Buying a brand new trailer. Looking at Mac, Fontaine, Manac, and few others. What do you guys like?

I choose Reitanouer. Ravens was the trailer before Reitanouer bought them I think the story is (Correct me if I am wrong...)

I have always been a fan of the spread axle Raven. It would bridge loads that the steel flat beds could not. I have constantly sang the praises of Raven when we loaded those 24 feet long 52000 pound coils higher than a man on them. They did good.

 

Ravens was bought by Fontaine.
Fontaine acquires Ravens | Today's Trucking

Kruz in Dover Oh is building Ravens trailers now.

I would go with a Benson, East, MAC, or Reitnouer for an aluminum trailer. Not necessarily in that order. I think they all have their problems and that nothing is built as well as they were years ago.

The owner of a local trailer repair shop told me that East makes the better trailer. Reitnouers break/start having structure problems at 10 years. Aluminum Chaparells are structurally difficult to repair when damaged.
This is the guy you take your trailer to, to be repaired, after you rolled it with 70K on the deck.

Ive owned three aluminum flats and they got the job done. My opinion is that a properly spec'ed trailer for the freight you haul is the way to go.

 

I’d go with Mac. I bought a new one few years ago and had no complaints. I had to take it back once. I took it back to their main shop in Ohio. It had a few air leaks at the main tank. They dropped what they were doing and put guys on it. I also had some damage to the floor caused by the steel mill. They fixed it no charge but gave me a bill to turn into the mill.

 

MAC or Reitnouer. Benson is made by Fontaine. I would say only MAC because I am a big fan of their products but in fairness to you I will also say Reitnouer. A Reitnouer may fit you better for some reason.

 

Benson is made by Transcraft.

 

I posted (oops) hours ago but I evidently didn't hit post reply.

 

Having the pleasure of pulling all of the manufacturers products over the last 15 years. All have some form of short fall in some way. Some brands have more problems than others. Out of all, the one brand that seemed to have the least problems, pulled about the best and stood up to the tasks put to it was East. That said, any trailer needs to be spec’d and maintained correctly, if not, it will not last.
East trailers are at the higher end of the price range.
Manac would be the second choice, followed by Reitnouer.