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This past winter I saw a product called "Custom Shield Coating" by ArmorAll. This is a spray on, peel-off paint and body protection product that is supposed to help prevent rock chips. Since I will shortly be hitting the road and plan on traveling on my share of dirt over the next two months, I thought that I'd give it a try. And it sure is a bunch cheaper than a set of Rock Tamers. Application is fairly easy once you have the area taped and masked. When dry the surface of the Oliver has a "rubber like" texture to it and it is not shiny like the rest of the camper. However, on a test area the shine was back when the product was peeled off. Once I get back - mid September or so - I'll report back here as to how well this stuff held up and if it prevented and rock chips. Bill

Recently I was told about a fairly simple one time use fire extinguisher - Tundra by First Alert. I know that there is an extinguisher by the Oliver entrance, but, what if a fire happens in the kitchen and I'm back in the bed? Amazon had a two pack of these for $22.49 and I ordered them. https://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-AF400-Extinguisher-Aerosol/dp/B001229JCU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499709044&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=tundra+fire+extinguisher&psc=1 Since they don't come with any kind of mount, I took a piece of 2 inch wide "industrial" Velcro I had in the workshop and figured that it would work nicely in the corner below the nightstand. Hopefully I'll never have to use it. Bill

Reed and Karen - I truly am sorry for the issues that you have had with your Oliver and for the lack of "speedy" response by the plant personnel. But, you have made your point. If you have not already done so, I'd suggest a letter to John and Scott Oliver. Bill

I finally got some pictures of my spare tire modification. Since my trailer had the small sized spare tire and cover, I can not run the fiberglass cover over the full sized spare I now have. There is just enough room under the full sized tire to slip on the cloth tire cover. One slight advantage of the soft cover is that it doesn't stick out beyond the bumper like the fiberglass one does. I also upgraded all five wheels to the star wheel design in the pictures. The locking chain is fixed to the bracket behind the tire and goes through an eye bolt in front that will not allow the wing nut to be removed. If the tire is turned around, the wing nut and locking setup will stick out beyond the tire and the wing nut piece won't tighten up against the wheel to hold it securely. It might be better to change this whole bracket to a more conventional spare tire bracket that would mount the tire with the front out. This would allow for easy tire pressure checks and easier installation of the soft cover.

I picked up my Elite II in March 2016. It is the first travel trailer I have owned but my parents owned two Airstreams, a couple of other riveted aluminum campers, a Class B motorhome and an Alaskan Camper. The Alaskan Camper (cab-over pickup camper) was the only one they kept for more than 2-3 years, primarily because of quality issues. My Ollie has not been completely trouble free, but the issues have been very minor. The back to my furnace fell off after about 15,000 miles due to vibration. Easy fix that Oliver paid for. I've had issues with the drawer between the twin beds coming out when traveling and Oliver has sent the necessary parts to a local RV shop to have that issue resolved (adding a latch). I had some issues with the hot water heater but discovered that I was the problem, not the water heater. The fact that Oliver doesn't have dealers that you can take the camper to for repairs is an issue, but I've found that the Oliver people will communicate effectively with a local RV shop if necessary. My Elite II is a very high-quality camper. In addition, the people at Oliver have shown a willingness to provide what I consider to be incredible customer service during the 16-17 months I've owned the camper. They are always available to answer questions, provide solutions and are genuinely interested in keeping me satisfied with their product. Pick up any issue of Trailer Life and read about owners' experiences with other manufacturers. The rule in this industry appears to be that the manufacturer forgets you the minute you pull away with your new purchase. I nearly purchased a new Airstream 27' front bedroom. Traveling with that camper would have been a very different experience for me. I think anyone considering an Oliver should carefully consider whether it's the right camper for them. The lack of a separate bedroom, the small size, etc. will cause some to decide it isn't. The small size (7' width), the robust solar capability, the two-layer fiberglass hull and other attributes will cause others to decide it is the right camper for them. Are Olivers perfect? No, but they are high-quality and the company is still small, family-owned, and has a high degree of commitment to customer service.

