The American Automobile Industry in World War Two
An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute by David D Jackson

Overview      Lansing Michigan in World War Two   The U.S. Auto Industry at the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944    The U.S. Auto Industry and the B-29 Bomber   U.S. Auto Industry Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   The Complete listing of All Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   Sherman Tanks of the American Auto Industry   Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry    M26 Pershing Tanks of the American Auto Industry   M36 Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry   Serial Numbers for WWII Tanks built by the American Auto Industry   Surviving LCVP Landing Craft    WWII Landing Craft Hull Numbers   Airborne Extra-Light Jeep Photos  The American Auto Industry vs. the German V-1 in WWII   American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in WWII   VT Proximity Manufacturers of WWII   World War One Era Motor Vehicles   National Museum of Military Vehicles  
Revisions   Links

 Automobile and Body Manufacturers:  American Bantam Car Company   Briggs Manufacturing Company   Checker Car Company   Chrysler Corporation   Crosley Corporation   Ford Motor Car Company   General Motors Corporation   Graham-Paige Motors Corporation   Hudson
Motor Car Company   Murray Corporation of America   Nash-Kelvinator   Packard Motor Car Company      Studebaker    Willys-Overland Motors

General Motors Divisions:  AC Spark Plug   Aeroproducts   Allison   Brown-Lipe-Chapin   Buick   Cadillac   Chevrolet   Cleveland Diesel   Delco Appliance   Delco Products   Delco Radio   Delco-Remy   Detroit Diesel   Detroit Transmission   Electro-Motive   Fisher Body   Frigidaire   GM Proving Grounds   GM of Canada   GMC   GMI   Guide Lamp   Harrison Radiator   Hyatt Bearings   Inland   Moraine Products   New Departure   Oldsmobile   Packard Electric   Pontiac   Saginaw Malleable Iron   Saginaw Steering Gear   Southern California Division   Rochester Products   Ternstedt Manufacturing Division   United Motors Service   Vauxhall Motors

 Indiana Companies:  Bailey Products Corporation   Chrysler Kokomo Plant   Continental Steel Corporation  Converto Manufacturing    Cummins Engine Company   Diamond Chain and Manufacturing Company   Delta Electric Company   Durham Manufacturing Company   Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox  
Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company   Republic Aviation Corporation - Indiana Division   Ross Gear and Tool Company   S.F. Bowser & Co.   Sherrill Research Corporation   Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company   Warner Gear   Wayne Pump Company   Wayne Works

Commercial Truck and Fire Apparatus Manufacturers:  American LaFrance   Autocar  
Biederman Motors Corporation   Brockway Motor Company   Detroit General   Diamond T   Duplex Truck Company   Federal Motor Truck   Four Wheel Drive Auto Company(FWD)   International Harvester   John Bean   Mack Truck   Marmon-Herrington Company   Michigan Power Shovel Company   Oshkosh Motor Truck Corporation   Pacific Car and Foundry   "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company   Reo Motor Car Company  Seagrave Fire Apparatus   Sterling Motor Truck Company    Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation   White Motor Company

Aviation Companies:  Abrams Instrument Corporation   Hughes Aircraft Company   Kellett Aviation Corporation   Laister-Kauffman Aircraft Corporation   Naval Aircraft Factory   P-V Engineering Forum, Inc.    Rudolf Wurlitzer Company-DeKalb Division  Schweizer Aircraft Corporation   Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation   St. Louis Aircraft Corporation   Timm Aircraft Corporation

Other World War Two Manufacturers: 
Air King Products   Allis-Chalmers   American Car and Foundry   American Locomotive   American Stove Company   Annapolis Yacht Yard  
Andover Motors Company   B.F. Goodrich   Baker War Industries   Baldwin Locomotive Works   Blood Brothers Machine Company   Boyertown Auto Body Works   Briggs & Stratton   Caterpillar   Cheney Bigelow Wire Works   Centrifugal Fusing   Chris-Craft   Clark Equipment Company   Cleaver-Brooks Company   Cleveland Tractor Company   Continental Motors   Cushman Motor Works   Crocker-Wheeler   Dail Steel Products   Detroit Wax Paper Company   Detrola   Engineering & Research Corporation   Farrand Optical Company   Federal Telephone and Radio Corp.   Firestone Tire and Rubber Company   Fruehauf Trailer Company   Fuller Manufacturing   Galvin Manufacturing   Gemmer Manufacturing Company   General Railway Signal Company   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Trailer   Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   John Deere   Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Company   Kimberly-Clark   Kohler Company   Kold-Hold Company   Landers, Frary & Clark  Lima Locomotive Works   Lundberg Screw Products   MacKenzie Muffler Company   Massey-Harris   Matthews Company   McCord Radiator & Mfg. Company   Metal Mouldings Corporation   Miller Printing Machinery Company   Morse Instrument Company   Motor Products Corporation   Motor Wheel Corporation   National Cash Resgister Company   Novo Engine Company   O'Keefe & Merritt Company   Olofsson Tool and Die Company   Oneida Ltd   Otis Elevator   Owens Yacht   Pressed Steel Car Company   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   R.L. Drake Company   St. Clair Rubber Company   Samson United Corporation   Shakespeare Company   Sight Feed Generator Company   Simplex Manufacturing Company   Steel Products Engineering Company   St. Louis Car Company   Twin Disc Company   Victor Adding Machine Company   Vilter Manufacturing Company   Wells-Gardner   W.L. Maxson Corporation   W.W. Boes Company   Westfield Manufacturing Company   York-Hoover Body Company   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

