have in stock,” he says. “It allows our
customers to order with ease.”
Staying true to its customer base, while
increasing visibility, has been imperative.
That visibility is only helped by the
company’s community outreach efforts,
which includes supporting the American
Folk Festival, its local Convention and
Visitors Bureau and the area Chamber
of Commerce. Not only that, but Maine
Trailer often donates trailers for use in
fundraisers, community events, parades
and more.
Hathway says that, to keep things flowing
smoothly at Maine Trailer, it’s important
to understand and
listen to the people
that make things
tick.
“The one piece of advice
I’d offer on running a
successful dealership is
to value your employees
and really listen to
them,” Hathaway states.
“Communication is key.
If you do this, you’ll keep employee
morale high and retain your valuable
employees.”
While communication and community
outreach has helped Maine Trailer
succeed thus far, there are some items,
Hathaway acknowledges, that they just
can’t predict.
“The trailer industry is constantly
changing, and, in recent years, the pace of
that change has increased exponentially,”
he says. “We’ve tried to constantly
adapt to that change, while providing the
customer service folks have come to
expect from us.”
Hathaway predicts that freight and
intermodal transport will increase over
the next several years. He sees this
already happening through increased
rail usage and higher trucking volume,
something he expects to continue in
relation to traffic at the ports. With that
in mind, the NATDA Trade Show has
become increasingly important for his
company.
“It’s become difficult to
get suppliers to come
to our facility in the
northeast, but meeting
with key suppliers’
sales forces at the
NATDA Trade
Show has been
very rewarding for
our dealership,”
Hathaway says. “We’ve also found,
over the years, that the tremendous
networking opportunity with other
trailer dealers and trailer manufacturers
has been extremely beneficial. Being
able to speak with other business
owners about trends and opportunities
in the trailer industry has been
invaluable.”