There is nothing securing the spare under the fiberglass cover, and because there are no studs like on the hubs, you can't use a conventional Gorilla or other threaded wheel lock. I considered drilling a 5/16" hole in the threaded rod for a padlock, but I decided instead to use a steel cable looped through the wheel itself. The cable is 1/8 plastic coated, 24 inches overall length, the "wire rope sleeves"are aluminum. I used a big old hand crimping tool to secure the loops. None of the parts will scratch the wheel or mount. Anything bigger would be hard to get through the openings between the mount and the wheel. I wanted to try going naked - no cover installed - so I used the star nut that secures the cover to run the flat washer down tight on the loops, to keep them and the lock from moving. If you wanted to install the cover, you would need to thread the cable in a different configuration, so that the lock and loops are hanging down and keeping the flat part of the wheel retainer free and clear. It is secure enough, IMHO. Anybody who was really determined to steal it could get through it pretty fast with a bolt cutter, but it is much better than nothing at all, and it is a very good visual deterrent. I had all the parts on hand in my garage, so it took only half an hour. It's an easy mod if you have the tools. EDIT: Thanks to Raspy for this tip. I screwed the threaded rod into the mount another 1.25 inches, so the exposed part was not a hazard or eyesore. More better! One thing I don't like about this design is that the ring scrapes badly on the inside of the wheel face as you tighten it hard, shedding aluminum particles. This is not good, but anything added there to act as a pad needs to not trap moisture. John Davies Spokane WA

Hull #223 has hit the hills of East Tennessee and is at home in the Smokies! We picked up our Ollie last Friday! We had the pleasure to meet and visit with Scott Oliver during our pickup. He made it clear to us that our, Oliver owners, suggestions are valued and often are incorporated into future products. It is clear that their goal as a company is to make the best camper possible and to meet their customers' expectations. Not many companies today care about their customers after the sale... Oliver is a different kind of company. They care. Case in point, when we had a glitch in our pickup which was scheduled for Thursday, everyone at the factory went above and beyond to make us happy. Talking about taking care of your customers, folks, everyone at Oliver has been wonderful. Beginning with all the phone calls, emails, and questions that Anita patiently answered, to the guys in service working until after 9 p.m.; to Brent driving to Nashville, and then Jason coming in on Saturday to fix our door stop AGAIN after we broke it for the second time in as many days, (our bad, in our defense, our previous camper had a strong piston that kept the door open),Oliver goes the extra mile, literally, to make its' customers happy! Big THANK YOU to the entire Oliver Crew! Now on with our story... Due to a faulty satellite dish, a defective Dish receiver, and the Dish network itself going down due to maintenance issues, we were unable to take our new baby from the factory on Thursday. It took awhile to figure out the problem since it involved related components of the same system. Although we were disappointed, all eventually turned out well. Oliver kindly booked us a nice suite and footed the bill for us and our 2 pooches at the Commodore Hotel in Linden. So it is on Friday afternoon instead of Thursday when we finally leave the factory and head to Fall Hallow where we are lucky enough to meet GeO and his wife who had just picked up the day before. While we are visiting with GeO, Brent is driving to Nashville Camping World just to get a new Dish receiver for us. He came by Fall Hallow and hooked it up for us that evening! Yeah! Everything worked! We tested some things at Fall Hallow that first day but mainly we just moved in and celebrated with a glass of wine. Saturday we packed up, loaded the bike and moved on to Fall Creek Falls State Park. The new bike rack design works well; my husband is very pleased with it. Saturday was hot and humid and we were thankful for full hookups and the chance to test the air conditioner. I have to say, it is loud, but I guess they all are. All systems so far checking out great without issues. Sunday cool weather, wind and rain. No need for the air conditioner! With all the wind & rain Ollie got a good water test and passed with no leaks or streaks! We would have loved to stay on our maiden voyage longer but had friends coming to visit so we packed up on Monday and headed home. Hull number 223 is now resting securely with his new Gus Hill "the bull" ASSA lock ( btw, that sucker is massive) and patiently awaiting the next adventure. We want to thank all of you on this forum. We have learned so much from you and your experiences. Through your posts you have guided us on which options and modifications to consider for our build, as well as what items we might want to purchase (love that Clam!). We have learned much on how to operate Ollie systems and to appreciate the uniqueness of our little egg. We love our new Ollie. Thank you All! Sincerely, Hull #223 & Crew

