Talbert marks its 80th year in business in 2018. The company was started by Austin Talbert in 1938 as a heavy haul, crane rental and construction equipment business in Lyons, Illinois. Today the company designs and builds trailers at its facility in Rensselaer, Indiana, the same facility Talbert purchased in 1957 when he sold the rental and heavy-haul divisions to focus on trailer manufacturing.