Unified Shur-Co unveils tarp system
Shur-Co, a Behrman Capital portfolio company, acquired US Tarp in August 2024, prompting a makeover that includes uniting US Tarp and Shur-Co’s other brands under the Shur-Co name and streamlining manufacturing and distribution across all the company’s facilities.
“Shur-Co is a great company, so bringing these brands together was a real big deal,” Thomas Bronz, president of the Shur-Co agriculture, construction, and waste sales group, and former US Tarp president and CEO, told Trailer/Body Builders. “And Shur-Co had a great house of brands going [including Donovan and ShurTite], but also strong brand recognition with the Shur-Co name, along with its operations at 11 facilities located around the country.
“So this is an opportunity to unite all our products at multiple manufacturing and distribution locations under one big name. And that is the work we’re doing following the acquisition.”
Legacy US Tarp customers gain access to enhanced research-and-development capabilities and expanded customer service, while dealing with the same people they know and appreciate, said Holly Donaldson, Shur-Co marketing director. One-stop shop brand integration will also cut lead times and allow customers to buy everything they need at any Shur-Co location. “These two companies coming together allowed us to supply all the different product lines we now offer,” said Jason Frazier, Shur-Co national strategic accounts manager. “We have product lines that cover all applications and all segments, whether it’s waste, flatbed, construction, or ag. So that’s a huge benefit to all our customers.”
Shur-Co also introduced its new spring-arm tarping system. The company launched a factory-installed steel-arm version for Bix Tex and PJ Trailers dump trailers last year. Now it’s adding a lightweight aluminum-arm version with an available electric conversion kit and ShurLink Pro remote control, enhancing operator safety and convenience while improving tarp protection. The system works with any light-duty dump trailer and comes complete with springs, lower arms, and fender-mount brackets preassembled for OEM and distributor installation.
“Light-duty trailers are growing in popularity with the larger construction companies because finding CDL drivers is increasingly difficult,” Frazier explained. “Now you can take a 21-year-old, put him in a pickup, and he can haul this dump trailer to job sites all day long.”
Upfitters embrace QuickFit interface
DTNA’s QuickFit system, designed to simplify the upfitting process for Freightliner and Western Star trucks, is growing in popularity as truck equipment manufacturers realize how much time and money it saves, said Aaron Scates, DTNA VP of vocational and medium-duty market development. “In one case, we had a TEM tell us it saved them seven hours of upfit time because they didn’t need to install their own controllers, so they didn’t have to tear the dash apart to put in switches,” Scates said. “They basically just plug and play into our harness on the back of the cab.”
The manufacturer introduced its QuickFit interface system on Western Star X Series vocational trucks in late 2020. The advanced multiplexed electrical system now is available across all DTNA brands, helping propel adoption momentum, Scates added. QuickFit allows TEMs to create flexible logic using DTNA’s CHEC (custom hardware electronics configurator) Tool software, making it easy to integrate auxiliary equipment with the truck’s electrical power sources.
J-Craft used the system to build a Western Star 47X dump truck on display at Work Truck Week with factory-integrated one-touch control for unlatching the tailgate, closing the tarp, and then raising the tailgate. “It does three things with one button press, and that’s all through the CHEC logic,” Scates said.
DTNA also showed a Class 6 Freightliner EM2 electric chassis cab with an ePTO, but adoption hasn’t gone as smoothly, Scates revealed, saying zero-emission vehicle cost and infrastructure still are significant industry hurdles. “We’ll be there with the product, but if we don’t overcome those fundamental challenges, the demand will stay low,” he said. “So, for the foreseeable future, we believe diesel will remain the predominant technology, because it’s known and has a great value to a business—and we continue to invest in that technology as well.”
Meyer moves production to Monroe
Meyer, the oldest snowplow manufacturer in North America—which turns 100 next year—is moving production to sister company Monroe Truck Equipment’s Monroe, Wisconsin, facility. “It’s going to increase our efficiencies and ability to deliver and allow us to take better care of the market and our customers,” said Nate Kallay, Meyer sales director. “There’s been a lot of speculation about what this means, and it’s exactly that—Meyer is simply moving manufacturing to a sister company within Aebi Schmidt to get ready for the next 100 years.”
Meyer’s old Cleveland, Ohio, facility is outdated, and Monroe’s facility boasts state-of-the-art equipment and plenty of capacity, Kallay added. “However, our engineering, marketing, and sales departments—the business side of the operation—will remain in Cleveland, Ohio,” he said. “So the people everyone is used to dealing with will still be there.
“The product is just being made at a different facility.”
One of those products is the new Myer Pro Mount attachment system, an innovative hydraulic snowplow mounting system engineered to effortlessly connect and disconnect, saving time and increasing productivity. The system now is available across all Meyer platforms, Kallay said. “Traditionally, in a snowplow attachment system, there’s a lot of manual work, where you have to pull pins and levers, and sometimes monkey it off,” he said. “This is an electric system, so you flip two pins, hit a switch, and your plow is off the truck in less than a minute.”
Stellar upgrades aluminum body
Stellar, which recently acquired Ohio-based manufacturer Elliott Machine Works, showcased a new TMax 1 mechanic truck that featured an 8630 crane, a toolbox system with new bale-style pull-handles, an integrated Hybrid Power Source (HPS) lithium-ion battery, and other key enhancements. But Tyler Havens, Stellar product manager, was most excited about the new channels inside 2025 bodies that allow users to mount shelves in “infinite” configurations.
“We’re not the first one to go to market with something like this,” Havens said. “But we are the primary manufacturer for aluminum bodies, so we are the first one to do this with an aluminum body. It’s more intricate because MIG welding is not a good practice for attaching these channels to aluminum panels, so we’re laser welding them—and that was a big investment.”
The body also boasts pass-through cutouts to easily run wires and hoses.
The dual-hydraulic HPS system delivers quiet, low-voltage power and energy storage for hydraulic operations. “That allows us to run our hydraulics off battery power,” Havens explained. “Now you can shut the truck off and you’re still able to work without the emissions from the engine, which also reduces the idle time of the engine and makes the chassis last longer.”
Buyers highlights toolbox innovations
Buyers Products is always innovating, and every year it displays many of its newest products inside its massive Work Truck Week booth. This year, product manager Jennifer Pusateri called attention to the Mentor, Ohio-based equipment manufacturer’s latest truck toolbox innovations.
The company recently launched a 60-in. contractor toolbox for small to mid-sized pick trucks. The box comes in several storage variations, a small low-sider version, and a model designed specifically for the Ford Maverick. The new toolbox is in stock and ready to ship, Pusateri said.
Buyers Products also showed a new flatbed toolbox with a carbon-steel flip-up door, gasketed outlet to run power inside, and bezelled latch hardware that pops out, clearly showing when the box is unlocked.
“This is geared more toward the agricultural market,” Pusateri said. “People like to carry their gear when they’re out in the pasture, so they need rugged and accessible storage.”
Pusateri also highlighted two new toolboxes coming soon: An above-deck storage box designed for light- and medium-duty flatbed wreckers and a service body topper that comes in diamond-tread aluminum and white carbon steel. Both boxes are expected to be available in May.