The factory is currently churning out 10 trailers per month. Have you seen a lot of problems that might relate to the faster pace of construction, and by more mistakes being made on the construction line? My trailer has a LOT of issues; most are minor, some are normal teething pains and equipment failures. like the furnace ignitor going out and a dysfunctional light switch, but many are just screw ups that were not caught by an inspector before delivery. Some are serious safety issues that Oliver hasn't addressed yet, like self-loosening solar panel mount knobs! I give the trailer an A+ for hull and chassis design and general build quality. It tows like a dream, and looks luscious inside and out. The electrical wiring I give both a B+ (for the visible areas) and also a D (too many rats nests of unsecured wires in the "hidden" areas behind those round hatches). The interior design a B. There are some really irritating features that just don't make sense to me, like the beyond stupid fixed TV mount, the complete lack of access to the street side part of the rear storage area with the Twin Bed option, and the self opening drawers that mysteriously deposit your stuff on the floor as you drive. "Where did that spatula come from?!" The crappy RV appliances I give a D, and I am being charitable here; there are so many better choices, and I for one would be willing to pay a big premium for high quality and reliable marine appliances, both DC and diesel powered. How is your trailer doing, and have you been having many issues? FYI I am an ex-aircraft mechanic, and anal as can be, so most people would not be nearly as critical of problems found in their RV as I am. OTH, I can speak up for those who are too timid to voice their opinions ;) No harm is intended, in any way. I love the trailer... I just need to get it sorted. Working on it..... Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA

I was told by Oliver yesterday that due to the tragedy at Fiamma and subsequent interruption/shutdown of their US operations that they're switching to Carefree Awnings. I've asked Jason exactly which model they're using, but it looks to me that their Freedom model is the closest match to the Fiamma. I've only briefly glanced at their website, and have no idea what their reputation is like. They look decent enough to me, but there aren't many closeup photos to go by. They do offer much more in the way of fabric choices, including sunbrella acrylic in pretty much any color you could want. The housings can be ordered in white, black and silver. They also have a number of accessories and have a screened room kit similar to Fiamma's. I assume that the accessories will be much easier to source than Fiamma's since they're based in Colorado rather than having to special order from Italy. I hate that Oliver had to switch, especially given the circumstances, but of course it's necessary and perfectly understandable, at least until Fiamma are able to get their operation back up and running.

Here are some photos of our trip back to Arizona after Stan (our Tundra) finally got hitched with Ollie. As RV newbies, we had much to learn along our way back home. We picked up our Ollie (Hull #222) over a month ago and have finally been able to post these pics. Looking forward to many more adventures.

I'll post some inside pics and info in another thread, it will take a long time to pay back the investment in an RV bay. This was fully insulated, sheetrocked and is 16x43x16 tall .... but it cost $30K. But I got the garage insulated and sheet rocked free as part of the package, so that helps. OTH: Having the Ollie close by and completely out of the weather is priceless.... If you plan to live in the house a long time, not die too early, and continue to own an RV, then go for it! They are becoming extremely popular with older folks who are downsizing as the kids move away. John Davies Spokane WA

We took that drive (Million Dollar Highway) with our Ollie about three weeks ago--going North to South (Ouray to Silverton). Have done it before in a single vehicle. It was not all that intimidating with Stan (our Tundra) and Ollie. One of the hairiest drives I've ever taken, however, was a few years ago over Engineer Pass--unpaved between Ouray and Lake City--with a two-wheel-drive Tacoma in late spring. The apex of the pass was pure ice and snow. Don't think I would try to take Ollie over that one at anytime--although pulling Ollie with four-wheel-drive Stan so far has been a pleasure and piece of cake. We are looking forward to more Colorado adventures for sure.

