Article of American Towman Magazine

This is the November 2002 American Towman Magazine cover
[ Posted into the internet on 5-20-05 ]

A Well(er) of Experience
by Steve Caltiri
Jeff Weller would leave Greencastle High School in the afternoon to work part time as a machine operator in the early days of Jerr-Dan, which started as a sub-contract machine shop and a product line called the EZ Dumper, by 1970 he was working full time for the company. In 1972, Jerr-Dan acquired the agricultural division of Grove Manufacturing. Carriers were then built primarily to move agricultural and industrial heavy equipment.

By 1974 Weller was promoted to his first supervisory job. "I supervised every department in the plant," said the man with the rugged, down to earth face that resembles the famous actor, James Cagney. Now president of the Jerr-Dan Corporation for the past seven years, Jeff Weller is clearly, if modestly, proud of his rise to the manufacturer's top post. "I supervised the machine shop, the fabrication shop, the paint shop, the assembly line..." And he moved up the line from General Foreman to Manager of Manufacturing, VP of Operations.

Probably the event that had the most cause and effect on Weller being named president of Jerr-Dan in 1995, was the president who came before him, Jim Kelly. Among his many manufacturing roles, Jim had been head of manufacturing of the Sheller Globe Corp., makers of cab-over-engine bodies for trucks and buses. "Jim and I were dangerously alike (Kelly passed away in 1999). "We'd get into a battle over some manufacturing issue and have to separate for a while. He was Irish and I'm German (descent) so what do you think is going to happen!"

But Weller credits Kelly with the maturing process that enabled him to take over the helm of the world's second largest wrecker builder. "Myself, and the entire company, learned a great deal about efficient manufacturing processes under Jim Kelly.

"By the time Jim moved over to Durakon (then parent to Jerr-Dan; Jerr-Dan is now privately owned by Littlejohn & Co LLC) we had begun producing heavy duty wreckers and had become a full line wrecker and carrier manufacturer. In fact, today we are the world’s largest single brand, full line manufacturer of tow bodies. But when Kelly came in he brought his experience in using proven systems of planning, management, and execution, and overnight Jerr-Dan became a profitable entity. We literally doubled our output within months without adding any shifts or manpower. What we did add was efficiency. And that’s what Jim taught me and others, how to effectively approach the challenge of making the manufacturing process efficient.”

When asked what leadership traits he may have shown in his growing-up years, Weller reflected and simply said, “I’ve always been intent on getting the job done, whatever it is, whatever the challenge, my attitude has always been to focus on it and get it done...and maybe that’s what Kelly saw in me when he recommended that I succeed him.

“I don’t think I would have taken on this huge responsibility had I not had the years with Jim. He brought sophistication and systems to the company and to us. I would not want to tackle a company as dynamic and as large as Jerr-Dan without these approaches to the manufacturing process.

“But I also had the benefit of having eight presidents in total precede me. I observed their styles and their methods and saw what worked and what didn’t work. This has certainly helped me today, and continues to help me.”

When asked if his manufacturing background is ideal for his role as company president, Weller said, “I have seen the others in this position who had backgrounds in accounting, in sales, and in engineering, and of course, manufacturing. Yes, coming from inside manufacturing has tremendous advantages. For one thing, it helped us never to be caught in a position of promising products than we can’t deliver. Salesmen, for example, by their nature, are prone to talk about the future as if it’s the present. Manufacturing people are anchored in the reality of now and the logistics of delivering today. “

Not that everything has always been as sophisticated as Weller’s current manufacturing processes. There was a time when he and fellow Jerr-Dan managers, Dave Shives and Steve Akers took a break from fishing and drove a brand new 1974 Dodge Power Wagon across a slate pit and up the side of that pit, 70 degrees steep, hitting it at 40 mph, and yes, making it to the top. Of course the body of the truck buckled a bit. Weller smiled in recounting the incident. “We’ve had our moments.”

Fact is, Greencastle is known in those parts for its free-spirited rowdies cruising by in their pick-ups.

