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 2010Howard 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