Sunday, 20 September 2026 08:30 AM
Awards
Drawing on decades of expertise in truck and heavy equipment work, Gridko's award winning trailer replaces the pony motor with a live drive PTO system
STATESVILLE, NC / ACCESS Newswire / September 20, 2026 / Gridko has been named the Heavy Duty category winner of the 2026 NATDA TRAILmakER Awards, presented at the NATDA Trailer Show in Nashville. Gridko built its engineering and production group around veteran talent, people who brought years of hands-on experience in trucks and heavy equipment with them, and pointed that experience at a problem nobody else in the trailer industry had solved.
Most roll off and dump trailers move their hoist using one of two systems: electric-over-hydraulic or fully hydraulic. In both cases, the hoist itself is hydraulically driven, since pistons handle the actual lifting force. What differs is the power source running the hydraulic pump.
Electric-over-hydraulic setups run the pump off electric power, typically premium marine-style 12V batteries onboard the trailer, or the truck's own battery system when paired with an onboard charger setup. This keeps things simple and self-contained, with no engine or PTO dependency.
Fully hydraulic systems are the heavy-duty option, built for superior power, speed, and durability. Because a fully hydraulic system demands more output than a battery can sustain at that level, it is traditionally powered by a pony motor, a small auxiliary engine dedicated to running the hydraulic pump. Gridko offers this configuration as a reliable, proven option.
Gridko's engineering team asked why trailers were not solving this the way large trucks already do.
"If it works that well on the trucks, why are we not doing the same thing on the trailers?" the Gridko team said.
That question is what led Gridko to bring the same direct drive principle it already runs on the hook lift truck side of its business onto the trailer, creating what the company calls a live drive PTO system, one that keeps the hoist running even while the trailer is in motion.
Gridko offers an alternative way to power a fully hydraulic system: connecting the trailer's hydraulic system directly to a truck's power take-off (PTO). The company did exactly that on a new Ford F-250 build, showcased at the event. Running off the PTO does not just eliminate the need for a second engine on the trailer. It also increases operating speed compared to a traditional pony motor setup, while still delivering the full power and durability of a fully hydraulic system.
This PTO-driven setup runs on Gridko's PTO Wet Kit, compatible with any work truck already equipped with PTO provisions. For trucks that do not have PTO built in, Gridko offers a clutch pump that bolts directly onto the vehicle and draws off the engine's existing power, extending PTO-equivalent capability to trucks that were not originally built for it.
The result is a choice for fleets: the proven pony motor setup, or a PTO-driven fully hydraulic system that adds speed and cuts the cost of running a second engine. Either way, it is built around the industry's most durable and powerful hoist configuration.
The trailer's design reflects Gridko's broader engineering approach rather than a single idea tried once. The company's engineers selected a compact 16-foot gooseneck configuration paired with a reeving system, a cable and pulley arrangement that controls how the hoist lifts and rolls the container. They chose it for the combination of load capacity, control and a smaller footprint than most heavy-duty trailers on the market. A reeving system spreads the working load across the cable and pulley path rather than putting the full strain on a single point. That is part of what lets a compact frame handle the same duty cycle as a larger trailer without giving up the load capacity operators need. The smaller footprint also matters on the job. A 16-foot gooseneck maneuvers into tighter yards, alleys and job sites than the longer trailers this class of work has traditionally required. That combination came out of years of hands on experience Gridko's engineers brought with them from work on trucks and trailers for demanding commercial use.
The build was a full team effort, and it shows in the details. Gridko's owners stayed hands on throughout, the company's head engineer led the design, and the production team, welders, hydraulics technicians and electricians, brought the kind of trade experience that only comes from decades spent building heavy equipment.
The reaction on the floor matched the engineering behind it. Industry veterans who have spent careers around trailers got underneath the truck with flashlights to see the live drive system for themselves.
The Heavy Duty win also carried the trailer into NATDA's final round of judging, where Gridko was named the show's Overall TRAILmakER Trophy Recipient.
About Gridko
Gridko designs and manufactures heavy duty roll off, gooseneck, and bumper pull trailers, along with Gridko cable hoists for roll off trucks, for dealers, dumpster rental companies, waste haulers, contractors, and fleet operators across the United States. The company built its team by recruiting veteran engineers and tradespeople from commercial trucking and heavy equipment work. American Built. Smarter by Design.
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SOURCE: Gridko