Kansas City, MO American Trailer & Storage (AT&S) announced today that the company signed a dealership agreement with Reitnouer, Inc., a Reading, Pennsylvania manufacturer.  Reitnouer is the transportation industry’s leading all aluminum semi-trailer flatbed manufacturer.

“AT&S is proud to join the Reitnouer team.  They have been building highest quality flatbed trailers since 1982, and we think they are a great complement to our rental fleet and new Hyundai line of dry vans and refrigerated trailers” said Rick Honan, AT&S President.  The addition of the Reitnouer line gives AT&S a full range of new semi-trailers, including dry vans, refrigerated trailers, steel, combination and now aluminum flatbed semi-trailers.

According to a February 2013 article in Trailer/Body Builders industry publication, Reintnouer built 2,750 all-aluminum, bolted design platform trailers in 2012, a 79% increase over 2011 production.  Bud Reitnouer “thinks fleets are looking for the lighter weight trailers to offset the heavier truck tractors now needed. Road de-icing chemicals now play a role in the increasing market share for all-aluminum designs.” (Truck Body Builders, February 2013).

AT&S will sell and service the full line of Reitnouer trailers including the MaxMiser model (a 90,000 lb. GVWR* heavy weight flatbed trailer, the Big Bubba, a 100,000 lb. GVWR model, the Bigger Bubba, a 110,000 lb. GVWR model designed to handle the heaviest loads, and the MaxLite, an 80,000 lb. GVWR model designed to maximize payload.  Additionally, American Trailer & Storage will offer the Reitnouer B-train in lengths from 28’ to 32’, multi-axle options on all trailers and drop deck trailers (DropMiser models) with the strength needed for heavy hauls with the increased load capacity of an aluminum trailer.

About AT&S
AT&S is a full service semi-trailer and container rental and sales dealer with locations in Kansas City, Saint Louis and Omaha.  Established in 1994, AT&S works with businesses of all sizes to provide storage, cartage and over the road semi-trailers and storage containers/conex boxes and other portable storage related services and solutions. With locations in various cities throughout the Midwest, AT&S provides portable storage in Saint Louis, Kansas City storage containers and Lincoln/Omaha storage containers.  AT&S has storage trailers for rent.  Additionally, AT&S has both containers for sale and trailers for sale.  The strong Midwestern work ethic is the foundation of our service.  No customer is too big or too small for us.  For more information about AT&S log on to http://www.ATandSonline.com or call (816) 765-7771.

For those who need to have a steel container painted to like new condition, American Trailer & Storage (AT&S) has partnered with RTD Refurbishing to blast the container to bare metal prior to priming and painting.  RTD uses soda blast technology.  Check out a YouTube video (link below) of the blast technology in use on a shipping container.  Give us a call for the storage container modification or painting projects that require a pristine finish…any color your wish.

Using soda-blast technology, AT&S removed the paint from the bottom of this shipping / storage container down to the bare metal. The soda blast leaves a rough surface and the conex box is now ready to receive a primer and/or paint.

Standard ISO manufactured shipping containers are commonly known as being built from steel.  There are, however, ISO units created from aluminum that have significant differences in terms of not only their structural integrity but their function in carrying cargo as well.

International cargo is carried utilizing two main types of freight containers: Dry and Refrigerated.  Dry cargo, for the most part, is moved using Steel Shipping Containers.   Dry Van, Open Top and Flat Rack containers are primarily built with steel and the newer steel containers have undergone a careful process of sandblasting and heavy duty coating to optimize strength as well as resistance to corrosion.  Some of the older dry boxes were built from aluminum, until the industry moved to steel shipping containers which were designated as a much stronger type of unit for the heavy cargo that is typical in dry goods.

Refrigerated shipments, due to being much lighter in load capacity are developed using aluminum and stainless steel as the primary compounds.  Reefer containers, as there called, need to be insulated with very thick side walls and the overall weight of aluminum is much less than that of steel making the aluminum container a much more sensible approach to transporting frozen or temperature sensitive products.  The thermal efficiency and ability to maintain minimum air leakage are other positive aspects of the aluminum shipping container.  With this in mind, once serviceable refrigerated containers are retired and the cooling machinery is no longer working they are very often considered for use as carrying any type of cargo, dry or frozen, that need insulation from the outside elements.  In other words, steel and aluminum containers can be used for the same basic function depending on what the customer wants.  When shipping goods I think the votes have been counted: steel is king with dry goods, and aluminum is the choice for frozen or refrigerated products.

