Vantage Trailer, A Company With Amazing Employees

When I had the opportunity to chat with Pat Lemmons, owner of Vantage Trailer in Katy, Texas it was obvious how proud she is of her employees. It’s a pleasure to hear an owner speak so highly of their industrial staff, office administration, and crews. As the owner, her duties towards her company and her exceptional staff are huge. It’s a multi-faceted operation that cares about each and every aspect of what they create in the industrial world. The pride factor at what they have accomplished at Vantage Trailer is commendable. Here’s a little bit of our discussion.

So tell me a little bit about Vantage Trailer?
We are located in Katy, Texas. We’ve been there since 1996, but I started the company in 1991. Basically we manufacture aluminium end-dump trailers, petroleum, vacuums, and we also have a repair facility in that location. We pretty much service the type of crews and units that we build, as well as body mounts that we make.

How’s business in the great state of Texas?
When it’s booming it’s great! What can I say? Texas is the oil industry and the trucking industry is central to that. Our location is great for that. But when the economy is down, it’s down.

Do fluctuations in the economy make a difference in your business?
Absolutely fluctuations in the economy affect the company, that’s why we’re diverse in so many product lines. When one is down, the others are up. The petroleum, the crews, and the vacuums all pertain to the oil and gas industry, so that’s been heavily affected by the economy.

How many employees do you have in the office? In your repair shop?
In our offices, I would say 15-20 just looking around right now. The repair shop has about, well it’s been slow so we’ve laid off a few people. There are 16-18 right now in repair when things are booming, it’s probably around 25.
In manufacturing on the average I would say the most employees when things are booming, is about 125. Now we’re at 68. So it’s down a bit right now.

Is it from the economy? The election?
In election years everything slows down. We have started to see a pickup because people weren’t even wanting to quote trailers, with specific delivery dates before. But with all jobs they have to give a promise date of when they can move materials, so they are wanting us to give them firm dates on delivery dates now, so that’s a good sign.

Does your company have any specific environmental concerns to think about?
We are concerned with a unit if it were to split in half and cause an issue, but we build good solid trailers, so that fine. There’s always a chance of a wreck, so the hauling material is sometimes hazardous, but again we haven’t had any situations with that. Our products are impeccable quality.

What’s the motto behind your company?
It’s all about being a family owned business. I started it and my sons now work for me. Brian is the President, CEO, and head of sales, and my other son is Todd and he’s head of the parts department. My employees have gotten me where I am today. Their desire of perfection and sense of pride is going to turnout an excellent product. It’s all because of them and the terrific work they perform for us.
The majority of our employees have been with us for over 15 years. We are all highly trained and they take their work very seriously. We’re a proud company. They have a certain sense of pride and when you have that, your product is always going to be better, because our employees are proud of what they make and it shows.

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