Rand Champion, Classic and Challenger side loaders EMCO The foundation for the new Rand lineup began in early 1986 when a company called Panther Summit Industries of Raleigh, North Carolina acquired the assets of EMCO Manufacturing of Plainview, Texas. EMCO (formerly Ebeling Manufacturing Co.) was founded in 1973 by brothers Franklin and Ernest Ebeling, and was one of the first to mass-market automated collection systems. They built their own circular packer body, automated lift mechanism and containers. The 3-yard steel containers were designed for multifamily use, primarily in dense urban alley collection routes. EMCO became the largest builder of automated equipment in the country, and by 1980 was supplying cities large and small, including Detroit and St. Louis. Financial woes bankrupted EMCO's second owner in 1983, and what was left of the company was purchased by Panther Summit in 1986. EMCO operated as a subsidiary, based in Plainview. ATHEY Sometime around 1985 or 1986, EMCO had begun producing and totally new automated side loader (ASL) capable of handling 90 or 300-gallon polyethylene containers. This was a major advance, since the original EMCO lift was designed around much larger containers. This new EMCO ASL was a larger variation of the Athey Products CWC-Series ASL. Athey had recently acquired the rights to the CWC from Cobey when that company exited the refuse equipment business in 1981. Athey also owned Mobil Sweeper, alongside which their refuse bodies were built in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Athey CWC ASL slowly disappeared from their advertising around the same time the new EMCO ASL appeared. Athey and Rand are not known to be related, but the two companies operated out of the same business park in Raleigh during the 1980s and 1990s. It is believed that Athey either licensed the CWC design to EMCO/Rand, or sold it outright. This design differed from the Shu-Pak, Maxon and E-Z Pack types of that time in that it was a full-ejection side loader. 
The 1986 EMCO ASL, a design based on the Athey CWC-300 Truxmore Industries started as Truck Equipment Corporation in Buffalo during the 1920s, and became famous for their "third axle" kits to upgrade the carrying capacity of motor trucks. Truxmore entered the refuse body business in 1960 with the Truxmore Pakker, a circular-bodied residential packer that was basically a hydraulic-powered version of the Pak-Mor barrel trucks. The Cole family built Truxmore into a strong position with this simple design that became one of the most popular with small "mom & pop" haulers, particularly in the eastern United States. Truxmore consolidated operations at Richmond, Virginia, and also offered container loaders and leaf vacuums for the Pakker bodies. By the time Panther Summit bought them in 1986, Truxmore had pretty well run its course, as small haulers were fast disappearing, and the national accounts weren't big buyers of their products. Most likely the purchase price was right, and the new owners were counting on "legacy" sales from the remaining small operators, and service for the numerous Truxmores still roaming the streets of America. RAND FAMILY OF REFUSE EQUIPMENT Around 1987, Panther Summit began a re-branding of their newly-acquired subsidiaries as Rand Automated Compaction Systems. The EMCO ASL models became the Rand Champion (round body) and the Rand Challenger (square body), while the Truxmore became known as the Rand Classic. As subsidiaries, each retained their factories, but engineering co-operation now took place between them. This resulted in some 'mash-ups' and streamlining of the product line. Truxmore container loading bodies were still available, but the Truxmore container mast was also offered as an option for the circular Rand Champion bodies. Truxmore-style bubble tailgates also appeared on some models of the Champion, as well as twin telescopic packer cylinders as an option instead of the traditional horizontal ram. 
1988 Rand Champion ASL, formerly the EMCO round body 
Rand Challenger ASLs, formerly the EMCO square body 
The Truxmore Pakker was renamed the Rand Classic, virtually unchanged since 1963 In 1988, control of Rand was assumed by Pirotte Holdings Inc. (PHI) of Raleigh, North Carolina through investor group Waste Disposal Equipment Acquisition Corporation (WDEAC). Rand added a roll-off line in 1989, and introduced the Enviromaster, a side-bucket recycling body in 1990. That same year, WDEAC took over ailing Loadmaster Corporation, and centralized operations out of that company's large facility at Culpeper, Virgina. Like Truxmore, Loadmaster (originally called "Load-Master") was a company that had built a good reputation in the 1960s and 1970s, but was saddled with an increasingly obsolete product line by the 1980s. Their roots can be traced back to 1948 when the City Tank Corporation introduced the Roto-Pac refuse bodies. The first Load-Master brand models arrived by 1964, and the company was purchased by Hackney Industries in 1984. This acquisition of Loadmaster resulted in a further brand-identity crisis. The Loadmaster name now took precedence, but one confusing advertisement showed the Enviromaster recycler as a Loadmaster, while wearing a Rand badge. The Rand Challenger ASL was known to have been re-badged as a Loadmaster. It made little difference however, since its days were numbered. 
Very rare 1991 Loadmaster Enviromaster recyler, wearing Rand logo Less than a decade after the original EMCO purchase, the whole operation had come to a crashing halt. David Brisson bought Loadmaster from a liquidator in 1992, moved it to Michigan, and returned the company to its core business of building rear loaders. Loadmaster divested itself of everything except the rear loaders, spelling the end for the Rand Classic (Truxmore), and presumably the roll-off and recycler body also. However, production of the Rand Champion (formerly the round EMCO) was taken over by Central Tank of Oklahoma, (D.B.A. Mabar Inc.) and going forward was known as the Impac. Mabar seems to have done fairly well with this product, with a large base of customers in the southwestern states where the EMCO was popular, including St. Louis. The Rand Challenger ASL did not survive, being replaced by a completely different Impac commercial ASL using the same name. Mabar sold to Pendpac in 2004, retaining the Impac name, as a stablemate to their own refuse bodies. Shortly thereafter, legal action was taken by Pendpac against the former owners, including an accusation that they were selling identical bodies out a factory in Texas. Presumably, the defendants prevailed or some other agreement was reached, since they still produce such bodies under the name Southwest Equipment Co. (SEC). Pendpac was purchased by Labrie Enviroquip, and the round-bodied side loaders remained for a while, still using the Impac name. However, as of this writing, the Impac is no longer listed by Labrie. 
1991 Rand Champion RC30D, based on the original EMCO container ASL 
Behemoth 1991 Rand Champion with Truxmore bubble tailgate 
Inside view of 20-yard Champion body shows cylinder housing protruding through packer blade 
Champion standard packer with horizontal telescopic cylinder, optional vertical rams 
For die-hard Truxmore loyalists, the economical Rand Classic MSL, shown with optional cart dumper 
Rugged packer blade of The Rand Classic. These bodies were built in Richmond, VA at the former Truxmore factory 
Rand Classic fitted with the common Truxmore commercial container lift, which was also optional on the Champion 
Rand Challenger ASL featured a generous five cubic yard hopper, which was swept by a low partial-pack blade. A secondary panel provided full ejection unloading. Body sizes were 20 or 25 cubic yards. 
Containers of 90 or 300 gallons could be handled interchangeably 
Pasadena, California was pleased with this Rand Challenger 
Roanoke Virginia owned this Challenger 
A 1991 Loadmaster ASL. Note the Rand control panel in the lower right image 
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