At the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council, our mission is to build a community where people want to visit, live, work and invest. Our “Made Here in Clarksville” series puts a spotlight on the products built right here at home, many of which end up in places you’d never expect. Next up is Hendrickson.
Chances are you’ve driven alongside something today made in Clarksville and never knew it. The next time you pass a tractor-trailer on Interstate 24, whether it’s a tanker, a dry van, or a refrigerated trailer hauling groceries to a store near you, there’s a good chance the axle and suspension underneath it were built on International Boulevard. We recently got a behind-the-scenes look at the plant.
How Hendrickson started
Hendrickson’s story started in 1913, when inventor Magnus Hendrickson founded the Hendrickson Motor Truck Company in Chicago. In 1926, the company introduced the first tandem truck suspension, its patented “walking beam” design, which turns 100 this year. Over the decades, Hendrickson stopped building trucks and focused on what rides underneath them.
Today, Hendrickson is headquartered in Woodridge, Illinois, and runs sales, manufacturing, and research facilities in 17 countries. It’s one of the world’s leading makers of suspensions, axles, brakes, tire pressure control systems, and other components for commercial trucks and trailers. The company’s tagline puts it simply: “The World Rides On Us.”
A good share of that world rides on Clarksville.
What Hendrickson does in Clarksville
The Clarksville facility is part of Hendrickson’s Trailer Commercial Vehicle Systems division. The team here builds the axle and air-ride suspension systems that carry on-highway trailers, the parts that take the weight of every load and every pothole, mile after mile. Since production began in 1999, that plant has produced nearly 5 million axles that ended up on customers’ trailers.
“Clarksville has been an outstanding home for Hendrickson because of its skilled workforce, strong manufacturing tradition, and strategic location along I-24,” said Gregg Adams, plant manager at Hendrickson’s Clarksville facility. “Every day, our team takes pride in building products that help keep America’s freight moving safely and efficiently. Our employees’ dedication and skill drive our success, and we’re proud to contribute to both the local economy and the transportation industry.”
What happens at Hendrickson depends on people: welders, machinists, maintenance technicians, engineers, quality inspectors, and production teams working in sync. That’s the kind of skilled manufacturing career that has disappeared from many American towns but continues to grow here.
Why it matters to Clarksville
Hendrickson employs 300 people at its Clarksville facility, which makes it one of the significant employers in our manufacturing base. Each trailer system that ships from Clarksville supports local paychecks, keeps skilled trades alive in our community, and sends economic activity out to suppliers, trucking and logistics partners, and the small businesses where employees shop, eat, and spend their weekends.
It also says something about Clarksville. A global company with a century of engineering chose to build here because of our workforce, our location along the I-24 corridor, and a community that supports the people who make things.
“There are so many incredible things Made in Clarksville!” said Josh Ward, executive director of the Clarksville Montgomery County Industrial Development Board. “Thanks to the Aspire Foundation for funding this project, we’re excited to give our community a behind-the-scenes look at the products manufactured right here at home, from cookware and Italian tile to the trailer suspensions that keep America’s freight moving. It’s all made here.”