01
1950s
Corona, New York
The Loadmaster line begins under John G. Hagan at the City Tank Corporation of Corona, New York. City Tank's first refuse bodies go to market as Roto Pac, serving the City of New York Department of Sanitation.
Loadmaster began as a New York tank shop building refuse bodies for the City of New York. It's been owned by five companies, refined across three states, and survived one near-collapse. The current chapter is written in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The Loadmaster line begins under John G. Hagan at the City Tank Corporation of Corona, New York. City Tank's first refuse bodies go to market as Roto Pac, serving the City of New York Department of Sanitation.
Hagan relocates the operation to Culpepper, Virginia — a small town 75 miles south of Washington D.C. in the Blue Ridge foothills. A new company, Old Dominion Manufacturing, is formed to build the Loadmaster line.
Old Dominion develops the rear-load packing system — the mechanical foundation that would define municipal refuse collection for the next sixty years and the direct ancestor of today's Loadmaster bodies.
Hackney Industries acquires the Loadmaster assets, trademarks and patents from City Tank and leases the Culpepper plant. Production under Hackney ownership begins in March.
Waste Disposal Equipment Acquisition Corporation purchases Loadmaster from Hackney. The management team is decorated but has no refuse-industry experience — inside a year, the company runs out of cash.
David J. Brisson buys Loadmaster and sets out to revitalize the line. David grew up in refuse-truck manufacturing — his father, J. Raymond Brisson, created the Lodal line — and previously ran the hauling company Great American Disposal.
Loadmaster is manufactured in Norway, Michigan — welded, assembled and tested by the local workforce. Four product lines, one standard: build a body that outlasts the route.
Every body is configured for the routes it will actually run — chassis, packer, controls, cart tipper. Nothing generic ships out our doors.
Cut, welded and assembled in Norway, Michigan by a local workforce. The finished truck carries their name on it as much as ours.
Our authorized dealers keep your fleet on the road with parts inventory, warranty support and factory-trained service.
We're always looking for welders, machinists, assemblers and engineers who take pride in a finished truck.