So, the questions from that point remains: should someone considering a non-working refrigerated container built from aluminum vs a steel shipping container for their general portable storage needs, which one is best?

The answer is very subjective, but need also take into consideration maintenance, lifespan and of course the function required.  Aluminum containers can be very expensive to repair, as the welding process is much more involved.  Seams and other portions of non working reefer containers are riveted, and can be costly to re-create.  However, if the environment is extreme, and the goods are sensitive to temperature, the aluminum container might be the best choice regardless of the more expensive repair costs and the shorter lifespan.  Steel containers for sale are much more cost effective to repair, and performing general modifications to steel cargo boxes is a simpler procedure.  The steel shipping container for sale is also more readily available, and much more durable.

Aside from shipping, due to the primary intended use for re-purposing ISO containers is for dry portable storage, it seems that the winner in this case is the steel container.  It’s stronger, more diverse and more cost effective to maintain.  Not to mention, the plethora of uses for steel containers far outweigh that it’s aluminum counterpart.  Containerized architecture, creative structures and extensive modifications are becoming a very popular up-cycle for ocean freight containers made of steel.

Brian Keith hired as Omaha Operations Manager for American Trailer & Storage (AT&S)

American Trailer and Storage, Inc., provider of portable storage and transportation solutions to the retail, manufacturing, construction, warehousing, and transportation industries, has named Brian Keith as its Operations Manager for its Omaha location.  The Omaha location serves Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa, to include cities such as Omaha, Lincoln, Council Bluffs, Grand Island, and even as far as North Platte and Des Moines.

Mr. Keith brings several years of industry and business experience to AT&S.  Previously, Brian worked for Werner Enterprises in Omaha as a customer service manager.  Additionally, Keith worked as a property manager for Keith property Management in Bellevue, NE.

Mr. Keith’s experience and desire to provide top-notch service will be a huge asset to AT&S.  He will be an integral part of our team dedicated to providing quality, well maintained storage and cartage trailers, containers and new Hyundai Translead trailers to meet our customer needs.

About AT&S

Established in 1994, AT&S works with businesses of all sizes to provide storage, cartage and over the road semi-trailers and storage containers/conex boxes and other portable storage related services and solutions. With locations in various cities throughout the Midwest, AT&S provides portable storage in Saint Louis, Kansas City storage containers and Lincoln/Omaha storage containers.  AT&S has storage trailers for rent.  Additionally, AT&S has both containers for sale and trailers for sale.  The strong Midwestern work ethic is the foundation of our service.  No customer is too big or too small for us.  For more information about AT&S log on to http://www.ATandSonline.com or call (816) 765-7771.

AT&S announced that Dale Martens, American Trailer & Storage (AT&S) Vice-President of Sales was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Trailer Dealers Association (NTDA) for a three year term.

The NTDA formed in 1990 to represent the interests of companies that sell, manufacture, lease, and repair semi-trailers and trailer parts and accessories throughout North America.  These companies provide semi-trailers and services to a wide range of users including the transportation industry, retail industry, construction industry, manufacturers, oil, gas and renewable energy industries, and a multitude of other industries. The NTDA has over 500 members and affiliated industry suppliers and service provider members.  According to the NTDA’s website (www.ntda.org), the “NTDA provides Federal Excise Tax information through a hotline manned by tax specialists, education, and member programs and services, and produces the annual NTDA Convention, which features New Product Presentations, Tabletop Displays, world-class educational programs, and a Golf Tournament. The Association maintains its administrative headquarters in suburban Detroit and its Board and staff make annual visits to meet with Senators and Congressional Representatives in Washington. DC”.

Dale Martens brings over 20 years of experience and expertise in vehicle sales and dealership management.  Before employment with AT&S, Mr. Martens owned and operated automotive dealerships for Nissan, Subaru and Dodge brands. American Trailer & Storage has been a dealer for Hyundai Translead (HT) since 2011. Hyundai Translead manufactures a full line of semi-trailers including dry-vans, refrigerated, flat beds, and container chassis.  According to Truck Body Builder’s, HT produced 25,350 semi-trailers in 2011, making them the fourth largest trailer manufacturer in North America.  AT&S also sells new side dump and belly dump trailers.  Mr. Martens has been with AT&S for over four years.  “I look forward to serving on the board of the NTDA.  I have met many great people in the semi-trailer industry through the NTDA and think that Gwen Brown has done an outstanding job over the past several years” said Dale.