One of Tishomingo County’s longest-running employers is celebrating a big milestone. DuraClass Tishomingo, the dump truck body and hoist manufacturer based in the town of Tishomingo, is marking 125 years since the company’s roots were planted in 1901, according to this week’s Tishomingo County News and the company’s own published history.
The anniversary is a reminder of how a factory started by an out-of-state firm nearly five decades ago became a fixture of the Northeast Mississippi economy, and how its products end up on work trucks across the country.
From a Wisconsin welding shop to DuraClass Tishomingo
DuraClass traces its history to 1901, when the Heil Rail Joint Welding Co. was founded in Wisconsin. According to the company, Heil was an early pioneer in using electric welding to build fabricated steel products, and that work eventually led into truck bodies and hoists.
The local chapter began in 1978, when Heil opened the Tishomingo plant as a manufacturing branch. The ownership changed several times after that:
1901: Heil Rail Joint Welding Co. is founded in Wisconsin.
1978: Heil opens its Tishomingo, Mississippi, plant with a 120,000-square-foot footprint.
2005: Truck Bodies and Equipment International (TBEI) is formed and buys the DuraClass brand and the Mississippi plant from Heil.
2017: Federal Signal purchases TBEI, making DuraClass part of one of the largest companies in the dump truck industry.
Today the company describes the Tishomingo facility as its primary production plant. It has grown to more than 200,000 square feet.
What the Tishomingo plant builds
DuraClass makes dump bodies, hoists and related equipment for Class 3 through Class 8 trucks. Those range from smaller landscaping and contractor trucks up to heavy-duty haulers used in construction, paving, demolition, aggregate hauling, public works and snow and ice removal. In recent years the company added a new product family, the DuraTuff line of dump bodies.
On its website, the company calls itself the most experienced producer of Class 3-8 dump bodies and hoists in the United States, pointing to more than a century of design and manufacturing history.
Craftsmanship and reinvestment
The Tishomingo County News reported that the anniversary celebration highlighted the company’s emphasis on craftsmanship and on giving employees room to grow. It also pointed to new equipment and newer manufacturing practices at the plant, backed by the company’s place in the TBEI and Federal Signal family.
DuraClass says it is “aggressively reinvesting” in its production and design capabilities while working to expand its reach. For a rural county, that kind of investment in an existing plant matters. Manufacturing jobs at long-standing plants like this one help anchor the local economy in Tishomingo, Iuka, Burnsville and Belmont.
A long run in Tishomingo County
The Tishomingo plant has now been building truck equipment for 48 years. Few local plants can claim that kind of staying power. Congratulations to the men and women of DuraClass on 125 years.
Readers who know of other local businesses marking milestones are encouraged to share them with Alcorn News MS. For more news from Tishomingo County, see our coverage of the Iuka Veterans Day parade and Jaybird Holiday Market.
Jon R Myers is the executive editor of Alcorn County News and the founder of the Mississippi News Group, which he started in 2013 to cover communities across North Mississippi. He also founded the Mississippi Sports Group in 2006, which grew from a single community publication into a statewide network covering high school and college athletics. He reports on local government, public safety, schools and community life in Corinth and Alcorn County, working from public meetings, agency records and interviews with the people involved. Contact him at editor@alcornnewsms.com with news tips or corrections. For a correction, include the article link and supporting source material.
Stay connected
Your community. Wherever you are.
Follow Alcorn County News on Facebook for local news from Corinth and across Alcorn County.