Highway Trailer Corporation in World War Two
Edgerton, WI
1917-1957
1957-1958 owned by Trans Continental Industries
1958-1965 as Highway Trailer Industries
1965-1972 owned by General Acceptance Corporation
1972-? owned by XTRA

This page updated 1-3-2023.

In 1917, James Menhall began the Highway Trailer Corporation in Beloit, WI.  He leased the Edgerton Wagon Works in Edgerton, WI to begin production.  The original products were small two-wheel trailers that a farmer could tow behind his car to take produce to farmer's markets and the small grocery stores of the era.   It also made a version for transporting livestock.  The company expanded its product line several years later by manufacturing truck trailers.  It is unknown when the trailer building operation ceased in Edgerton.     


The Highway Trailer Corporation won the Army-Navy "E" Award four times during World War Two.

Highway Trailer World War Two Products:  The company had $26,933,000 in government contracts during World War Two.  It also had a plant in nearby Stoughton, WI which produced earth augers and truck and trailer parts for the war effort.  The Stoughton plant had $4,893,000 in military contracts.

Table 1 - Highway Trailer Corporation's Major World War Two Contracts - Edgerton, WI Plant
The information below comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945."  This was published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.  Table added 4-13-2022
Product Contract Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date
Trailers  - Navy $185,000 6-1941 1-1942
Semitrailers - Army $89,000 9-1941 1-1942
Semitrailers - Army $134,000 7-1941 8-1942
Trailers Semi - Army $553,000 9-1941 8-1942
Trailers Semi - Army $1,196,000 1-1942 9-1942
Trailers Semi - Army $941,000 1-1942 5-1942
Trailers Semi - Army $156,000 2-1942 6-1942
Trailers  - Army $422,000 4-1942 8-1942
Trailers - Navy $368,000 6-1942 8-1942
Trailers Semi - Army $74,000 6-1942 6-1942
Trailer Units - Navy $456,000 7-1942 12-1943
Semitrailers - Army $224,000 7-1942 9-1943
Semi Trailers - Army $401,000 7-1942 8-1943
Semi Trailers - Army $212,000 7-1942 10-1943
Drive Assemblies - Army $97,000 7-1942 11-1942
Trailers Semi - Navy $143,000 8-1942 11-1942
Trailers Semi - Navy $435,000 8-1942 10-1942
Trailers Machinery - Navy $178,000 10-1942 5-1943
Trailers - Navy $84,000 10-1942 1-1943
Tools- Army $149,000 11-1942 6-1943
Machinery Road - Army $656,000 11-1942 8-1943
Trailer Parts - Army $580,000 11-1942 11-1943
Trailers Bomb - Navy $423,000 12-1942 3-1943
Trailers - Navy $95,000 12-1942 2-1943
Trailers - Army $220,000 12-1942 7-1943
Tools- Army $587,000 2-1943 12-1943
Trailers- Navy $84,000 3-1943 6-1943
Machinery Road - Army $697,000 5-1943 5-1944
Metal Plates - Army $80,000 5-1943 12-1943
Trailers Bomb - Navy $1,421,000 5-1943 4-1944
Trailers Bomb - Navy $3,611,000 5-1943 12-1943
Trailers - Navy $77,000 5-1943 9-1943
Earth Auger Parts - Army $354,000 6-1943 1-1944
Semitrailers - Army $143,000 6-1943 6-1944
Van Trailers - Navy $149,000 6-1943 12-1943
Trailers - Army $248,000 7-1943 12-1943
Communication Equipment - Army $114,000 7-1943 10-1944
Earth Borer Parts - Army $65,000 7-1943 6-1944
Semitrailers - Army $383,000 7-1943 7-1943
Semitrailers - Army $278,000 7-1943 1-1944
Elect Maint Equip - Army $69,000 9-1943 12-1944
Communication Equipment - Army $302,000 9-1943 11-1944
Semitrailers - Army $5,441,000 9-1943 4-1945
Trailers - Army $132,000 10-1943 3-1944
Semitrailers - Navy $130,000 3-1944 8-1944
Two Wheel Dollies - Navy $58,000 3-1944 5-1944
Trailers - Navy $90,000 4-1944 11-1944
Semitrailers - Navy $234,000 5-1944 7-1944
Semitrailers - Navy $500,000 11-1944 12-1944
Semitrailers - Navy $113,000 12-1944 3-1945
Slip Pole Trailers - Army $1,977,000 1-1945 9-1945
Trailers K37 - Army $365,000 1-1945 6-1945
Trailers K37 - Army $281,000 3-1945 11-1945
Trailers K37 - Army $351,000 3-1945 12-1945
Semitrailers - Navy $175,000 5-1945 12-1945
Total $26,922,000    

