Ray Heathcoe
Discusses Custom Truck and Trailer Fabrication

     It is custom work. He says, "The customer tells me what he wants, and I tell him how he can do it." Ray Heathcoe builds trailers and conversions, turning out 10 to 15 custom-built trailers a year and 10 motor home conversions a year, using modular construction techniques which begin with identifying customer criteria and then developing them into specific plans for custom building with "all aluminum framing. Typically, we don't use wood. Our customers are not so concerned with weight issues," the reason that many conversions use light wood construction instead of the more sturdy aluminum construction.

     Ray Heathcoe (center with hand raised) was the special guest of Silverhill's Zion Lutheran Church's "Men's 710" breakfast and speaker fellowship on October 14 at 7:10 AM. Attendees interacted with discussion ranging from truck leasing, truck and trailer construction, auto racing, and pet cremation. - Click to enlarge.

     Customers and their expectations have changed. "Customers are moving constantly. What used to be a truck, has now become a home for many," Heathcoe observes. Such customers want life style "conversions" when it comes to trailers and truck modifications, a place to live as well as drive. This requires a variety of expertise. "There are 12 local contractors that work with us at 'Road House Truck Conversions' in our custom fabrication, all within 30 miles of Silverhill. For example, our cabinet contractor comes from Lillian, our flooring contractor from Silverhill, our electrician and our plumber from Silverhill Loxley, our welders from Marlow and Mobile." Heathcoe's team does custom work. That means they can start from scratch and build up, or they can start with somebody else's work, tear down, revise, and rebuild.

     Ray Heathcoe has been configuring and fabricating trucks and trailers in Road House Truck Conversions for about a decade in Silverhill, first with components from Elkhart, Indiana, and now from components assembled in Silverhill. - Click to enlarge.

     The smallest trailer Road House Conversions builds is a motor cycle trailer, 8 x 16 feet. The largest? "Our race car trailer is 8-1/2 x 53 x 14-2. We build that one so that the cars can be lifted to the top of the trailer. We build a full shop on the 'bottom floor' of the trailer. It takes hydraulics to get the car to the top on a suitable lift," Heathcoe notes. Each custom trailer typically has cabinetry, roof air, and special tracking on the floor for whatever vehicle management we are talking about. "We try to stay ahead of the curve with our products. We do good 'R and D' and we know the applications that our products will be used in. We think out of the box." Some of the firm's work involves modular components, developed by the firm for its special applications. But "when you do trailers for motor cycles, boats, and trucks, there are obviously different cabinet configurations, tooling, and layouts for resources going into those trailers," Heathcoe reports.

     Can there be that much variety in an 8 year old firm in Silverhill? Think about this. They developed a trailer therapy unit for Ochsner in New Orleans. They have fabricated specialized space for display centers. "The most recent project has been to develop a self-contained hurricane command center, capable of functioning independently for two weeks, for a governmental unit." Heathcoe explains that the particular governmental entity is currently pursuing funding for the project.

     Construction of a custom truck or trailer begins with an interview with the customer, determination of the job and specifications, and then laying out plans for the special application. This is not a piecemeal affair. - Click to enlarge.

     How does Ray Heathcoe come to Baldwin County from little Whistler, Alabama, in northern Mobile County? Well, there is military history in the Vietnamese War. There's troubleshooting for a major truck manufacturer. There's management of truck dealerships and consulting in the same. (He ran the truck component of Sun Coast Ford in Pensacola at one time.) There's a veritable bath in management issues related to team-building in the man's background. Heathcoe's life experiences have developed a self-reliance and an ability to adapt to new situations and needs. His experience with fleet issues and customizing vehicles for fleet use probably relates to the success of his Road House Truck Conversions.

     He has been in Baldwin County since 1987 and been in Silverhill for 15 years. His fabrication buildings were constructed in 2000. He was originally working with truck and trailer fabrication facilities in Elkhart, Indiana, before beginning full operations in Silverhill three years ago.

     This man's "plate is very full." Now come two little bit extras. Heathcoe has been an active race car enthusiast, working his own vehicles and helping others on the race circuit. How long? "Well, I began when I was 15 years old ...." "Road House Motorsports" is his company that relates to those activities. But there is one more!

     The end products may look the same on the outside, but the interiors of each truck or trailer reflect specific needs discussed before fabrication. - Click to enlarge.

     "My Mom had three Schnauzers that she was breeding. Show dog level. They were special, kind of like family. She was concerned about them when they died. She wanted them cremated when the time came," Heathcoe remembers. Well, his mother finds that the closest place for an individual animal cremation was Biloxi. The problem was quality control. You really didn't know what you were getting--that's the bottom line, but there is a lot more to the story. And there were some animal cremation services available at the time in Pensacola, but again there was a question of quality control.

     "Pets are an extension of the family. A family wants reassurance and comfort. There are lots of stories about multiple animal cremations, and the crematory just dipping in, taking out some ashes, and giving those ashes to a family. The family would never know whether they were getting their animal!" Heatchoe reports. So, Ray Heathcoe's mother comes to him and offers to obtain the basic equipment and set up a "side business" for a pet crematory if he will promise to take care of these Schnauzers when they die. We are talking "years ago" in the early days of Heathcoe's life in Baldwin County.

     Ray Heathcoe and wife Pandora operate Silverhill's Eternal Pet Crematory located on the site of "Road House Truck Conversions" just west of Bohemian Hall Road. The crematory offers cremation services for single animals, so that remains of family pets are not intermingled with the pets of other people. That's "Chester" in the foreground, a neighborhood pet. - Click to enlarge.

     Heathcoe notes, "I went to Mr. Crawford down in Orlando who has the patents for the cremation equipment and I was trained in on the process and specifications. ADM monitors our 'smoke' emissions. Our animal crematory meets and exceeds Alabama specifications. We meet Florida specs. No smoke--only heated gas and there are filters and 'sniffers' involved in the operation of this kind of facility. And yes, we have 'surprise inspections' to verify our continuing quality control!"

     Thus was born the "Silverhill Eternal Pet Cemetery and Crematory" where individual pets are cremated, ashes are returned in a suitable container, and remains are fully certified. For those who seek to have the remains interred, "we have a private, undisclosed piece of land where ashes are spread in the countryside." Heathcoe and wife Pandora are the owners of the facility which is on a more remote part of the Road House manufacturing campus.