Eagle's Bob Johnston Bob Johnston got into the trailer business because he bought a trailer that didn't work well. He hired a company to build a new trailer and, in doing so, saw an opportunity. Johnston founded Eagle Trailers in 1984 and, aside for two years when an investor had the company, Johnston has been the man in charge of custom-designed boat trailers. Today Eagle Trailers employs 90 people in two Michigan plants and produces more than 9-thousand trailers every year. Your company builds trailers using only bunks, rather than rollers. Why? There are two reasons: Bunks support the bottom of the boat better and bunks center the boat better on the trailer. What has been the toughest hull to fit on a trailer? It's a hull that uses step bottoms. Regal is the boat company that has marketed the hull successfully and brought the design into the mainstream but it was tough to position on a boat trailer. Boat hulls are a long continuous surface but a step bottom hull changes planes and it, literally, has notches or steps that cause fits with support systems on the trailer. It's a great design and it provides more speed and we now build trailers that can accommodate the step bottom. Is there a custom job that you'll never forget? It was a 50 foot Wellcraft Meteor that needed a boat trailer. We built a three- axle trailer 55 feet long. It wouldn't even fit in our paint booth. Since that time, we've enlarged the paint booth. What do you say to boat builders today? Designing custom-built trailers as we do, there are a number of things I'd say: (1) provide provisions on the hull so that it can be tied down properly to the trailer and the winch assembly. (2) publish accurate specs on the boat you build. We've had hulls that weighed 1,500 pounds more than what the builder says it weighed. (3) Standardize the placement of bow eyes. Fiberglass boats seem to be doing better with bow eyes but aluminum boats are a real problem. What do you say to communities that want to build a boat ramp? You have to look down the road twenty years and consider the needs and the expansion of the market. You need to make it more of a destination than a concrete slab in the water. It has to be more than just a place to launch a boat. Offer supplies for transient boaters, docks, food restrooms, and fuel. Look at the long term. What will a future trailer be able to do that trailer's today can't? It can be said in one word: composites. Trailers are going to become corrosion resistant. Saltwater won't be a problem. The frame, the axles and the suspension systems won't rust because there will be new and lighter materials used. Boat trailers in the future will require less maintenance. What do you think about the move toward packaging a specific trailer with a specific boat as is happening with ShoreLand'r and Sea Ray? It's one of the phases. We have packaged our trailers with a number of boats (Baha, Formula) and I think it's something that will always be a part of how the industry operates. But I see a downside to packaging because it puts another mouth in the food chain with labor and transportation costs. Although it's more convenient to buy a boat with a specifically designed trailer, it also has a way of escalating the cost. The Trailer Manufacturer's Association is at work on standardizing boat trailer parts. Is this a good idea? It exists now and the TMA is taking it to another step. They want to certify components used in trailer production (lights, winches, brake actuators) meet a certain performance level by being built to certain specs. I think the jury is out on the issue because I just haven't seen enough documentation on what this will do. Every trailer-manufacturing president interviewed on these pages says brakes are the big issue to which every trailer owner and trailer builder needs to pay attention. What is the biggest issue in your view? Brakes are the biggest issues facing the dealers, the manufacturers and the customers right now. So I'm in agreement. The issue of whether surge brakes on boat trailers comply with a federal standard is being addressed right now by the Surge Brake Coalition. I think surge brakes is the best system on the market because they consistently respond to the need of the driver. I have tested the electric over hydraulic system and was disappointed with its performance. I felt as though the trailer was being dragged to a stop and so I don't recommend that system. Under current technology, surge brakes is the best system. You've been meeting trailer boat customers since 1984. How have they changed during these 16 years? The customer today is better educated. They know about the product. They are more demanding and they want to know about service. I think of the Burger King slogan "have it your way." That's what the trailer customers want. They expect a more sophisticated product and when I think of the products we had in 1984, the industry has certainly made advancements. What will customers see on the 2001 Eagle trailers? We've made three changes for 2001: (1) we have new graphics (2) we've upgraded the appearance of our wheels and (3) you are going to see an improved paint process that is going to increase resistance to gravel or stones hitting the surface of the trailer.

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