Merritt Trailers

What Merritt Trailers does

Merritt Trailers, Inc. is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturer of aluminum livestock and gooseneck trailers, founded in 1951 and headquartered in Henderson, Colorado. The company designs and builds trailers for professional livestock haulers, ranchers, and horse owners across the continental United States and Canada, with product lines organized around five distinct use cases: cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, and horse transport. Operations remain privately held with no institutional investors or parent company disclosed.

The product portfolio consists of two core categories. Livestock Trailers comprise the Cattle Drive (cattle), Legend Line (hogs), Shepherd Line (sheep and small livestock), and Coop Line (live haul poultry) sub-brands. Gooseneck Trailers comprise the Cattle Baron (ranch and livestock) and Lariat (horse) sub-brands. Merritt's technical differentiation rests on proprietary construction methods, most notably the punch side sheet-and-post design introduced in the 1960s that has become the industry standard. Additional proprietary features include 3-inch I-beam cross members welded at 13-inch centers, a 0.050-inch riveted aluminum roof installed with over 2,000 aluminum hard rivets, a steel subframe with two-part painting for corrosion protection, a bio-security cross member extrusion for hog transport, and extruded winter posts for cold-weather cattle hauling. The company offers 3-year warranty on livestock trailers and 5-year warranty on gooseneck models.

Merritt generates revenue across three streams: new trailer sales, parts and accessories, and service and repair. Distribution is channel-led, operating through a network of 56+ dealer and parts/service locations across North America, supplemented by regional territory sales managers covering seven US regions plus Canada and direct factory sales. Pricing is quote-based on customer-specified configurations and is not publicly disclosed. Customer financing is facilitated through partnerships with Northland Capital in the United States and LeaseLine in Canada. The company maintains two corporate parts-and-service branches—in Henderson, Colorado, and Fremont, Nebraska—most recently expanding with new full-service commercial tire centers in Fremont, NE, and Denver, CO, which opened on May 9, 2025.

Name

Merritt Trailers

Legal name

Merritt Trailers, Inc.

Website

https://merritt-trailers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Merritt Trailers is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturer of aluminum livestock and gooseneck trailers founded in 1951. The company designs and sells its products through a 56+ dealer and service network across North America, serving cattle, hog, sheep, poultry, and horse transportation customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Livestock & Agricultural Trailers

NAICS

Truck Trailer Manufacturing (336212), Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing (3362), Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing (33621)

SIC

Truck Trailers (3715), Farm Machinery & Equipment (3523), Truck & Bus Bodies (3713)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm Transport & Hauling Equipment (Farm Trailers, Grain Carts, Wagons) (AFAAAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialized Trailer & Heavy Transport Equipment Providers (SPMT, Lowboy, Multi-Axle) (TLADAGAM)

Keywords

• Livestock trailers
• Gooseneck trailers
• Agricultural trailers
• Trailer manufacturing
• Horse trailers

Headquarters

HQ city

Henderson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Trailer Sales: Merritt designs and manufactures livestock trailers and gooseneck trailers sold through dealer network. Main product lines include Cattle Drive, Legend Line, Shepherd Line, Coop Line livestock trailers and Cattle Baron, Lariat gooseneck trailers.
2. Parts & Accessories Sales: Comprehensive inventory of trailer parts including livestock trailer parts, gooseneck trailer parts, commodity trailer parts, and boxes & accessories. Operates 56+ service locations for parts supply.
3. Service & Repair: Full-service tire centers and repair facilities in Fremont, NE and Denver, CO providing commercial tire repair, replacement, and general trailer service. New tire centers opened May 9, 2025.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Merritt Trailers designs and manufactures aluminum livestock and gooseneck trailers for the agricultural and transportation markets. The product portfolio includes the Cattle Drive, Legend Line, Shepherd Line, and Coop Line livestock trailer series for cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry respectively, plus the Cattle Baron and Lariat gooseneck trailer lines for ranch and horse transport. The company supports its products through 56+ dealer/service locations across North America, factory-direct sales via regional territory managers, parts and accessories sales, and new full-service commercial tire centers.

