SmithCo Side Dump Trailers

A big advantage with side dumps is the aspect of staying in the cab of the truck. You never get out, everything's done from the driver's seat. Dump time, 30 seconds to pull onto the site, dump the tub, bring it back to the frame, put it back in gear and off you go.

I read a quote from Warren Buffet the other day that said, “We can afford to lose money, even a lot of money, but we can't afford to lose our reputation.” While I’m not a fan of losing money, that quote really rang true to me. When you start to lose your reputation in the industry, whether it’s from a quality standpoint, customer support, or just your industry-leading reputation and position, it is almost impossible to get back. That’s why things like our patent-pending kingpin are so important. New product development assures our customers that they’re working with an innovative company that’s on the forefront of design within the industry. It's also a part of our brand and who we are as the industry leader. So, we are always looking at how we can build a certain trailer better or more features that we need to improve upon in order to maintain our reputation as the industry leader.

One of the main benefits of side dumps I like to share with current end dump owners is the trailer’s stability and its ability to haul and dump various commodities. Side dumps excel at hauling sand, gravel and aggregates in any size, to more fluid materials such as manure and waste cake. All the things that’ll end up leaking out of the end gate or sticking in the tub and potentially causing a tip-over with end dumps are not an issue with a side dump.

What does it mean when we say we build solutions at SmithCo? When it comes to product development, there are two different facets we look at. One side is developing something we've never built before. The other side is making improvements to an existing product. Either way, you must listen to your customers. New product development is often a function of what our customers ask us for. We'll take a call and the person says, “Hey, I want to accomplish this. Here's what I'm hauling, here's what I want to achieve, what's possible?” And we'll look at what our current portfolio of trailers might be able to do for them. Sometimes that requires us to think outside the box and design something new. A great example is our new patent-pending kingpin design, which was developed strictly based on feedback from our customers. We were the first side dump company to develop a removable kingpin, and we used customer feedback to make it even better. Some of our competitors use a weld-in kingpin so when it wears out, it has to be cut out - and it's a lot of work and hassle to replace. We have a better mouse trap when it comes to the kingpin. We don’t view customer feedback as complaints. If your company listens well, customer feedback is valuable information.