(July 19, 2017) DETROIT — More than 100 years after Michigan native August Fruehauf invented the "motorized" semi-trailer in Detroit, he and his more than 2,000 engineering innovations will be recognized for founding an industry that would have a major impact on world commerce to this day.  Fruehauf joins the nearly 800 men and women from around the world that have been honored for their outstanding automotive achievements since 1939, during this year’s 2017 Automotive Hall of Fame induction ceremony July 20 at Cobo Hall in Detroit.

Fruehauf’s innovations included hydraulic lift-gates, refrigerated trailers, flatbed trailers, aluminum and stainless-steel trailers, drop-frame semi-trailers, container shipping and low-level carryalls, as well as 125 patented trailers and products for the Defense Department. 



His forethought and diligence within transportation is still utilized today with manufacturing facilities throughout the world.  But it’s his history within the United States, that keep these revolutionary tales relevant today -- rising from a small factory with one engineer, to ranking in 1997 as the 75th largest company in the world.

    • In 1914, August Fruehauf invented the ‘motorized’ semi-trailer in Detroit, and his innovation became a world-renowned truck trailer manufacturing company, forever changing the freight transportation industry in America.

    • With roles played in both World Wars, the logistical support that semi-trailers offered the military meant that they had go-anywhere transport for military communications, mobile hospitals, supplies, troops and equipment, all of which were custom designed to fill these specific needs. In addition to partnerships with Pratt and Whitney, Lockheed Martin, Bell Communications, they also partnered with Chrysler in the development of trailers for hauling and positioning radar units.  These units were raised from inside the trailer to a support platform on the roof. The Allied development of radar effectively changed the course of WWII.

    • Here at home, Fruehauf created an economic platform to fulfill needs within all of America including jobs, better roadways, efficient transportation for every industry including dairy refrigeration trucks, both small and large scale commercial use.

    • Fruehauf’s invention of the tag-along semi-trailer triggered the wide-scale distribution of modern consumer goods, becoming so well known, that his company was often termed the “General Motors of the business” -- showcasing the depth of his contribution’s size and services.  In the 1950s, President Eisenhower sought family member Roy Fruehauf to assist in the development of the Interstate Highway System.

Ruth Fruehauf, grand-daughter of the founder of, and innovator behind, Fruehauf Trailers, will be accepting the award on behalf of the The Fruehauf Trailer Historical Society.  While guarding his legacy through the Fruehauf Trailer Historical Society, Ruth additionally created a book upon its centennial — Singing Wheels, August Fruehauf & the History of the Fruehauf Trailer Company — educating readers on not just automotive and transportation history, but innovation, progress, economics, family and politics while bringing back a nostalgia that highlights exactly how we have arrived to meet industry and consumer needs today.

About August Fruehauf & The Fruehauf Trailer Company

Michigan native, August Fruehauf, well known blacksmith and wagon maker, with partner Otto Neumann, invented the semi-trailer in 1914 for a local lumber tycoon, hitched it to a modified Ford Model-T roadster and founded an industry that would have a major impact on world commerce to this day.

The Fruehauf Trailer Company operated from 1914 to 1997 across the United States, Europe and Asia introducing such revolutionary inventions as hydraulic dump trailers, bulk tanker trailers, the automatic 5th wheel hitch and in 1956, the shipping container.

“In exploring company archives I began to realize the vast scope of inventions and patents developed over its lifetime,” notes Ruth Fruehauf. “Over 2,000 inventions, 150 for the military alone, helped the Fruehauf Trailer Company attain the rank of 75th largest company in the world, so I felt compelled to tell this story,” she said.