Product overview

Merritt Trailers is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturer of livestock and gooseneck trailers founded in 1951. The product portfolio consists of two core product lines: Livestock Trailers (Cattle Drive, Legend Line, Shepherd Line, and Coop Line models) designed for hauling cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry respectively; and Gooseneck Trailers (Cattle Baron and Lariat models) for ranch and horse transport. All trailers feature Merritt's proprietary punch side design, aluminum construction, and focus on animal welfare. The company supports its products through 56 service locations across North America, plus financing partnerships for US and Canadian customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cattle Drive: Livestock trailers specifically designed to haul cattle with robust construction and built-in durability and safety features
• Legend Line
• Shepherd Line
• Coop Line
• Cattle Baron
• Lariat

Products and services

• Livestock Trailers Full line of livestock trailers engineered for hauling cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry, featuring aluminum construction, specialized ventilation systems, and animal welfare-focused designs. Sold to commercial livestock haulers, ranchers, and agricultural operators.
• Cattle Drive Trailers

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 2000 aluminum hard rivets used in each trailer roof for superior durability
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Lakeshore TalentminorOthersLakeshore Talent partners with Merritt Trailers for hiring and recruitment services. They manage job postings and recruitment for positions at Merritt locations in Henderson, Colorado and Fremont, Nebraska.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Wabash National Corporation: Wabash National is a large, publicly traded trailer manufacturer whose core focus is dry van, refrigerated, and platform trailers. As a broad incumbent in trailer manufacturing, Wabash represents a scaled competitor with materially greater R&D and capital resources than Merritt.

Direct peers

• Featherlite Trailers: Featherlite is a major manufacturer of aluminum livestock and horse trailers with a national dealer network, directly competing with Merritt across multiple product categories including cattle, horse, and specialty livestock trailers.
• Sooner Trailers: Sooner Trailers manufactures aluminum livestock and horse trailers with a regional dealer presence, overlapping with Merritt in gooseneck and bumper-pull livestock configurations. Comparable product offering focused on ranch and hauling applications.
• Barrett Trailers: Barrett Trailers is a specialized livestock trailer manufacturer focused on cattle, hog, and sheep transport with direct overlap to Merritt's Cattle Drive, Legend Line, and Shepherd Line product families. Competes in similar dealer channels across the central US.
• W-W Trailers: W-W Trailers (Wichita) is a livestock and horse trailer manufacturer competing directly with Merritt in the central US market, offering comparable gooseneck and bumper-pull configurations for cattle and equine transport.
• M.H. Eby (Eby Trailers): Eby Trailers is a long-established direct competitor manufacturing aluminum livestock trailers and gooseneck trailers for cattle and horse transport. Eby competes head-to-head with Merritt in dealer channels across the US agricultural market with comparable product positioning.
• Sundowner Trailers: Sundowner Trailers manufactures aluminum horse and livestock trailers, directly competing with Merritt's Lariat horse and Cattle Baron gooseneck product lines. Strong regional dealer presence in southern and western US ranch markets.
• Wilson Trailer: Wilson Trailer is one of Merritt's closest direct competitors, manufacturing livestock and agricultural trailers with a comparable dealer/service footprint across the Midwest. Both companies target professional livestock haulers with similar gooseneck and bumper-pull product configurations.
• Exiss / Aluminum Trailer Company (ATC): Exiss (and its parent ATC) manufactures aluminum livestock, horse, and gooseneck trailers with extensive dealer coverage. Exiss competes directly with Merritt's Cattle Drive, Legend Line, and Lariat product lines across similar customer segments and price points.

Regional players

• Titan Trailers: Titan Trailers is an aluminum livestock and equipment trailer manufacturer with strong regional presence in the southern US. While not a national scale competitor to Merritt, Titan competes in overlapping dealer channels for similar livestock hauling use cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/merritt_trailer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Merritt Trailers