About UsIn the 1930s, brothers Ed and William Orscheln established a trucking business. As maintenance supervisor for Orscheln Brothers Truck Line, it was brother Al Orscheln's job to fix any problems on the fleet. Parking brakes failed quite often, and one day in 1938, driver Gus Williams came in complaining, "You've got to fix the parking brake on an old Six Speed." Al sketched out a design for a new parking brake, built one in the shop, and installed it on a truck going to St. Louis.
Al Orscheln's creation was the first "overcenter" parking brake, which used a pull-up handle and magnified leverage to help the driver lock the brakes in place. It also allowed the driver to adjust the brake tension from inside the cab. Patented in 1939, the levers were only installed on the family's fleet of delivery trucks. In 1946, Orscheln Brake Lever Manufacturing Company was incorporated to build the brake system for sale to others. Decades later Orscheln's "overcenter" parking brakes are still a leader in the industry and the Orscheln group of companies has grown in number, product offering, and size to meet the growing demand for high quality, innovative products and solutions in the global market place. |
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