When Southland Trailers was founded in 1980, reducing emissions was not part of the cultural zeitgeist. But as the company’s operations have grown, so have their environmental goals.

Southland Trailers was started in Lethbridge by husband-and-wife duo Monty and Shelly Sailer. Now led by the Sailer sons, the business has built up a 550-person team, six facilities, and clients across North America. It’s one of Canada’s largest trailer manufacturers, with a reputation for innovation.

Today, Southland is on a mission to become a zero-emissions manufacturer. In November 2024, they applied for Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Strategic Energy Management for Industry (SEMI) program.

“Our main driver to join SEMI last year was the funding for solar panels. Since then, we’ve conducted an energy audit and enrolled in the strategic energy management one-year training program. SEMI has opened a window to what’s possible for our facilities,” said Ashton Ervin, Manager of Maintenance and Asset Reliability.

A “facility readiness assessment” has helped Southland Trailers identify energy-saving opportunities in unsuspecting places. One was their air compressor systems, used to blast air that cleans assembled trailers before painting. Since the company ships out more than 300 trailers each week, optimizing energy in this area will lead to massive cost savings in the production line.

For Leesa DeGraaf, Grant Administrator, energy management is a no-brainer. “As the largest privately owned company in our corner of Lethbridge, Southland Trailers has a responsibility to be a leader in energy and emissions reduction. We are always striving for continuous improvement. With sustainability becoming a focal point for businesses, hopefully other Alberta companies will follow suit.”

ERA’s SEMI program provides industrial and manufacturing facilities with knowledge, expertise, and training in energy management. SEMI helps organizations increase profitability by reducing energy costs, growing skills and capacity building, and helping cover the cost of capital retrofits.

This $50 million program, with funding provided by the Government of Alberta and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), will help the province’s industrial and manufacturing sectors increase competitiveness, improve energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.