It was hardly an unconventional move on Ryne Brockway’s part to approach his longtime colleague and friend, Steve Hanning, about the idea of forming a truck trailer sales company.

What was unconventional was how they determined who’d be the head of it.

“I told him we’d rock, paper, scissors for it,” says Hanning.

And as simple as that, Hanning won and became president of Inland Pacific Trailer Sales Inc., while Brockway took the vice president role when they founded the company in 2015.

Brockway and Hanning are the only two employees for Inland Pacific Trailer Sales, located on about 6 acres at 1414 N. Fancher, in Spokane Valley.

In 2017, they formed a subsidiary, Inland Pacific Trailer Service & Repair LLC, to provide maintenance and repairs for a wide variety of manufactured semitrailers. That company has a total of six employees, they say.

Inland Pacific Trailer Sales sells new and used manufactured trailers that include brands such as IMCO Trailers, Cornhusker 800, and Reintouer Trailers, Brockway says.

Despite the fact Hanning edged out Brockway in a game of roshambo to run Inland Pacific Trailer Sales, the 67-year-old Hanning points to the 61-year-old Brockway as one of the biggest reasons the company has experienced success since it started in 2015. Brockway has a background in running his own businesses, as well as sales and over-the-road trucking. Other business ventures are in the tourism industry in Western Canada, he says.

Hanning, who also owns and operates Mercer Trucking Co., which he purchased from his family after his father died in 1987, says he first asked Brockway why he should consider adding Inland Pacific Trailer Sales as a Mercer subsidiary. Brockway responded by writing zeros with commas, an indication they could make millions, Hanning says.

Inland Pacific Trailer Sales soared past $4 million in revenue in just nine months of operating in 2015, Hanning says.

Three years ago, Inland Pacific Trailer Service & Repair LLC spun off from Inland Pacific Trailer Sales to become its own corporation. The repair department has served as an effective tool for the sales subsidiary.

Last year, Inland Pacific Trailer Sales reached a record $7.8 million in sales. Brockway says the company was expecting to top that figure this year, but those expectations were tempered when Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on March 23 signed the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” orders in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“Things have picked up since then,” Brockway says. “Buyers are being optimistically cautious.”

The company has cleared $4 million in sales this year, and the duo says $6 million in revenue would be a victory in the current business climate.

“It could be a lot worse,” Brockway says. “Right now, the buyers are only buying what they absolutely have to have to continue their business.”

The company sells trailers to customers in 48 states, but most of its customer base is in the Pacific Northwest and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

About 70% of sales are to small, owner-operated companies with the rest going to companies with larger fleets, Brockway says.

Both Hanning and Brockway claim it’s not just about being able to recruit companies effectively for the sale. They say they take great pride in retaining those customers who need follow-up maintenance work with the sister company, Inland Pacific Trailer Service & Repair.

The business also handles insurance on semitrailers and provides warrantee work for several manufacturers.

“We’ll go above and beyond what most other dealers will do in order to provide that, such as delivering products in the evenings and on weekends,” Brockway says.

“I’ve been in the trucking industry since I was 24, so we understand being on the other side of the fence when you can’t get service,” Brockway says.

Through Inland Pacific Trailer Service & Repair, six full-time mechanics are able to offer guaranteed drive-up service, he says.

The service and repair business is overseen and operated by service manager Bob Lund, who also has an ownership stake in that business, Brockway says.

Brockway cites a recent example of a long-haul driver who experienced mechanical trouble in the morning and couldn’t be scheduled for repairs at another shop until late that afternoon.

“He called us and asked when we could take a look at it. I told him he was three blocks away, it would take seven minutes to drive here – so we can be on it in 10 minutes,” he says. “He thought I was joking, but we had him in and out in just under two hours.”

The two men either own or co-own a total of six businesses that include operations in the areas of transportation, transportation sales, wildlife and nature resorts, and tourism.

“We love to work,” Hanning says.

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