I'm very happy with the quality of my Ollie Elite 2. It's not a perfect thing and I don't expect it to be, but it is excellent and it is definitely a keeper. While being able to pinpoint a few things that are not perfect I can give a long list of things that are way beyond what I have ever seen or what I expected. I'm thrilled with it. As far as practical use goes, the Ollie design is far more useful than a Airstream, in my estimation. That is not a quality issue, just a "design for actual use" issue. Things like food storage, battery location and capacity, ground clearance under the tanks and plumbing, the ability to open the tow vehicle tailgate while connected, etc, are all better with an Oliver. The only Airstream with a narrow body is the Bambi, but it only has a single axle. The tandem axle Elite 2 tows extremely well. It's stable and easy to keep in a lane. Then look at the aluminum body vs fiberglass. I've seen a number of pictures of Airstreams lately, and I passed one on the road, with hail damage. They looked like the surface of a golf ball! Absolutely not repairable without new body panels. Even the slightest rub against a tree branch will press in a stripe that will be permanent. If you want to go camping in remote areas, are going to be out in bad weather or you plan to put a lot of miles on your trailer, I can't see how you can do better than an Ollie. If you only want a luxury apartment, for the weekend, in good weather, or if you want to live aboard and be always hooked up to shore power, the AS might work better in the wide body models. Just don't base your decision on a few negative comments about the Oliver as the AS has it's share of complaints too.

Sorry, but I'm at a loss trying to understand how it is either Olivers or Zamps fault that the solar system doesn't keep up while parked in the shade. Why not park in the sun and take advantage of the long summer daylight hours?

In my experience, it is those that have been wronged (or perceived to have been wronged) that voice opinions in the strongest manner possible. At the same time, those that are satisfied (or at least think they are) go merrily on their way without saying too much. I've tried my best over the years to write letters of thanks and gratitude when I have received good products or service, but, am usually amazed when I hear that this doesn't happen too often anymore. There have been voices on this Forum that have documented their displeasure at the quality and/or service received from Oliver. And, there have been others that have praised Oliver not only for the initial quality but for the long term commitment to making a better camper plus fixing any problems that customers may have with their campers. Rarely have I seen a company publish a public note explaining its position on this subject and then actually "do it". Olivers are not for everyone, but, from what I've seen and heard and experienced they are the best (by a long shot) out there. I know that I'm a happy camper even for $60,000. No, mine is not a Rollie - not that I've ever actually owned one - but, for me, it sure beats anything else I've been able to look at. Bill

Now this statement is something I totally agree with. The standard Elite I model I priced was about $54,000.

Well now, we have not, for the record, decided on anything as yet. My wife and I did take an Oliver tour of the factory in late June of 2017 and were extremely impressed. All of our questions were answered satisfactorily. Oliver makes a very good trailer. We must first sell either one of the lots we own in Apalachicola or sell our summer cabin here in northern Michigan. The price of an Oliver I admit is a bit prohibitive, but you get what you pay for. My wife and I have since evolved (we hope) into actually wanting something even smaller than the standard Ollie Elite. If we were ready to buy a trailer today the choice would be between an Armadillo, an Eggcamper, and the Ollie. So as much as I worried over negative comments made here about the Ollie's electrical problems, water levels and drainage issues, the drawers, the spare tire being undersized, as well as not being able to get a composting toilet for the standard Ollie, we still love them and the company. We believe no matter the issue that Oliver would take care of any problem and in good spirit. Brent gave us the tour and he was magnificent. Anita was our sales consultant and she was friendly and helpful as can be. And the workers there in the factory seemed happy, which means something, especially today.

