Paul Mueller starts tanker line

“It is basically a whole new venture for us,” Martin said. “We’ve built stationary tanks since 1940, and this new product line diversifies us.”

Martin, a 32-year Mueller Co. veteran who heads up the over-the-road sales, said the company is working to launch its new line by advertising in a national trade magazine and planning to display one of its new tank containers in the northeast corner of its parking lot by the end of the week.

While the company employs a handful of supervisors on production, Martin said most employees manufacturing the tanks had worked previously with local competitors, Polar Tank Trailers and Acro Trailer Co.

“We’ve brought these people in from the outside with experience in aluminum welding,” Martin said. “We are off to a good start.”

He said the company has sold three of the first 15 trailer tanks produced. Another 10 are under way and Mueller Co. has ordered aluminum to produce 10 more. Mueller Co.’s goal is to be producing one per day by the first of the year, Martin said.

Last week, the company announced third-quarter profits of $852,000, an 834 percent increase compared to a net loss of $116,000 in the same quarter last year. Mueller Co.’s pink sheet stock closed Nov. 5 at $23.50, compared to a 52-week range of $15 to $29.75.