McNeilus celebrates 25th anniversary serving the refuse industry

Dodge Center, Minnesota-based McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corp. company, celebrates 25 years of service to the refuse industry in 2016. In 1991, McNeilus entered the market with the PacStar rear loader. This year, McNeilus celebrates its silver anniversary and a host of accomplishments over those 25 years, including building a factory-direct support and service network and growing a product line of refuse truck bodies.

McNeilus says it has worked hard to build what it describes as “the industry’s best direct support and service network.” Today, the company has 28 branch locations across North America, with 20 of those locations opening in the past 15 years. This factory-direct model includes parts and service locations, mobile on-site assistance and teams of product, service and training experts with hundreds of years of combined industry experience, NcNeilus says.

Along with building strong relationships with its customers, McNeilus says it aims for market leading innovation by developing products and technology that exceed customer expectations in uptime and performance. Since 1991, an array of front-loading and automated side-loading products have been added to the company’s portfolio. What once was the PacStar rear loader has evolved into the McNeilus Standard rear loader. Several other models also have been added to the rear-loader product lineup over the years. McNeilus says it has sold nearly 24,000 rear loaders since production of refuse vehicles began.

Other more recent innovations include the launch of the new Meridian front loader, the McNeilus rear loader organics package and McNeilus CODE™, an on-demand controls system with complete diagnostic capability.

“We are proud to have been able to serve the refuse industry for 25 years, and we continue to build on our track record of meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations,” says Brad Nelson, president of McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing and the Oshkosh Commercial Segment. “Over the years, we have shown there are more and more reasons people continue to choose McNeilus.”

One of McNeilus’ first refuse customers and an owner of one in the first batch of PacStar rear loaders ever produced can say he’s been one of those satisfied customers from the beginning, according to the company. Gary Husseman was the owner and operator of Rockville Trash Removal in Rockville, Indiana, until he retired recently. He spent 26 years in the refuse business and remains loyal to the McNeilus brand.

Over the years, Husseman moved from the PacStar to a rear loader with more compaction, the McNeilus Heavy Duty rear loader. He stayed with McNeilus because he says the McNeilus packers just performed better than anything else. Along with his other McNeilus trucks, the old 1991 PacStar was still in use, too, when he retired, the company reports.

“I used [the PacStar] as my [secondary] truck. Everything was still running good on it,” Husseman says. “I never had any major problems with my McNeilus trucks.”

Husseman says he recommended McNeilus trucks to people all the time, not only because of the quality he saw in the products but also because of the experiences he had with its people. Even now that he’s retired, “I still recommend McNeilus,” he says. “I’ve liked everyone I ever dealt with.”

“That kind of brand loyalty is a testament to the high quality products and services that we provide,” Nelson says. “And, we strive every day to earn strong relationships with our customers that keep them choosing McNeilus for years to come.”

McNeilus says its 25 years of refuse products and its history of innovation and service will be major themes for the company during the 2016 Waste Expo Convention & Expo later this year at the Las Vegas Convention Center.