In 1914, a local businessman named Frederic M. Sibley asked Fruehauf to build a trailer that could be towed behind a Ford Model T and transport a boat to upper Michigan.

Fruehauf successfully built the device, and Sibley requested he build additional trailers for use on his lumber yard.

[1][5][6] The semi-trailers soon demonstrated their practicality and orders came in from competing lumber dealers and any manufacturer who wanted to expand their customer base.

Capitalizing on August Fruehauf's slogan, "a horse can pull more than it can carry, so can a truck", the company continued to grow.

[7] To meet increasing defense contract work, the hub of the company's ground handling/ground support equipment (GHE/GSE) production was placed at its plant in Delphos, Ohio.

[10] At its plant in Fullerton, California (previously owned by Hanson Bros.) it manufactured 15-ton amphibious lighters[11] and reusable metal shipping boxes for military purposes.

[12] Both Detroit and Fullerton branches of the company's military products division took part in the U.S. space program, producing among the other things Gemini practice recovery spacecraft.

As the Teamsters represented some Fruehauf employees, the loan was alleged to be an illegal gift or bribe, in violation of the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947.

Resting on the laurels of the preceding decades, management would not make the tough and difficult personal sacrifices needed to withstand economic challenges.

It aims to revive the brand and increase production by investing heavily in the business which had been neglected for several years.