Oliver Factory Tour Report
Prepared for
Members of RV.Net
by
“CopilotCompanion”
Fall 2016
Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for my tour of the Oliver Factory. Your input improved my RV acumen but I must place this caveat at the beginning of my report: I am a student... not a teacher. For this reason, I am only able to report my findings. I will make no attempt to vet the replies made by the manufacturer and I will rely upon RV.net members to interpret my findings. With the help of this forum, I am climbing the learning curve relative to RVs, in general, and travel trailers, in particular. Currently, I consider myself in an embryonic state relative to this task. With that disclaimer, I submit my report.
I’ll not try to duplicate the information found on the website for Oliver Trailers. You can find their website here:
Oliver Travel Trailers, Hohenwald, TN Prior to my visit, long ago, I had asked for a price list. To my amazement, one arrived via email without haggling or gotchas? A PDF of a Build Sheet/Price List for the “Elite” model -- a single axle unit, one of two models produced at the factory is posted above. A Build Sheet/Price List for the “Elite II” -- a tandem axle unit, the larger of the two models produced at the factory is also posted. Ollies come in only two flavors, one or the other.
GREETINGS & SALUTATIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF TOUR
Upon my arrival in the Fall of 2016, I’m told several tours were scheduled that week but on this particular day, my very-patient-73-year-old-mother & I are the only tourists. I am greeted by Heather Oliver, daughter of the founder, who takes me on a tour of the “Ollie” in the showroom -- the double axle model. The founder has retired, travels extensively and has turned over the operation of the company to his children. Heather states emphatically that their units aren’t for everyone. The company wishes to manufacture high quality units for discerning customers who are willing & able to pay for it. She likens the construction of an Ollie to a “yacht on wheels”.
Once we depart the showroom, I am lead on a factory tour by Jason Essary. The factory is located approximately one & a half miles West of the showroom. Jason explains that the owners emphasize quality over quantity. “The owner doesn’t want any component to be low quality” he states. Contact information for both of these people is found at the end of this thread.
Jason tells me there is approximately 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Approximately 150,000 square feet of it is dedicated to manufacturing Ollies. The rest of the space is dedicated to manufacturing fiberglass bathtubs marketed under the name “Safe Step” at the rate of 1000 per week. 60 employees are dedicated to manufacturing travel trailers at a rate of 2 per week. When the staff begins to return from lunch, I observe that this is a “Made in America by United States Citizens” operation.
I will now answer the specific questions provided in the thread by RV.net members. Thanks, again, for your guidance & I hope, despite my obvious deficit(s), that you glean something valuable from this post.
/CC
