During the week of December 5, Brenner Tank broke at least two sales records, accepting orders for 249 tanks.
“When you consider our total count for all of 2003 was just over 500 tanks, this is a very good sign that business is turning around in our industry,” said John F. Cannon, VP of sales and marketing.
“It was just a great week,” said Bruce Yakley, president and COO.
The record number of orders for a single week was not a huge surprise. Business has been growing steadily and Brenner Tank has been adding to its work force during the past few months. More surprising was that the bulk of this record can be attributed to two customers – a Milwaukee-based company ordered 110 tanks; another 115 were purchased by the largest carrier in North America. Prior to last week, the largest single order Brenner ever received was for 100 tanks.
Said Cannon, “Many fleets have not been purchasing for the last few years, so it’s clear some of the tanks are replacement. However, many of them are also for fleet growth.”
One key area of growth for tank fleets and Brenner is in aluminum units. “Impending government requirements for ultra-low sulfur diesel have increased the need for aluminum tanks,” Cannon said. “Also, there’s renewed activity in the Southwest U.S. oil fields and the tar sands of Alberta, as a result of the relatively high price for crude oil.”
Brenner Tank LLC has long been known as the leader in stainless steel tank manufacturing in North America. Now, Brenner’s share of the aluminum tank market has also grown with orders from two of the United States largest aluminum equipment purchasers.
“Our plan is to hire approximately 70 new hourly employees – primarily welders,” Yakley said. “To date, we have about half of those hires completed; we’re also anticipating a 10% increase in salaried staff during 2006.”
Brenner Tank is also working to develop its own pool of skilled labor through Skilled Welder Training program, which combines a mentorship component with on-site training. According to Dawn Polakoski, Human Resource Manager at Brenner, “We’re working to identify individuals with a strong work ethic and general aptitude, enhance their skill levels and provide them with a meaningful career path. We’ll teach them to weld and in return they get a good, safe workplace, exceptional salary and benefits.”