Roy Fruehauf worked at the family company from 1926 - 1963

Roy Fruehauf

Roy Fruehauf

Roy August Fruehauf was born in 1908 and ascended to the role of President of one of the most powerful industrial concerns after World War II.

Roy, the first of his siblings to go to college, entered the ranks of the family business at age 20 where he learned the trade from the ground up.  Roy, who had been head of sales since 1938, and at the company for 23 years, was acutely familiar with the roller coaster of international sales.  During his time as Vice President and Director of Sales, profits grew from his efforts and Roy recognized the need for innovation and expansion. 

In a biographical sketch Roy Fruehauf provided to C. W. Taylor, Jr. for Eminent Americans, as well as later publication in Who's Who, he described his climb in the company.  Roy started working at his father's business in 1926, after returning home from college for his mother's funeral.  He began working in the office and went on to the parts department.  From there he worked in the machine shop, and in the early 1930s advanced to a position as apprentice salesman.  He became Regional Manager in the Des Moines, Iowa office in the mid 1930s, and advanced to Vice President in charge of the Western Division in 1935.  In 1938 he was Vice President and Director of Sales.  In 1940 he was Vice President in charge of Operations, and in 1944 Executive Vice President.  In 1949 he became President of Fruehauf Trailer Company at the age of 41.  In 1958 he was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.  He resigned in 1961 as Chairman of the Board, serving as a consultant until 1963 and Director until 1964. 

Roy, who had a very different business style than his staid conservative older brother, had learned about business tactics during his time in University.  He understood about expansion, risk and growth.  One of his first mandates when he finally became President was to establish manufacturing branches throughout the U.S. and later into Europe, South America and Asia, positioning Fruehauf as a worldwide corporation.  

Roy’s background in sales was key as he had insight into the market place and knew his customer’s needs intimately.  

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Roy August Fruehauf

Henry Ford II and Roy Fruehauf

Roy Fruehauf's Family

Roy Fruehauf Philanthropy 

Trucking’s Fruehauf Dead at 57, by Max E. Simon

Roy Fruehauf with one of his pet projects, the bathtub dump trailer

Roy A. Fruehauf, who started in the transportation industry as a $25-a-week salesman in his family’s business and climbed to the presidency of the multi-million dollar Fruehauf Trailer Co., died yesterday in William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.

Mr. Fruehauf, 57, had been rushed to the hospital after he suffered a stroke Saturday.

The company which he headed from 1949 to 1958 had made the name Fruehauf as meaningful to the trucking industry as Ford was to the automobile industry.

Worldwide Sales – There isn’t a main highway in this country or Europe where some motorist has not driven his car behind a trailer bearing the name Fruehauf.

The business began in his father’s blacksmith shop, a converted feed store on Gratiot with living quarters on the second floor, and Mr. Fruehauf spent many hours there as a boy.

He was seven years old when, because automobile expansion threatened to put the family’s buggy shop out of business, his father hooked a wagon to a Model T roadster – thus giving birth to the Fruehauf Trailer Co.

Mr. Fruehauf, who was born in Fraser, Mich., attended schools in Detroit and took two years of college courses at Principia College in Elsah, Ill., but withdrew in 1927 before graduating to return to the trailer business.

Salesman in Chicago – He worked as an apprentice in service, parts, machine shop and the engineering department before his father promoted him.

“I was sent to Chicago and paid $25 a week to sell trailers,” Mr. Fruehauf recalled.  “And out of that I had to pay my moving expenses.  In those days all prospects had to be convinced a trailer would work.  I jumped around with a sample ready to hitch up and prove our point.”

In 1933 he became western sales manager.  Two years later he was promoted to vice-president in charge of sales.  In 1940, he was made vice-president in charge of operations and, in 1944, executive vice-president.

In 1949 he became president – a position he relinquished to become chairman of the board in 1958.  He held that position until 1961, but remained as a director until 1964 when he retired from the firm.

Along with ex-Teamsters Union president Dave Beck, Mr. Fruehauf was indicted in 1959 on charges of violating the Taft-Hartley act by loaning Beck $200,000.

Three years later both men were acquitted of the illegal loan charges.  In the meantime, however, Beck was convicted of income tax evasion.

Founded 2 Firms – At the time of his death, Mr. Fruehauf was running two firms he recently founded, Roy Fruehauf Inc. General Contractors and Road Builders, and the Five R’s Construction Co.

Mr. Fruehauf was a past director of the Aero Club, the American Trucking Association, the Detroit Grand Opera Association, the Economic Club of Detroit, Salvation Army, the Star Commonwealth for Boys, and the Michigan Association for Emotionally Disturbed Children. 

He served as a trustee of Alma College, Detroit Institute of Technology, and Tri-State College, Angola, Ind.  He was also a member of the advisory council of Junior Achievement in southeastern Michigan, and a trustee of Kirk-in-the-Hills, the Presbyterian Church.