Father-Son Team Rescues Aztec-Nuvan, Begins Building Wingliner Trailers

TOM BERG • SENIOR EQUIPMENT EDITOR

What does it take to rescue a company? The father-son team of Richard G. Worthy and R. Gavin Worthy says it ought to include knowledge and experience in an industry. Of course, they had little of either. Yet they succeeded in picking up the pieces of the company that made Aztec and Nuvan trailers in Mansfield, Texas, and relaunching it as Efficient Hauling Systems Industries, saving 45 jobs in the process.

They resumed production of Aztec platform, dropdeck and oil-field trailers and Nuvan curtainsided vehicles, then began building European-style folding-side trailers after obtaining a license from the Austrian originator. EHS has produced 345 trailers since the resurrection that began late last year.

The Worthys, residents of Dallas whose backgrounds include legal prosecution, corporate law, factoring and financing – but nothing in trailer building – said they were called in as consultants when Aztec-Nuvan was floundering and about to be shut down. The entrepreneur who had founded the company didn't have the business expertise to keep it going, but the Worthys liked what they saw in employees and products. They bought the firm's assets and placed them under the new EHS name, and solicited new orders to get the workers busy.

"We need work," is what Richard Worthy told FedEx Express and Penske Leasing, long-time buyers of Nuvan curtainsided trailers and truck bodies. Managers at those companies were impressed enough with the father-son team's earnestness that they placed modest orders that revived production. All but two of the original employees stayed, and the Worthys hired a chief engineer with experience in trailer building. They also retained the founder as a consultant. Employees now enjoy health insurance – a fringe benefit that they had lost for about a year amid the previous company's struggles.

"We keep our promises so you can keep yours" – EHS's motto – was coined early on, and the Worthys insist that all delivery commitments be kept. More sales have brought production up to 80 a month, and expansion is likely.

Business is good because of new features for existing products as well as the new Wingliner. EHS now offers a lightweight Nuvan curtainsider that scales at 11,800 pounds, compared to a typical 14,000. Among its features is a composite aluminum-and-steel mainframe, but it still uses steel in its nose and rear doors. All trailers are offered with galvanized steel components, including completely zinc-dipped mainframes, to fight corrosion and add years of service life.

The Wingliner's folding sides can be applied to trailers and truck bodies so cargo can be loaded and unloaded from the sides or rear, and still be secured behind solid panels. Each side is hinged in two pieces, and is moved up- or downward by an electric-over-hydraulic mechanism. A vehicle can be opened or closed in under a minute.

Wingliners can be built with one or both sides folding, with standard or insulated walls, and with ramps and other custom appliances. Munitions haulers are among motor carriers interested in the Wingliner, the Worthys said.