Trailer inventor to speak at IAoI meeting

SANDPOINT — Jason Johnson invented an all-terrain vehicle trailer about 20 years ago, after a need for a special trailer that could take the abuse of the offroad environment drove him to build his first unit.

It wasn't until a couple years ago, after his trailer endured "years of severe abuse," that a friend of his convinced him to start selling the trailers on the market.

"Since then, it has been a very interesting journey," Johnson said in an email to the Daily Bee.

The trailer, which is manufactured in Sandpoint, is a specialty trailer to be pulled by ATVs and UTVs as well as other off road vehicles, such as Jeeps. Johnson's company, Advanced Offroad Trailers, sells to specialty markets including cross country adventure, hunting, remote access packing, overlanding and more, he said. Recently the trailer was discovered by the United States military and Polaris.

"We redesigned certain shape attributes to fit this new tactical environment and are looking forward to significant growth," Johnson said in the email.

Foreign military are also interested in the unit, he said, including Chile, South Korea and Germany. The Special Operations Command, U.S. Military is to receive their first test trailer in a couple weeks as well, Johnson said.

The fundamental model for the business, he said, is the customer purchases the the base trailer they are looking for — ATV, UTV or tactical — then it is customized to the mission at hand. There are more than 30 optional accessories to fit the trailers, including a game hoist, game winch, fuel storage, storage racks, canoe rack, kayak rack, retrieval winch, dump bed, skis, tandem axles and more.

Johnson earned degrees in mechanical and manufacturing engineering from the University of Idaho. Johnson grew up racing dirt bikes and four wheelers, and has been an avid big game hunter. He's used the trailers he designed for years while perfecting and developing it and its accessories, according to his website at advancedoffroadtrailer.com.

Johnson will serve as the April speaker for the Inventors Association of Idaho meeting next week. For his speech, he said, he will tie his story of inventing the trailer in with "how to be an inventor."

The IAoI meeting is 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, in the second-floor auditorium of the Columbia Bank Building, 414 Church Street.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.