We carry an assortment of lengths of 2x 6 and 2 x 4 cutoffs in a crate in the truck bed. We have a lot of short lengths leftover from building our house. One year, camping with a group, we went to a local Lowes and paid to have 2x 6 es cut into 12 and 18" chunks for us and our friends in a hilly campsite, to shore up the tires and jacks.it was worth the $25. For me, the chunks are a renewable resource, and most of what we carry is scrap destined for landfill, anyway.. Eventually, we burn it. But many of the chunks survive years of use, sweeping then off after use . I separate the ground contact chunks from the others. I've learned how to build "ramps" to get us to the proper height in hilly unlevel sites. I like to have support under the tire, not just jack the wheels off the ground.... Sans fancy level bubbles, a half filled water bottle on the floor or table, on its side, will tell you if you are close to level . Sherry

I already did mine. I had the undersized spare so I left the cover off and put on a full sized spare. I wrapped a chain around the aluminum piece sticking out of the back of the trailer that supports the tire, and bolted it tight to itself. Then I ran the two chain ends out through the wheel spokes. I then put an eye bolt on the large aluminum bar that holds the tire and put the chain through the eye. Then a lock through the chain ends secures it very well. It cannot be unscrewed. The threaded rod that the wing nut goes on is too long if you leave the fiberglass cover off. So, just unscrewed it, turn it around and screwed it back in. It sets deeper with the jamb nut and is out of the way. Then I put on a cloth tire cover to keep the sun off. It all went very well and fixes the "too small" fiberglass cover problem. Then I installed the license plate to the left of the tire, in a frame. It's bolted through the rear body. I left off the license pate light. Just clipped the wires, pulled them in and taped them out of the way. The full sized spare just clears the bumper to I was able to get the cover on. The wheels must be put on "backwards" to allow the chain and lock to sit in out of the way. This is an excellent mod for those with the undersized spare. I think it would be easy to re-design this mount if desired. A simple flanged spare tire mount would bolt on in place of the setup now used. There is a nice reinforcing plate inside to carry the load. I'm not sure it's a good idea though. If you get bumped from behind the load will be transferred to a much larger area from an inflated tire, and the tire sticks out the minimum amount. The hit going to a small steel bracket is more likely to do damage. Plus, any other bracket would make it stick out farther behind the bumper.

Just be careful with your quality inspections to make sure you understand what you are looking at. Deciding that something is not the way you might do it, or not how it's done on an airplane, or at a factory you used to work at, etc, is not finding a problem. A problem is if it doesn't work, or there are clear signs of poor workmanship, as Reed has found with stripped screws and cross threaded bolts. Those are real problems, and maddening ones. I have found wiring issues with mine and even posted about them here. My exterior lights quit working and when I investigated, I found a rats nest of Scotchlok connectors crimped onto a single power wire that was unsecured and had failed. Very poor workmanship indeed, but it is not a shop floor shortcut so much as a poor design. I'm sure it wasn't some unskilled workers, but an Oliver design. My batteries are wired very poorly too, but I'm working on that. Regular #8 or #6 house wire that is likely to either pinch, or wear and short out, supplying all the power from four T105 batteries. We may tend to think that Oliver is doing everything to some higher standard, but there are areas where they are sort of winging it and some design demands are leading them into some quality issues. Fortunately, they seem to be responding to feedback and standing behind their trailers, but some of the stuff seems like it's just common sense and should never happen, like overhead doors that don't latch well enough to stay closed and the television interfering with the blinds and damaging them. Another thing I noticed right away was the suspension. Oliver uses the cheapest suspension design offered in the industry. It has simple plastic bushings that are not serviceable and known for failure. I've had these on other trailers and they are not designed for high mileage. In a "Legacy" design, I wish they would install greasable links with heavy duty parts instead of charging more if you want them as an option. I have already upgraded mine. The initial reaction when stepping into an Oliver is that "this is amazing", and it is in many ways, but it's still a travel trailer and it's still in the development stages. As far as the overall shape, fiberglass construction, frame, and towing manners; excellent. I'm very pleased with mine in so many ways. It's so good in some ways that I tend to think it's some kind of a magic thing that has no faults. Not quite. I'm still scratching my head as to why they went with a small spare tire and eliminated the ability to go with a tire that matched the others, that is until everyone noticed and began to worry about it, then they fixed it. Mine is an earlier one and I have to run without the fiberglass cover to mount a standard size spare. Then I look around and cannot believe humans can make a complicated fiberglass structure this beautifully smooth.

