Utah’s 250,000th Reefer
Navajo Express Receives The 250,000th Reefer
Building a quarter of a million refrigerated trailers that continue to be the very best in the industry is no simple feat. It requires an ongoing commitment from people day in and day out to show up and strive for engineering and manufacturing excellence.
Utility’s Clearfield, Utah manufacturing location stands at the pinnacle today after surpassing another production milestone by building over 250,000 refrigerated van of which over 150,000 of them are 3000R® reefers.
Utility’s first Clearfield, Utah plant was located at Freeport Center, opening in 1965. It manufactured the 2000R reefer as well as other trailer products. When a new retooled manufacturing plant was completed in 1999, the Freeport Center plant closed, having built nearly 100,000 reefers. This new state-of-the-art facility was dedicated exclusively to manufacture a new re-engineered refrigerated trailer – the Utility 3000R. The plant featured a moving assembly line in order to boost productivity and product quality.
The Clearfield plant manufactured its 100,000th 3000R in 2012 and has now built its 150,000th 3000R this past February. Combining the production from both the old and new Clearfield manufacturing plants, Utility has exceeded the production of over 250,000 refrigerated trailers in Utah.
“I have been with the plant for nearly 40 years and I know that achieving this success requires a team effort,” said Todd Smith, Utility’s Clearfield Plant Manager. “With increasing demand and moving to two shifts, this achievement was attained while being recognized both for being the safest trailer manufacturing plant in the industry by TTMA and building the highest quality reefer in the world.”
The 250,000th refrigerated van was purchased by Navajo Express, a family owned and operated trucking company in Denver, Colorado. “It is an honor to have Navajo be the recipient of this trailer,” added Mr. Smith. “The Digby family have been leaders and innovators in the transportation industry for over 70 years.” Clearfield’s 250,000th reefer was presented to Don Digby Jr. on March 16th, 2017.
From Left to Right: Tony Afarian, Utility Trailer Manufacturing | John Harris, Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. | Hal Bennett, Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. | Don Digby Jr., Navajo Express Inc. | Jeff Bennett, Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. | Shane Gregerson, Navajo Express Inc. | Bill Hathorn, Utility Trailer Sales of Colorado | Travis Martin, Utility Trailer Sales of Colorado | Todd Smith, Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co.
