History of the Beginning
In the early 50’s Larry Johnson and his two partners purchased an existing welding and auto repair shop. One day an Evinrude distributor needed some repairs done on a load of trailers, which had been damaged during delivery. With the spare parts that were left over, Larry put together a boat trailer for a wooden boat that he had. One thing led to another and people who had seen his trailer asked him if he could make a trailer for their boat. By 1953, they were producing 100 trailers a year and formed a business named EZ Loader Boat Trailers.
At that time the Marine business was just starting to gain momentum and fiberglass boats were just starting to be manufactured and gain popularity. Along with this trend the business grew. At this time Randy Johnson, Larry’s son, began to start working odd jobs in the plant. Randy would come in after grade school to earn extra money, becoming exposed to the business at a very early age. By the late 50’s they were exporting trailers on a regular basis to Canada and contracted with a distributor in Vancouver BC.
In the beginning the trailers were marketed through a sales team of friends and manufacturer reps. By the mid-60’s, Randy was on the road visiting dealers with the trailer in tow, while Larry was back at the plant watching over production.
Also in the mid-60’s, EZ Loader introduced the “All Roller Trailer”. Prior to this, trailers had bunks or a combination of bunks and rollers. This was a new concept for the marine industry. In the beginning there was a bit of hesitation, but soon the concept caught on and the orders started coming. EZ Loader developed many types of rollers, including a “kick” roller, self – adjusting roller, and others. Many were patented and then sold. As boats changed, so did the trailers to keep up with the styling. Trailers also had to compliment the look of the trailer, which EZ Loader took into consideration.
As the business grew so did the plant. Today, EZ Loader is still located in the same building it started in but has had massive expansions. Almost two city blocks in downtown Spokane are taken up by the plant and out buildings. A conveyor system was built and enclosed over a major highway, to facilitate material handling.
By the mid-80’s a new concept was being conceived by the boat manufacturers. They wanted to “package” their boats with a trailer with a custom welded trailer specific to their boat. These manufacturers also wanted the trailer to match the trailer and to able to offer additional features to the trailer. With this type of trailer, it made it much easier to sell, and eliminated the dealer from making sure the boat fit the trailer. At this point EZ Loader was ready to offer this service to the OEM boat companies. Randy then developed a strategy to acquire custom trailer plants. Before long, EZ Loader purchased TI Trailers located in Midway, Arkansas, and also Custom Frames Trailers in Tullahoma, Tennessee. They became the first trailer company with the ability to sell not only an adjustable bolt together generic trailer for all applications, but also specialized custom trailers.
Once the custom plants were purchased and up and running, they opened their first facility that specialized in the manufacturing of aluminum adjustable trailers in Port St. Lucie, Florida. One plant after another, in strategic locations, began being acquired or built.
Over the years as demand grew, distributors across the country and globally were added. Eventually, the independent distributorships were purchased by EZ Loader and became part of the corporate sales team.
The EZ Loader locations now include the following:
Spokane WA-Manufacturing, Sales, Distribution & Administration
Woodinville WA- Manufacturing
Portland WA- Manufacturing
McClellan CA-Sales & Distribution
Wheaton MN- Manufacturing
Midway AR- Manufacturing, Sales, Distribution & Administration
Elkhart IN- Manufacturing, Sales, Distribution & Administration s
Methuen MA- Manufacturing
Deale MD- Sales
Concord NC- Sales
Port St. Lucie FL -Manufacturing, Sales, Distribution & Administration and Corporate Headquarters
Private Distributors include:
Sun Belt Marine – Lufkin TX ph.1-800-346-6966
Barrett (Canada)-Winnipeg, Acheson, Langley, Lindsay
Windward Boats- Hawaii
Ram Associates-Japan
Stateside Trailers-United Kingdom
George Corcokios-Greece
Importica Ltd.-Cyprus
Sportcraft Boats –New Zealand
Inter-Sport-Ukraine
The Present
EZ Loader is reacting to the change of demand that is coming through the marine industry. As the mix of their products change, so does the need for trailers that will compliment their boats. This is not a new concept to EZ Loader since that is what they have been doing all along. Keeping a close watch on these trends is how their new models have evolved.
