In 1946 when Highland Supply was established, America was welcoming home World War II veterans. With the ensuing housing boom, oil replaced coal as a popular home heating method. Not long after, we fabricated our first fuel storage tanks from steel forged at the mighty mills located not far from our first plant in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands.
Initially, Highland Tank produced 275-gallon oval tanks for residential basements. Coincidental to the growth of the home heating oil market, our country experienced an explosive growth in automobile use and the need for fuel storage at service stations. As demand for motor fuel increased, our product line grew to include larger, underground models for gas station use. Soon tank building became a daily occurrence.
These early days of tank production shaped our company’s future. Our family owned and managed business formed a humble philosophy that continues to hold true: manufacture a solid product at a competitive price and deliver it on time.
Today, Highland Tank operates six state-of-the-art fabrication facilities. We are proud to offer the security of decades of full service by a sound company that has grown to become the nation’s premier steel tank manufacturer. Our hard work and dedication has helped to develop the trust, high quality, dependability and craftsmanship we put into every tank in our diversified product line.
Over the years, our company has grown steadily and adapted to the social, economic and technological changes that have occurred in the United States. The catalyst for this growth occurred late in 1956, when Highland still had only one delivery truck with a capacity of one tank per load. Sun Oil Company requested twenty-five 4,000-gallon underground tanks – and quickly expanded that order to 500 tanks!
With their father’s guidance, second generation owners Robert and Vincent Jacob created a manufacturing incentive plan to increase productivity and help overcome delivery problems. We were able to make on-time delivery for all 500 tanks, and still use a modified form of this same plan today.
To accommodate commercial and industrial customers, we enlarged Highland’s facilities. Using the same principle we apply to our business contracts, we faced head-on any challenges that arose. When a manufacturer of airplane engines placed a huge order, our largest contract ever at the time, we accelerated construction of a new factory and purchased equipment to produce those massive tanks.
In 1960, a long strike by steelworkers resulted in a steel shortage and created great demand for our products. Demand peaked again in 1973 with the foreign oil embargo, and in 1979 when a natural gas shortage caused people to once again turn to heating oil. The federal regulations for underground storage tanks led to strong tank sales in the 1990’s that continues to this day.
We considered these moments in our history to be opportunities for expansion, beyond our normal sales growth. Our product line began to diversify when companies sought oil/water separators to meet more stringent environmental regulations to prevent groundwater contamination. Our newest additions to the most extensive family of products in the tank industry are grease interceptors for the food service industry.
We’re proud of our dedication and diligence in this business, and of our commitment to our customers and our employees. Now in its third generation of family ownership, Highland Tank leads the industry with innovative design, quality materials, superior craftsmanship, and excellent customer service.
Manufacturing high-quality steel storage tank products is what we know and what we do very well, as evidenced by the millions of gallons of tanks Highland has fabricated over the past 64 years.
