A Cleaner Way to Build – Felling Trailers Continues to Invest in Its People & Its Community

Building on its 2018 NATM Green Manufacturing Award, Felling has continued to expand its commitment to employee wellbeing, community partnerships, and environmentally responsible manufacturing.

Key Highlights:

• More than $65,000 combined in annual energy savings from LED lighting upgrades across all 11 Sauk Centre buildings and a variable frequency drive ventilation upgrade at Litchfield.
• Facility-wide VOC emissions down nearly 30%, from 5.00 tons in 2024 to 3.49 tons in 2025, following the 2023 expansion of Felling’s Powder Coat Paint Facility.
• Approximately 250,000 lbs. of scrap steel, 4,000 lbs. of tires, and more than 3,000 fluorescent bulbs recycled annually through Felling’s ongoing recycling partnerships.

One of the most visible changes has taken place on the shop floor itself. Felling has completed a comprehensive LED lighting conversion across all 11 buildings on its Sauk Centre campus, replacing older fluorescent fixtures to improve visibility and reduce eyestrain for employees while cutting energy use. The retrofit of the shop production area alone reduced fixture wattage by more than half, saving an estimated $26,200 per year in energy costs; combined with upgrades to the corporate office parking lot and additional production buildings, the lighting projects now save the company more than $40,000 annually. At its Litchfield facility, Felling upgraded its welding fume and gas ventilation system from a soft start to a variable frequency drive (VFD), allowing the system to run at just 30% of its previous capacity while still fully protecting employees’ breathing zones. This change also saves an estimated $25,400 per year in energy costs.

The company’s environmental investments extend beyond its own walls: it bales cardboard from incoming shipments on site and donates it to Cardboard Cares. This local organization funds art education for K-12 students in the community.

“Our team and our community are as much a part of this commitment as the environment itself. Every initiative we’ve added since 2018 has been chosen because it makes Felling a safer, cleaner place to work and a better community member to Sauk Centre.

— Brenda Jennissen, Felling Trailers President/CEO

The company also partners with Clean Earth (formerly Stericycle) to properly manage liquid paint waste and fluorescent bulbs, recycling more than 3,000 bulbs following the lighting retrofit alone, and with EMR Northern Metal Recycling to recycle approximately 250,000 pounds of scrap steel every year. In 2025, Felling also recycled 4,000 pounds of used tires.

Felling also upgraded its fiber laser cutting technology from 6kW to a 20kW Mitsubishi GX-F Fiber Laser, which cuts energy use per part, reduces reliance on delivered assist gases, and lowers material scrap through AI-based monitoring. A new BLM Group tube laser brought previously outsourced fabrication work in-house, cutting transportation needs and material waste, and five electric forklifts are now in daily use across the Sauk Centre and Litchfield facilities.

“Investing in this equipment was as much a business decision as an environmental one. When we can cut waste, cut energy use, and build a better trailer at the same time, that’s the kind of investment that makes sense on every level.”

— Pat Jennissen, Felling Trailers VP of Sales & Marketing

These investments mark the latest step in a commitment that has continued steadily since NATM first recognized Felling for its environmental initiatives in 2018. Nearly a decade later, the company continues to look forward for new ways to manufacture responsibly.