ShowHauler Trucks

Motorhome conversions

Business View Magazine interviews Chad Troyer, General Manager of ShowHauler Trucks Inc., as part of our focus on the recreational transportation industry.

ShowHauler Trucks, a builder of custom truck conversions, is a family-owned company based in Middlebury, Indiana. It is a leader in custom-designed motor homes; motor homes with garages; and toterhomes, made especially for towing race, horse, motorcycle, boat, classic car, and snowmobile trailers. ShowHauler is well-known for providing its customers innovative solutions, top quality workmanship, and industry-leading customer support.

The company began creating its custom-built rigs in 2000, and by providing outstanding customer service, top quality products, and the ability to bring a customer’s vision to life, ShowHauler trucks quickly set itself apart from the rest. Over the years, the company has continued to innovate and provide more custom-designed solutions and conversions for its customers.

“Everything is custom-built to what an individual wants,” says General Manager, Chad Troyer, son of the company’s founder. “Everybody’s got their own ideas and dreams of what they want in their RV, and we try to build that for them.” Not only is ShowHauler motor coach built to a customer’s specifications, it’s the strongest and safest vehicle of its kind on the road. Built on a standard truck chassis with a higher GVWR than a typical motorhome, ShowHauler trucks have a greater carrying capacity. Coach frame construction uses tubular steel of 2″ x 3″ on floors and 1″ x 3″ on sidewalls and ceiling 16″ on center where possible. Underbelly is completely undercoated. Block foam is placed between steel sidewall supports prior to bonding .063 aluminum exterior walls to the frame. There are no rivets. Interior rough walls receive 7/16″ structure board mated to walls and ceiling creating an incredibly strong and safe structural cage. Adhesive bonding is used to apply a highly efficient bubble type insulation to interior wall and ceiling surfaces.

In addition, if someone has a company-built RV and wants to remodel it by adding more features and/or amenities, ShowHauler is up for the job. And, according to Inside Sales Manager, Bob Morgan, the company has recently been making some interior upgrades on its newer models. “We’re making them more modern,” he reports. “We’re updating some trim work, cabinets, colors, etc. We’re adding tile floors throughout the coaches, as opposed to vinyl or laminate. It adds a lot of weight but one of the nice things about our chassis is that they have the capacity to enable us to do tile flooring, tile showers, as well as an option of granite countertops with true granite. We’re also doing a lot more painted coaches, as opposed to having an all-white exterior; fifty to fifty-five percent of our coaches are now full-body painted.”

One of the recent challenges faced by the company is having enough trained employees to handle its current backlog of orders. “The amount of inquiries that we get from people who want to get away from flying or staying in hotels, or just get out and get away, has been incredible,” says Morgan. “And that includes a large number of people who have never RV’d before and are now taking interest – whether it be in going to campgrounds or just going out and boondocking (free camping).”

“Right now, the labor market is really tough in the RV industry,” Troyer adds. “Elkhart County, Indiana does not have a huge unemployment rate; neither does the surrounding area. If you’re in this area and you’re not working, it’s because you choose not to or you’re unable to. There are bigger backlogs with all the RV companies, right now, than they may have ever seen before. So, it’s all hands on deck because we gotta build units.”

“We’re not owned by one of the big conglomerates,” Morgan states. “So, it gives us the flexibility to build the custom-designed coaches that we do, and to cater to what our customers are looking for, versus what is mass-produced by the bigger manufacturers.”

Troyer sums up how ShowHauler Trucks has satisfied its discerning customers over the last 20 years with over 1,000 motor coach conversions: “Our quality, our fit and finish, and the way we stand behind our coaches – that is our mainstay.”

AT A GLANCE

ShowHauler Trucks Inc.

WHAT: A leading builder of custom truck conversions

WHERE: Middlebury, Indiana

WEBSITE: www.showhauler.com