Reading Trucks underscores long-standing Pa. manufacturing legacy in work‑truck industry

READING, Pa. (WPVI) -- A Pennsylvania company that has been building work trucks for nearly 70 years is showcasing the manufacturing process behind the vehicles seen on job sites and highways across the country.

Reading Trucks, founded in 1955 and based in Reading, produces truck bodies designed to support contractors and other workers.

Inside the company's fabrication department, sparks fly and steel is shaped into the parts that form each vehicle.

"Behind me is one of our machines. It's called a coil growth that blanks a lot of our standard parts that go into the bodies that we manufacture," said Bill Bensinger, operations manager in the fabrication department.

The assembly process involves multiple stages.

"The bodies are prepped down at the opposite end, and then they progress through the spray booth, the drying oven," Bensinger said. "When the bodies are completed, they come out of this store and down, and they're stored in the yard until they're needed for shipment."

Chris Brown, president and CEO of Reading Truck Body, said the company's Pennsylvania identity is central to its mission.

"It's extremely proud of the location being here in Pennsylvania," Brown said. "There's a lot of pride in our product and also in the name brand that that we've been able to develop over the years."

The company's trucks are a familiar sight on the Schuylkill Expressway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and highways beyond the state.

One of Reading's major milestones came in 1981, when it introduced the first aluminum service truck body. Today, the company ships more than 25,000 truck bodies from its Reading location.

Brown said the company customizes the rear of a truck to meet customer needs.

"If you think of a truck, most truck, it would have a regular bed, just an open bed in the back," he said. "What we can do is we can take from any manufacturer that front. But the back is just open frame. We make whatever the customer wants on that back. It can have tool chests, it can be enclosed. So whatever you need inside of that, we can customize that for the customer."

Forged in steel and built in Reading, the company continues to send Made in PA pride onto roads across America.