All the plants are somehow expanding either with actual new facilities, updated and state of the art equipment and employee training with new techniques to produce higher quality and safer trailers.
The Competition and the Differences
There are many trailer manufactures in today’s market place, but none are as versatile as EZ Loader Boat Trailers. They may hold a strong popularity in a small geographic area, but do not have the global range that EZ Loader has. Because of the wide range of popularity, there are locations readily available for any type of service the trailer may need.
EZ Loader Boat Trailers is one of the very few manufacturers to hold certifications with the NMMA (National Marine Manufactures Association) and the NATM (National Association of Trailer Manufacturers). With this certification, comes the assurance that the highest manufacturing and safety standards must be met and annually checked. These certifications are not given lightly and EZ Loader is honored to be certified by both organizations.
EZ Loader offers a wide range of standard features and options that can be added to upgrade a trailer. The features not only make trailering safer to use but easier to load and unload. With the addition of LED lighting as standard on most trailers, safety is one of EZ Loader’s main concerns. EZ Loader offers choices in brakes, winches, tires, wheels, lighting, steps, finishes, and many more options. There is a limit to the options or accessories that can be put on a trailer due to the type or model.
EZ Loader has taken a major step into the safety issues regarding the whole trailer industry. Current emphasis has been placed on wheel securement. The manner that a wheel of a trailer is secured to the axle has been overlooked in the past years. EZ Loader has published a pamphlet that encourages dealers and owners to make sure the lug nuts on the trailer are properly torqued and tightened so that the wheel will not separate from the trailer. Lug nuts must be checked on a regular basis to avoid this danger.
“Innovation made EZ” is our slogan and EZ Loader strives to be “ahead of the curve” in technology and design. For well over 50 years, this is what has made EZ Loader trailers so popular. The name EZ Loader is synonymous with quality and dependability that increases the trade in value of the trailer.
Fit/Size
EZ Loader offers Adjustable, Custom Welded and Aluminum Trailers. An Adjustable Trailer is one that is based on primarily the Capacity and/or GVWR, type of boat, and width and length of the boat. The trailer’s bunks or rollers can be adjusted to the hull of the boat.
Capacity means how much boat (with fuel, gear, etc) the trailer will carry. GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) refers to how much the boat, with its gear, etc., and the trailer weighs combined. If the boat weighed as an example,
A Custom Welded Trailer is specifically fit to the model of the boat. This fit is determined by the Capacity and/or GVWR, width and length of the boat and custom fit to the hull of the boat. The trailer is custom made for that boat; it has a specific custom fit.
Bunk trailers require that the boat float off for launching, and back on again for loading. If ramps are deepwater ramps where a boat can adequately float off and on, a bunk trailer will be fine.
If the ramps are shallow, and you can't get the boat to float off until the towing vehicle is in the water, than a roller trailer will work better for you.
A roller trailer allows the boat to go off the trailer and back on again in shallower water.
If you have a 'lightly' built riveted aluminum boat, rollers can often 'dimple' the hull. Bunk trailers are better in this case. Heavier built welded aluminum boats or heavier built riveted boats will often work fine on either bunk or roller. Fiberglass hulls generally are also fine on either bunk or roller trailers.
The dealer can offer the customer an EZ Loader adjustable or custom welded trailer, with bunks or rollers, power coated, custom paint match, galvanized or aluminum trailer. Each trailer model is a different from the others but in the majority of cases EZ Loader has a trailer to fit a boat. Galvanized or Aluminum trailers are recommended for an environment with brackish or Salt Water.
The EZ Loader warranties each new custom or adjustable trailer to be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of two (2) years from the date of retail purchase and three (3) years from the date of manufacture whichever occurs first. With pre-approval of manufacturer of origin, EZ Loader shall repair or replace, without charge, any parts found to be defective because of imperfect workmanship or materials to the original purchaser.
Randy Johnson, President of EZ Loader Boat Trailers, foresees a solid future for the marine industry. The industry usually grows at about 3% a year, changing with the customer as to the models they choose. With a solid foundation, clear vision of the future, a reputation for safety and dependability, EZ Loader looks forward to the next 50 years.