 

Table 2 - Highway Trailer Corporation's Major World War Two Contracts - Stoughton, WI Plant
The information below comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945."  This was published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.  Table added 4-13-2022
Product Contract Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date
Earth Augers - Army $879,000 7-1943 11-1944
Construction Equip Pts - Army $99,000 3-1944 9-1944
Earth Augers  - Army $670,000 4-1944 12-1945
Earth Borer Parts - Army $58,000 9-1944 12-1944
Earth Augers  - Army $286,000 1-1945 12-1945
Earth Augers  - Army $215,000 3-1945 6-1946
Truck Parts - Army $1,179,000 3-1945 8-1945
Trailer Parts - Army $98,000 4-1945 8-1945
Earth Augers  - Army $1,409,000 5-1945 9-1946
Total $4,893,000    

 

Table 3 - Highway Trailer Corporation World War Two Trailers Accepted by Detroit Ordnance, US Army
The information below comes from "Summary Report of Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Material, 1940-1945."
Published by Army Services Forces, Office, Chief of Ordnance-Detroit, Production Division, Requirements and Progress Branch January 21, 1946.
Type   Model 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Total
Semi Trailer, 3-ton, 2W, Van SKD 1742A (1941), SKD2043, SKD 2269 (Steel), SKD 2316 (Wood), SKD 2353   193 18 383 80   674
Semi Trailer, 3-1/2-ton, 2W, 16 foot, Stake and Platform SKD 2267       237     237
Semi Trailer, 6-ton, 2W, Animal and Cargo       339       339
Semi Trailer, 6-ton, 2W, Van       854 121     975
Semi Trailer, 6-ton, 2W, Platform       49       49
Semi-Trailer, 7-Ton, 2W, Cargo       970       970
Semi-Trailer, 8-1/2-Ton, 2W, C.S.&P.   6           6
Semi-Trailer, 10-Ton, 2W, Stake & Platform Model 1025         1,297 703 2,000
Trailer, 8-Ton, Full Track   8           8
Trailer, 4W, Gas, 5000 Gallons       1       1
Total   14 193 2,231 741 1377 703 5,259

Author's Note and Disclaimer:  The Detroit Office of Ordnance of the U.S. Army was the primary purchasing entity for vehicles for the U.S. Army during World War Two.  It also purchased vehicles for the USMC, US Navy, and Lend-Lease.  However, there were other organizations that also purchased vehicles including the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Air Force, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Navy Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, and foreign countries making direct purchases. 


This 2-1/2-ton slip pole trailer, with bolster, that Highway Trailer built for the Army Corps of Engineers is a prime example of a vehicle that is not comprehended in Table 3.  This trailer is on display at the WWII American Experience Museum in Gettysburg, PA.  Author's photo added 1-3-2023.


Author's photo added 1-3-2023.


This image is looking at the back end of the trailer.  It shows the adjustable slip section where the two pieces of square tubing meet.  This allows the trailer to be adjustable in length.  Author's photo added 1-3-2023.


This is a view of the rear section of the trailer.  Author's photo added 1-3-2023.


This photo shows where the front section of the square tubing attaches to the truck's pintle hook.  Author's photo added 1-3-2023.


This trailer used a GMC CCKW-353 as its prime mover.  The Highway Trailer-built slip pole trailer was used to carry two bridging pontoons.  Author's photo added 1-3-2023.


Here is another good example of why I have the disclaimer for Table 3.  This Highway Trailer-built U.S. Navy Mark 3, Mod 1 bomb trailer is not listed in Table 3, as it is a non-Army trailer.  This is one of the many unique military artifacts on display at the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, IN.  The trailer has a Mark 14 torpedo on it.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


The ID shows that the Indiana Military Museum obtained the trailer from the nearby Crane Naval Ammunition Depot.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This U.S. Navy Ordnance document shows that there were three versions of the Mark 3, Mod 1 bomb trailer.


 Attached to the Federal Model 94x43 truck tractor is a Highway Trailer Company Model 1025 two-wheel 10-ton semi-trailer.  Author's photo.


Both units are on display at the Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, VA.  This is another museum with lots of Army transportation vehicles.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


The Highway Trailer Model 1025 is one of 2,000 built during World War Two.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.

Highway Trailer Signal Corps Trailers:  The company also built an unknown number of U.S. Signal Corps K-37 and K-38 two-wheel trailers.
 


The K-37 was a telephone construction and cable-hauler trailer. 


The K-38 was a telephone cable splicer trailer. 


Highway Trailer built 674 of these. 


Highway Trailer built 237 of these. 

 

 

 

 

Email us at:  Webmaster