Wabash National Corp. announced that prices of its trailer products will increase an average of 5 percent effective for new orders booked on or after Oct. 1,
with an additional increase ranging from 3 to 5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2009.

"The costs of raw materials and purchased components have been rising at unprecedented rates for the past few years and have continued throughout 2008," explained Dick Giromini, president and CEO. "Steel costs have more than doubled this year alone, and aluminum is now projected to increase another 45 percent by year end. While we have historically adjusted our pricing models as material costs have climbed over time, we felt that with such significant adjustments we owe it to our customers to provide them as much advanced notice as possible. As always, we continue to aggressively seek ways to contain costs and provide the best value to our customers."

Headquartered in Lafayette, Ind., Wabash National specializes in the design and production of dry freight vans, refrigerated vans, flatbed trailers, drop deck trailers, dump trailers, truck bodies and intermodal equipment. Its core products are sold under the DuraPlate, ArcticLite, FreightPro Eagle and Benson brand names. The company operates two wholly owned subsidiaries: Transcraft Corp., a manufacturer of flatbed, drop deck, dump trailers and truck bodies; and Wabash National Trailer Centers, trailer service centers and retail distributors of new and used trailers and aftermarket parts throughout the U.S.