Recipe for success: combine fair business practices with reliable, prompt service, being attentive to your customers’ needs and constantly learning as much as you can about your business. Add to that teamwork, risk taking and some good luck and you’re on your way. That’s how it happened for Bennett’s Trailer Company of Aston, PA. This small business has been owned by the same family for more than 50 years and continues to compete successfully with its larger, national counterparts. The company has been recognized throughout the northeast as a preferred source for selling and leasing construction trailers, mobile and custom modular offices and relocatable classrooms. Bennett’s also offers a variety of other services, including modular building installations, hurricane anchoring, stairs and skirting. For those already owning a mobile office, the company provides maintenance, relocation, renovation and/or remodeling services. Its clients include contractors, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and school districts. In the Beginning Robert J. Bennett, who built his first trailer in the 1930s, started Bennett’s Trailer Company prior to World War II. “Originally my father manufactured and rented utility trailers to be towed behind automobiles,” recalled Carl R. Bennett, Robert’s son and company president since 1982. Ahead of his time, “He designed hitches to attach the trailers — even before U-Haul — and then established a nationwide network of dealers to rent his products.” The evolution of Bennett’s Trailer Company mirrored the country’s growth, as well as the changes in the lives of Americans. Following WWII and the Korean War trailers were in high demand by returning servicemen. In the 1950s the business was extended to include the rental, leasing and sales of singlewide and multi-unit mobile/modular offices. “As the nation’s economy expanded with new manufacturing and engineering companies and a booming housing market, so did Bennett’s Trailer,” reported Bennett. “The business was further influenced by the need for quick, temporary office expansion by defense agencies and government contractors during the Vietnam conflict and the space program.” An Expanded Product Line Bennett’s typically stocks single- and double-wide mobile office, change and toilet trailers; ground level storage containers; and in-plant offices/security shelters. Other models — new and used — are sold, including multi-unit modular buildings and classrooms. New mobile and modular units can be constructed according to standard plans and specifications or custom designed for special use. Since the mid-’70s Bennett’s Trailer Company has promoted temporary classrooms in its list of typical uses for mobile and modular buildings. These modular classrooms range from wood frame with plywood floor decking and aluminum siding to steel frame with concrete floors and masonry exteriors. They are manufactured as large sections, or modules, in plant-controlled conditions. They are then transported to the site for final assembly. If properly maintained, modular buildings have a life expectancy of at least 20 to 40 years. Modular classrooms have several advantages over the more traditional ones. They can be manufactured and installed on site at a cost (excluding land) substantially lower than that of conventional construction. Usually available for occupancy within 150 days, modular classrooms also allow children to learn in a comfortable environment. Unlike older, conventional buildings, they offer air conditioning, bright wall finishes and good lighting, all of which are conducive to better learning. While many modular classroom buildings are intended to serve as permanent structures, most can be dismantled at a reasonable cost and either relocated within the same school district or sold to another. “Today you can find these buildings in almost every district,” Bennett said. “When I was young, Bennett’s Trailers would help take students and their belongings to school — now we bring the school to the students.” Special Applications Businesses often rely on Bennett’s if they need to build up their business in a new territory or expand an existing one. The company’s engineers can meet even the most complex challenges to adapt office spaces for the latest in information management systems, automated processors and security, fire and other safety systems. Keeping pace with rapidly changing technology goes without saying at Bennett’s. “We are a charter member of the Modular Building Institute and have always tried to stay informed of new developments,” Bennett said. “We learn from discussions with other manufacturers, dealers, industry trade journals, architects, engineers and our own hands-on experience with new designs. “A good example is when we combined our expertise with a custom modular building manufacturer and an architect and engineering group to design/build a 7,000-sq.-ft. modular emergency room addition for a Philadelphia hospital. Within eight months we had designed and built a fully occupied, state-of-the-art addition with 19 exam rooms, two central nurses’ stations, lounges and other rooms. The structure consisted of 13 pre-manufactured concrete and steel modular units that were placed together on site. Medical gas lines were partially installed in the plant and completed on site. Included in the addition were sprinkler and “code blue” systems, casework, electrical, custom finishes and a pneumatic tubing system. It was a technically-involved fast track project,” said Bennett. What Lies Ahead What about the future? Bennett believes that lightweight steel framed modular buildings with non-combustible finishes will replace wood-framed buildings. “With an increase in the number of people with asthma today and the presence of mold spores, more attention will be paid to insulation and ventilation designs in all building types, either site-built or pre-manufactured.” As for the company’s future, Bennett hopes to expand its presence throughout the northeast, although there are no aspirations of becoming a national dealer. “We prefer to work closer to home, closer to our customers and friends,” he said. “We will continue to provide the products and services that are in demand and at the same time we will remain innovative.”
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