Howard Porter is an Australian industrial company manufacturing
semi-trailers and truck bodies.
History
Howard Porter was founded in 1936 by Howard Porter in
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
as a
coachbuilder
A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...
building timber horse carts. After three generations of Porter family ownership, it was sold in the 1990s to overseas interests. In 2004 it was purchased by Giulio and Roy Lombardi. By this stage it had relocated to
Spearwood.
[Howard Porter]
''Trailer Magazine'' 28 February 2010[Howard Porter: Setting the benchmark]
''ATM'' September 2010 pages 42-52
From the 1950s until the 1990s, Howard Porter bodied buses, including many for the
Metropolitan Transport Trust
Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...
and its successor
Transperth
Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...
, and the
Western Australian Government Railways
Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...
and its successor
Westrail. In the 1970s it built some with
Custom Coaches kits. It later diversified into custom built semi-trailers and truck builds.
In 2006 rival semi trailer manufacturing business SFM Engineering was purchased.
[ In 2010, Howard Porter completed a 320 trailer contract for the ]Gorgon gas project
The Gorgon gas project is a multi-decade natural gas project in Western Australia, involving the development of the Greater Gorgon gas fields, subsea gas-gathering infrastructure, and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Barrow Island. The pr ...
, reportedly the biggest trailer contract ever in Australia. In 2012 a subsidiary trading as Global Trailer Solutions was established in Asia.Global Transport Solutions made in Asia
''The Asia Miner'' 13 March 2014
References
External links
Perth Bus Info gallery
{{Australian bus manufacturers
Bus manufacturers of Australia
Companies based in Western Australia
Coachbuilders of Australia
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1936
Australian companies established in 1936
Trailer manufacturing companies