Classic Refuse Trucks WAYNE

Wayne: The Final Years

    Like many manufacturers at the time, Wayne Engineering had financial trouble that culminated in their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July of 2005. In February of 2006, the proceedings were voluntarily converted to Chapter 7, with the company continuing to operate under authority of a trustee. The Worthington family formed a holding company, Wayne LLC with their bank, in an attempt to buy back their company. They were ultimately outbid by a competitor, Wayne Industrial Holdings LLC. A bitter court battle brought attempts to block the sale in court, which were unsuccessful; the competing bidder ultimately took over control of Wayne in early 2007, ending over a half-century of ownership by the Worthingtons.

    For ten years, the 71,000 square foot factory at Cedar Falls remained in operation producing the Wayne-branded product line. A new line of mobile road sweepers was added soon thereafter. The plant was expanded in 2007, and in 2010 the company produced their first front loader model, the Titan. That same year, the all-new Phoenix/Fury rear loaders arrived, the largest such models ever produced under the Wayne name. The flagship Curbtender ASL got a slight redesign in 2015, becoming the Curbtender G4.

    In late 2017, Wayne Engineering was purchased from the holding company, and the name was changed to Curbtender Inc. Under the new identity, they operate the original Cedar Falls factory, as well as a new facility in Gothenburg, Nebraska.

(Future products will be covered under the Curbtender brand name here at Classic Refuse Trucks)

Back to the future; 2015 Wayne Curbtender G4 body looked like the early 1980s model!

In 2010, Titan became the first Wayne front loader

Fantastic Phoenix: this heavy-duty rear loader uses the Pak-Mor Load-Liner type packer

REFERENCES

Wayne Engineering is for sale
The Courier, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa (March 4, 2006)

Wayne Engineering sale may be halted by pending court action
The Courier, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa (December 9, 2006)

Vintage Wayne Literature in PDF at the Classic Refuse Trucks Library

7/4/20