Semitrailer Inventor August Fruehauf to Enter Automotive Hall of Fame
August Fruehauf, a German immigrant and blacksmith, found inspiration for the semitrailer from the horses he shoed.
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An early Fruehauf trailer is preserved in Detroit, where the man worked and his company was headquartered. Photos courtesy of Ruth Ann Fruehauf
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August Fruehauf, inventor of the semitrailer, will be inducted into the Automotive History Hall of Fame, Hemmings.com reported on March 29. The online newsletter of Hemmings Motor News and other publications for collector-car enthusiasts said the induction would be later this year.
Two years ago, in Hemmings Classic Car, author Jim Donnelly wrote an article about Fruehauf, who “’pioneered, in great measure, the modern long-haul truck’ by inventing the tag-along semitrailer.” This, the newsletter said, “triggered the wide-scale distribution of modern consumer goods.
“’A successful blacksmith and wagon builder in Detroit and the surrounding area around the turn of the [20th] century, Fruehauf built his first trailer in 1914 at the request of a boat owner who wished to transport his craft on dry land behind a Ford Model T.’”
Trailers — latter-day wagons — weren’t new, but a hitch that let a trailer’s nose rest on the frame of a beefed-up “T” and follow along behind was, Donnelly said. Of course, the hitch also eliminated the vehicle’s leading axle, and thus came the term “semitrailer.” Fruehauf promoted the idea as a way for a straight truck to transport three times what it could haul on its own, which was then how trucks were used.
It’s also been written that Fruehauf, a German immigrant, had noticed that the horses he shoed as a blacksmith were in better physical shape if they had been pulling wagons instead of carrying heavy goods on their backs. He reasoned that trucks would likewise last longer if they towed rather than toted loads.
He began building and selling semitrailers, and his company eventually became the dominant manufacturer of many types of the vehicles. But it failed in …Read the rest of this story
