get out of the business. He set out to visit a small company in Oregon, US, that built a side dump trailer and bought it. But he still needed to modify the side dump design further to suit his needs.
This led to the creation of SmithCo.
SmithCo’s history with side dump design
Side dump trailer design has changed dramatically over the years, not only in how the trailer looks but also how it functions. SmithCo has made significant investments in time and money in evaluating our trailer designs using finite element analysis (FEA) and field testing.
We’ve studied what types of steelwork best in a side dump application to give our trailers the strength and durability that our customers expect, along with new technologies such as remote control, tarp systems, and hydraulic controls.
Side dump trailers for mining, industrial and material handling applications
The first side dumps were used to haul aggregates by construction companies and quarries. As SmithCo developed the side dump concept, designing and building different trailers, it quickly became apparent that this concept could be adapted for many industries.
Side dumps now work in agriculture, waste, mining, demolition, construction, and aggregate hauling. They provide operators with the ability to buy one trailer that can fulfil a multitude of jobs.
Before side dumps, there wasn’t a trailer that could handle nearly every type of workload. Most dump trailers were designed for specific tasks and were often adapted to do jobs they weren’t necessarily designed to do. End dumps were sometimes viewed as ‘throwaway’ assets because it was an eventuality that the trailer would tip over and be a total loss.
When the side dump came along, people quickly realised that there’s almost nothing that a side dump can’t haul safely and efficiently. Companies in the hauling industry can now bid multiple types of jobs and know that they have one trailer that can handle all of them.
Development of SmithCo
From the very beginning, SmithCo goes the extra mile to deliver high-performance trailers and make sure we take care of our customers.
Since it was founded 25 years ago, SmithCo has developed new processes and procedures to match our growth and ever-expanding trailer models. We’ve also become more efficient and more dependent on technology to help us remain the market leader.
Whether we are talking about engineering software or our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, SmithCo has always been a company that isn’t afraid to adapt to new technologies and systems to help us achieve our goals. We know that SmithCo will continue to change with the times, but our commitment to quality and customer service will never go away.
