Winnebago announces 400,000th motorhome

Winnebago Industries has announced a major milestone - the production of its 400,000th motorhome. The company made the statement this month.

The Forest City, Iowa-based manufacturer will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2008. Winnebago opened in 1958 as Modernistic Industries and built travel trailers for several years before entering the motorhome market. The company officially changed its name to Winnebago in 1961, and five years later, it built its first self-contained motorhome.

PHOTO: Winnebago's most senior employees pose with Chairman of the Board and CEO Bruce Hertzke.

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RV Concern: FEMA, Formaldahyde and Katrina Trailers

If you missed the CBS News segment on high levels of formaldehyde in RV trailers built for Katrina evacuees, you shouldn't miss the transcript. It's an eye-opening, and slightly frightening look into what may be causing illness among those who took shelter from the storm in some of the trailers provided by the RV industry.


The quick once-over says this: Many of the "Plain Jane" trailers provided by FEMA tested for high levels of formaldehyde gas. FEMA itself warned its own employees that when inspecting trailers prior to occupancy they should consider opening the windows and turning on the air conditioning for their own safety. The problem? Formaldehyde could cause cancer.

If a FEMA employee should be concerned about formaldehyde gas during an eight-hour shift, what about folks living in them, 24/7? FEMA never warned residents about the potential dangers, and when asked, at least one manufacturer simply said, "For the FEMA trailers it used components and materials that met or exceeded industry standards." The problem there is that there is no industry standard for formaldehyde off-gassing.

One RV industry employee says he feels the problem came when masses of trailers had to be produced in a hurry, and his company (he feels) got inferior materials for construction. The question for all of us could be: What levels of formaldehyde are present in regular production line RV models? Have you ever had your RV tested? Please leave a comment if you have.

FEMA Deliver RVs--on the Cheap

What hurricane Katrina did for the RV industry, FEMA may now undo. It's a good-news, bad-news scenario, and folks shopping for travel trailers may come out on the winning side.

In the little burg of Hope, Arkansas, there's a most unusual RV park: It's the FEMA "parking lot" for 12,000 travel trailers destined for hurricane survivors. Some of the trailers helped folks, others never got beyond this 450 acre lot. Now FEMA needs to let them go--but that's just the tip of the iceberg: Nationwide there are nearly 46,000 trailers in FEMA's inventory, most of which will eventually be sold at auction. For how much? Figure about a 25 cents on the dollar for what FEMA hastily paid for them.

Even now, Uncle Sam has plenty of travel trailers at auction. Some have been beat up pretty good by tenants, others "scavenged" for parts. But with prices on 2005 model year units in the $3,000 to $5,000 price range, you can bet the bargain hunters are on their way. Maybe you can cash in on the deal--mind you, if you're the successful bidder you'll need to make haste to get your new rig off the lot: The government typically allows 10 days for removal after the auction closes.

There's a dark side of course: With so many FEMA trailers flooding the market, what will happen to RV dealerships who have to compete with the inundation of low-cost trailers? Uncle Sam's folks say they're not unconcerned about the matter. Time will tell.