A Cleaner Way to Build – Felling Trailers Invests in People, Community

Felling Trailers, Inc has made a series of major equipment and technology investments over the past few years aimed at reducing its environmental footprint while improving efficiency across its Sauk Centre and Litchfield, Minnesota facilities.

These investments continue an environmental commitment that earned the company the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers' (NATM) Green Manufacturing Award in 2018 and reflect Felling's belief that smart manufacturing and environmental responsibility go hand in hand. For Felling, sustainability isn't a single achievement to point back to. It's an ongoing way of doing business.

One of the most visible changes has taken place on the shop floor itself. Felling has completed a comprehensive LED lighting conversion across all 11 buildings on its Sauk Centre campus, replacing older fluorescent fixtures to improve visibility and reduce eyestrain for employees while cutting energy use. The retrofit of the shop production area alone reduced fixture wattage by more than half, saving an estimated $26,200 per year in energy costs; combined with upgrades to the corporate office parking lot and additional production buildings, the lighting projects now save the company more than $40,000 annually.

At its Litchfield facility, Felling upgraded its welding fume and gas ventilation system from a soft start to a variable frequency drive (VFD), allowing the system to run at just 30 percent of its previous capacity while still fully protecting employees' breathing zones. This change also saves an estimated $25,400 per year in energy costs.

The company's environmental investments extend beyond its own walls: it bales cardboard from incoming shipments on site and donates it to Cardboard Cares. This local organization funds art education for K-12 students in the community.

"Our team and our community are as much a part of this commitment as the environment itself," said Brenda Jennissen, Felling Trailers president/CEO. "Every initiative we've added since 2018 has been chosen because it makes Felling a safer, cleaner place to work and a better community member to Sauk Centre."

The company also partners with Clean Earth (formerly Stericycle) to properly manage liquid paint waste and fluorescent bulbs, recycling more than 3,000 bulbs following the lighting retrofit alone, and with EMR Northern Metal Recycling to recycle approximately 250,000 pounds of scrap steel every year. In 2025, Felling also recycled 4,000 pounds of used tires.

Alongside these initiatives, Felling has made significant investments in cleaner manufacturing technology. A new 92,000-square-foot Powder Coat Paint Facility, added in 2023, expanded Felling's finishing capabilities. The facility uses automated Gema Technology and a Therma-Tron-X sensor trolley track systems streamlining the application of a durable, consistent powder coat finish. The added capacity has also contributed to a reduction in Felling's facility-wide volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, from 5.00t in 2024 to 3.49t in 2025. Powder coat and wet paint remain complementary finishing options at Felling, each suited to different trailer capacities, applications, and customer needs.

Felling also upgraded its fiber laser cutting technology from 6kW to a 20kW Mitsubishi GX-F Fiber Laser, which cuts energy use per part, reduces reliance on delivered assist gases, and lowers material scrap through AI-based monitoring. A new BLM Group tube laser brought previously outsourced fabrication work in-house, cutting transportation needs and material waste, and five electric forklifts are now in daily use across the Sauk Centre and Litchfield facilities.

"Investing in this equipment was as much a business decision as an environmental one," said Pat Jennissen, Felling Trailers vp of sales & marketing "When we can cut waste, cut energy use, and build a better trailer at the same time, that's the kind of investment that makes sense on every level."

These investments mark the latest step in a commitment that has continued steadily since NATM first recognized Felling for its environmental initiatives in 2018. Nearly a decade later, the company continues to look forward for new ways to manufacture responsibly.