Nimble Trailers, a Denver area company that builds semitrailers, is “three to four months” away from opening a new multi-million dollar manufacturing facility in Longview.
Larry Wessels, founding director of Nimble Trailers, said that his company considered a handful of potential sites up and down the West Coast before deciding to move to Longview. The initial draw, he said, was the people.
“Good, hardworking people are always a good draw,” said Wessels. “The people there have been tremendous.”
Wessels could not confirm the exact number of jobs the Longview facility will create, but at the end of last year, company president Todd Wessels said the new facility represents nearly 200 jobs, with the potential of creating an additional 439 positions over the next three years.
The key to Nimble Trailers’ anticipated growth is the company’s new 33-foot trailer design, which is longer, but lighter (thanks to carbon fiber) than the competition.
According to Wessels, new sliding and carriage technology makes all the difference.
“The big thing that we will do, and should be in the interest of probably anybody, is that we will haul [larger] loads,” he said. “We’ll [improve on] the 10-mile fuel consumption and therefore reduce the amount of emissions that go into the atmosphere. We’re moving trailer technology along by quite a bit.”
A potential roadblock faced by Nimble Trailers has to do with current laws on the books in many states. Throughout much of the U.S., trucks aren’t allowed to haul multiple trailers longer than 28 feet. However, pending legislation could change that.
“By switching from the 28- to 33-foot trailers, the industry will save over 100 million gallons of fuel, reducing emissions of over two billion pounds of carbon,” said Todd Wessles in a press release.
Waiting for transportation laws to change hasn’t meant that Nimble Trailers isn’t moving ahead with the production of larger trailers – and that’s precisely what the Longview facility represents.
In anticipation of a strong product and the potential to market abroad, Wessels emphasized the importance of the new facility’s proximity to both Seattle and Portland, as well as the importance of coastal access.
“The international marketplace could be pretty large,” said Wessels. “Once they understand our new technology, I think the foreign activity could increase. With access to the Pacific Coast, [Longview] looks like a pretty good place to work within the international marketplace.”
Nimble Trailers Longview facility will be located on close to seven acres of land near the intersection of Industrial Way and California Way.