I've seen a number of miner issues that really shouldn't be happening in a $60,000.00+ trailer. They changed the drawer slides out last year from the side mount to the bottom mount, and we brought that problem to the table and it really still needs to be addressed because the drawers still open even after I readjusted all of their magnets that were doing nothing from the factory and replaced all of the screws with 1" grabbers, then added short screws in the second slot. One of the smallest, yet most annoying problems that we have has has been stripped forward screws. Someone used a screw gun, not set correctly and stripped the heads out on a lot of the screws all over the trailer. This includes some of the drawer screws and 2 of the dinette access pannel screws... Then one of the bolts on the bumper was stripped all the way in from the beginning... So someone took an impact wrench, and instead of stopping and replacing the bolt when he obviously saw it was stripped from the beginning, and he went ahead and hammered that nut all the way down with his impact instead... And these little problems are flat out poor employee workmanship... I ended up having to cut off the bumper bolt and buy a new one, so I could remove the bumper to bend the punch plate down into place because it had been bent up at the factory, which was keeping our gray tank 25% full after dumping on level... I had to remove the dinette access pannel bolts with a pair of pliers because they were so hashed and I don't want to show a trailer with stupidity screws stripped out all over the place. Another big problem is the water tank running dry and starting to gurgle at 44%... Then at 38%, it's empty unless we go out and tilt the trailer back to get the water to drain back to the corner... I actually paid $63,000.00 for what I thought was a usable as advertised trailer with a 32 gallon water tank... But now I have a 19 gallon tank because the other 13 gallons aren't useable unless I tilt the trailer way back... The water tank could be set up to work a lot better, with more tilt and a 90° pick up tube in the newly added low corner... This one is Karen's biggest issue and it gets past on to me because I have to add the water and keep it above the 44% to keep her happy, so I'm transporting water every other day instead of every 4 days give or take. I usually add about 16 gallons each time or 2 - 8gallon wheeled tanks, when I should be able to add 4... Plus, you can't just leave the trailer tilted back for any reason because having the trailer out of level when sitting still will fry the fridge because the freon will start bubbling in the lines when not level instead of flowing freely as per the Dometic Instruction Manual... I ended up adding about a gallon of distilled water to the batteries a couple weeks after we picked up the trailer and this has happened to others also. They should have water on hand and add it with you, when you pick up the trailer, that was way too much water to need to add after just a couple weeks. I saw the problem with the TV stand from the get go and talked with them about it, but we ordered ours with out the TV because their stand was right in the way. Then there's the bathroom mirrored door that broke out of nowhere, the replacement door is really strong and it works great and does not wiggle at all. So we have a better door then normal. Then Karen regrouted the bathroom shower pan because it was holding water in bad spots, the igniter on the stove quit working, one of the 12vdc outlets that we had installed has had issues from day 1, some of the windows are really hard to open, one of the plastic window sliders was put in wrong, two of the window shades had to be adjusted and the screws tightened, the chrome plating is coming off on the bathroom faucet, but... Our green light on the fantastic fan does always stay off :) But even with the few problems that we've had, we love our trailer and have been living full time in it since February 13th. We have put over 9000 miles on it since then and we've put our feet in both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean's with our new Oliver in less then 3 months. The problems that we've had, have been all quickly taken care of by Oliver and their performance as a sales and service team have done us right. I mention the things above because they can all be fixed or worked around easily. As far as options go, I think that we hit it perfectly, and we do love our little Goldilocks :)

