Aliner will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2024. The Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania-based RV manufacturer has been building A-frame travel trailers since 1984.
The company is marking the milestone with a new limited-edition 40th-anniversary RV.
The travel trailer is an Evolution series model, which first was released in 2022. The anniversary RV is shorter, featuring a 12-foot box constructed with Aliner green laminated fiberglass.
Aliner Director of Sales Allan Reeping said, “The 40th Anniversary Camper reflects our ongoing commitment to innovation and the pursuit of excellence in everything we do.”
The RV has a rear sofa bed that converts to a queen bed. A front dinette converts into a smaller bed that sleeps two children or one adult. The anniversary edition does not have a shower but does have the same appliances as other models in the Evolution series. The anniversary RV has a flush-mount sink, a stove, a 3-cubic-foot, two-way refrigerator, a 16,000 BTU furnace, a 6-gallon water heater and a 35-gallon freshwater tank.
Aliner President and CEO Brett Randall said only 100-150 anniversary editions will be made. The RV will sleep three or four people. Randall said the RV will be offered until July 4.
Past and Future
Columbia Northwest name stems from the company’s founding on the Columbia River in Oregon by Ralph Tait. Tait, originally from Pennsylvania, began making travel trailers and founded Columbia Northwest. Today, the company does business as Aliner.
Tait passed the business down to his sons. The business was later sold to an investor group in 2007. In 2012, the owners contacted Randall for business advice. Randall became CEO in 2014 and bought the company in 2019.
Randall cited three things he is most proud of during his tenure leading the company:
- Improving warranty rates.
- Massive increases in annual revenue.
- Sizable capital investments to improve the business.
When Randall began, warranty claims totaled 5% of company revenue. Today, claims total under 1.5% of revenue. Randall said company revenue has almost tripled in 10 years. The number of employees at the company has doubled.
Randall said the company’s growth was accomplished in part due to the estimated $1 million-plus that was invested in improving the company’s facilities, machinery, and new technology/software. The CEO said other investments include a new laminating facility.
“I am really proud of our team members and our valued partnerships with our dealer base, and our suppliers,” Randall said. “What we have been able to accomplish here for 40 years, and really what we’ve done in the last 10 years, it’s a testament to them… I look at this as an accomplishment for our team members in partnership with our dealers and our suppliers.
“We introduced our first versions of electrified vehicles at Elkhart this year. They are literally being shipped now in the fourth quarter to dealers’ lots…. So, you know, I see continued growth in the next 10 years we’ve made inroads into Europe. I see that as a next frontier for us. Our goal is to double this company, in the next five years, and get to 45.”
