The original American Road Machinery, Inc. traces its origins to 1878. The company produced snow plows, truck spreaders, truck vacuums, and other road construction and maintenance equipment in Minerva, Ohio, through at least the late 1960s.
Emil J. Hank began as a welder in 1946. He advanced through the ranks eventually becoming Chief Engineer. He was a “hands on” engineer and manager and approached problems with the viewpoint of the machine operators in mind.
Emil’s experience translated well as he founded American Road Machinery, Inc. in 1971. He worked closely with public works officials to translate their concerns and requirements into production improvements. Through deep involvement in research and development, he made significant contributions in new designs for public works equipment in such areas as snow plow design, hydraulic power reversing plows, snow plow truck hitches, salt spreaders, central hydraulic systems and the first to offer a three stage leaf mulching machine.
Upon Emil’s retirement, control of the company passed to his children who enjoyed continuing success in the municipal equipment arena, but as the owners’ aged and new direction was needed.
Nick Ballas was hired in late 2006 to assist in running the business and purchased the company in December 2010. In late 2011, the company decided to enter the oil and gas industry to take advantage of its location in the heart of the Utica and Marcellus shale drilling activity. A complete in-house design of vacuum tanker and winch trucks was undertaken with the first vacuum truck being built in early 2012. Both designs were met with exceptional customer approval based on functionality and build quality of the trucks. Heavy dump truck builds were also added and a new direction was set. With the manufacturing of vacuum tankers, winch trucks and dumps, the company took a major growth step into the truck up fit markets.
As the company grew, additional human and financial capital was needed to continue the pace and on January 1, 2014, The American Road Machinery Company was purchased by A.R.M OPCO, Inc. a holding company comprised of various investors. This group immediately laid out the vision of the company using the solid base in the heavy truck markets, snow and ice control and oil field truck equipment segments, from which to grow into a major national competitor. The company moved from its original Minerva site in late 2014, relocating its headquarters and manufacturing operations to 3026 Saratoga Ave. Canton, Ohio more than quadrupling its size to accommodate the company’s growth and increasing the ability to attract key talent from across the region.
With the COVID- 19 Pandemic, the heavy truck industry was hit hard. Shutdowns of major chassis and component suppliers and major pull backs in spending in the municipal and contractor markets pushed ARM OPCO to seek a sale of the company. In November 2020, TruckCorp, LLC, purchased The American Road Machinery Company in an asset transaction from ARM OPCO, Inc. The American Road Machinery name will be retired, and the company will continue to do business as ARM – A TruckCorp LLC Company. TruckCorp LLC is a holding company comprised of shareholders made up of SBR Sales Canada Inc., NBWB Investments LLC and Jeffrey Scanelli - individual investor.
With the completion of the sale a renewed direction and energy is now in place. Never forgetting its roots, the company has developed a solid reputation as an innovator based on customer requirements. Its strength lies in understanding what problems a customer has and developing a solution for them in a timely manner and at a fair price. Our state-of-the-art manufacturing and up fit facility covers 100,000 sq. ft. on 10 acres of land. With the latest in CNC burning and forming capabilities, assembly bays, finishing and painting systems all coupled with 3D computer aided design ARM can design and build the very best in heavy equipment.