Ollie owners I'm soooo glad this kinda forum is available to prospective owners. you are the "early adaptors" of this product...and your insight has great value.! I don't have another "choice" in mind for my retirement travel trailer...but please suggest the things that will make it...my best choice.! I plan on making it my home...for 10yrs...please work out the bugs. do well.... 10-q dan

I'm currently a Building Official but from the time I was in High School, for the next 30 years I was in manufacturing. I ran a plant that made flight control systems for military and civilian aircraft. This equipment was mostly actuators that controlled flight surfaces like flaps, tail rudder, pitch and yaw, for Black Hawk helicopters, F-16 Falcon, YF-22, F-14, Boeing and Airbus. Most of the components were manufactured in house, but we also had a substantial vendor list. In that high volume and high precision environment I learned one thing: You cannot INSPECT quality into your finished product. On paper, a thorough inspection process at intervals of manufacturing a product looks good. In reality however, the inspection process becomes the proverbial 'Chinese fire drill'...feedback from units in service in the field identifies problems, engineering isolates cause, manufacturing may (or may not) change methods or materials. That fire gets extinguished, but in the months of tunnel vision type focus, other fires ignite. This is inevitable as the production must continue to meet customer demand. Minor problems related to the manufacturing process appear in different settings or sub systems, and the chasing of the tail continues. Granted, a huge issue like axles failing or something catching fire may 'stop the presses' until the issue is resolved. That does not seem to be the case here with Oliver Trailers. From what I can glean, the 'problems' are related to the manufacturing process and vendor issues. In the type of environment where the product is a travel trailer, the standard of each task is very difficult to illustrate much less define. This is because it is imprecise work done mostly by hand. The main issue here would be the training of the operator or performer of that task. Let's look at a totally hypothetical 'problem'...rats nest type unsecured wiring behind the round hatches. In a plant like Oliver's one or two personnel may be the key components of this operation. Joe and Bill are meticulous in their wiring methods, everything tied, secured, shrink wrapped, etc. Bill took a position in the whirlpool manufacturing line, Joe is on leave as his wife just delivered their second baby. Does the wiring process stop because these two experts are not available? No. The foreman assigns the next 2 capable people but they aren't nearly as fluent in electrical workmanship as Bill and Joe. But the job gets done albeit with the possibility of future failure. And this potential human fault is at every step, from molding to chassis welding, to systems installation. The key to quality in an environment like this is to develop standards, high standards, and provide training and cross training to employees to ensure these standards are met. It does not eliminate inspection but instead shifts the concept of quality from inspection into the manufacturing process itself. Focus on the process. This began with Demmings and ended up with ISO-9000 and beyond. This I believe, is where Oliver should put forth great effort. Oliver has an opportunity here. The RV industry as a whole is experiencing a surge in demand that it hasn't seen in 25 years. Oliver makes a unique product. They are also by industry measures, the most expensive/ sq.ft. of anything out there. They must step up as the innovative producer they are and garnish that innovation with a reputation of unparalleled quality. I don't believe they are far off from it. What they do or fail to do within the next 2-3 years will affect the future of their trailer business.

Your comments verify why it may be a good idea to stay close to the factory for more than one night. Haul the new rig around and visit several campgrounds. We had a furnace fail during our delivery cycle and it was easy to stop by and have it repaired. There are several campgrounds within fifty miles of Hohenwald so stay awhile. Sort of like having the runway in sight when the engine fails.