While most of the Jerr-Dan workers do not drive their pick-ups up steep-sided slate pits, they do hang together, this group and that, and very much altogether in the plant. Historically, Greencastle is a small, rural based town where every one knows every one, and Jerr-Dan’s cohesiveness reflects that. This writer has seen it when a particular bus arrives each year in Baltimore to unload several dozen Jerr-Dan people at the doors of the Baltimore Convention Center. They come each year to enjoy the American Towman Exposition and to compare their own craftsmanship with that of the other wreckers and carriers on the market.

The company promotes its family heritage. There are Jerr-Dan picnics for its 290 employees bring your son and daughter to work days, and birthday cards for every Jerr-Danner’s special day.

The overwhelming majority of Jerr-Dan people have been with the company for years. Indeed, there are three holdovers from thirty years ago when Jerr-Dan came into being. Jeff Weller, Arlen Lindsay (Manager of Warranty Service Parts) and Dave Shives (Warranty Coordinator). By the way, the other slate-pit dare-devil and long time Jerr-Dan faithful, Steve Akers, is now Plant Manager at the Wrecker Plant, the 126,000 square foot facility located just minutes from the carrier plant.

A lot of water under the bridge...”I think one of our proudest moments, and certainly mine, was when we showed our first 55 ton wrecker in Baltimore,” said Weller.

Jerr-Dan first entered the heavy-duty wrecker market by acquiring DeWalt, Mfg, and a small but respected builder of heavy-duty wrecker in Texas. From that point forward, Jerr-Dan engineers (there are a dozen of them) have improved their HD product. “We’ve also learned a great deal over the past several years about the owners of heavy duty wreckers. They are a special breed. As much as we can, myself and Joel Amsley (VP of Sales and a Jerr-Danner for 21 years), try to get around the country to meet and get to know them and hear about their needs in towing and recovering heavy equipment. We’ve been impressed by the knowledge level of their (heavy duty towing) business.”

Weller says a Jerr-Dan heavy-duty rotator is in the works, but is mum about its rollout, in keeping with his manufacturing culture of staying in the now.

He brings the subject back to company milestones. Jerr-Dan is proud, says Weller to have been the first wrecker manufacturer to bring the composite body to this industry. “It’s a superior body in durability and paint finishing. The no-rust factor adds to a Jerr-Dan resale value.”

Product wise, the company has changed dramatically over the years. Now a full line wrecker and carrier manufacturer, its latest entry to the market is the Quick-Pick, a self-loading wheel lift, which got high marks from AT’s Equipment Editor, John Borowski.

It’s a larger company too, now with two plants, producing thousands of wreckers and carriers annually. After thirty years however, the company remains very much the same. Weller is still there, and the majority of the Jerr-Dan folk have been there for years and years. By all reports they are more efficient in their habits and methods than in the earlier years, and given the scope of products they offer towing professionals, they must be working harder than ever before down in Greencastle, PA.

Somehow though the people at Jerr-Dan find time to celebrate along with the industry it serves. For several years now, Jerr-Dan has co-sponsored Festival Night and the American Towman Medal Ceremony. At this memorable feast the folks from Greencastle have been seen arm wrestling and rope tugging, and providing the funds that allow our industry to partake in its proudest moments.

Each November, Jerr-Dan hosts over 1000 towing professionals on Festival Night in honor of the heroes among them. If you come this year, you may want to say hello to these great wrecker builders. They’re the rowdy bunch seated over there....

On behalf of the towing industry, American Towman salutes the Jerr-Dan team on its 30th anniversary.

From machinist to top dog, Jeff Weller leads Jerr-Dan's homespun team.

Joel Amsley, VP of Sales

Jeff Weller in the machine shop; fine-tuning carrier beams.

Pulling for the industry; Jerr-Dan team at the tug-of-war during Festival Night.

Welder at work in Jerr-Dan Carrier Plant.

Jerr-Dan's big Heavy-Duty HDL 1100/530 55 Ton.

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