Western Hauler: What’s New and Will E-Trucks Ever Work for Horse Owners?

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154 – September/October, 2023

By Heather Smith Thomas

Electric vehicles are all the hype today; some people want to eliminate dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions and think that all vehicles and machinery should be powered by electricity. Electric cars have been around for a long time, but now there is a push to make all cars electric in the future. So the next question: what about trucks? Will e-trucks be practical for pulling horse trailers?

Larry Roberts, co-owner of Western Hauler in Fort Worth, Texas, was recently asked that question. Western Hauler is a company that has been making elite truck beds and cabs ever since Larry’s father-in-law, Wayne Bell, started custom building truck beds in 1982. Wayne enjoyed customizing his personal vehicles in his automotive shop in Fort Worth. After he designed a bed, added running boards, and customized a few other options for a friend’s new truck, other folks wanted similar truck beds, and a new business was born.

He needed additional space to accommodate all the orders he was receiving for Western Hauler beds, so he created a new, much larger facility in Fort Worth. Then his daughter, Melody, introduced him to her boyfriend, Larry Roberts. Wayne welcomed Roberts to the business in 1987 as a partner, and to the family as Melody’s husband a year later.

Back then, cab customization was referred to as custom stretching, adding more comfort and space for passengers in the back seat. Western Hauler’s specialties in customization grew, as did their list of “creature comforts” and new technology which includes cameras that let drivers see everything around their truck and trailer, as well as some that let them see what their horses are doing inside the trailer.

Click here to read the complete article
154 – September/October, 2023