For truck-trailer manufacturers, the comings and goings of the business can be complex – especially when convoluted, ever-changing codes designed to identify the intricacies of manufacturing come into play. One such example of this comes in the form of the NAICS, or the North American Industry Classification System, which is a standard used by federal statistical agencies to classify a variety of enterprises for collecting purposes.
In this special classification system, we find hundreds of different codes that match to specific businesses, but the one that we are going to look at today is none other than NAICS 33612, a code that has been created for those in the truck trailer manufacturing field.
A Definition of NAICS 336212 for Truck Trailer Manufacturing 
In 1997, NAICS officially replaced SIC codes, which were first established back in 1937, but there are still some niche sectors that have not switched over. Having said that, the truck trailer manufacturing sector no longer uses SIC and has completely switched over to NAICS.
Here is how the code we are focusing on today, NAICS 336212, is defined in the classification system guide:
This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing truck trailers, truck trailer chassis, cargo container chassis, detachable trailer bodies, and detachable trailer chassis for sale separately.
The guide goes on to affirm that the manufacturers that fall under NAICS 336212 should not be confused for those who fall under NAICS 336214, which covers all travel trailer and camping manufacturers. This would include makers of automobile trailers, camping trailers and chassis manufacturing, recreational travel trailers, pick-up canopies, camper units, and others.
Overview of NAICS 336212
Now that you know the official definition of the code NAICS 336212 as it is written in the current, 2017 NAICS guide, let’s take a closer look at what trailer manufacturers are included within it. Here are examples of the specialized trailers whose manufacturers would belong to NAICS 336212:
- Automobile transporter trailers, multi-car, manufacturing
- Boat transporter trailers, multi-unit, manufacturing
- Demountable cargo containers manufacturing
- Dump trailer manufacturing
- Flatbed trailers, commercial, manufacturing
- Horse trailers, fifth-wheel-type, manufacturing
- Logging trailers manufacturing
- Semi-trailer manufacturing
- Tank trailer, liquid and dry bulk, manufacturing
- Trailers, fifth-wheel type, for transporting horses, manufacturing
- Truck trailer manufacturing
To put it simply, most all manufacturers that produce commercial trucking trailer components should be considered in this code.
It’s also important to note that most manufacturers produce more than one category of item, which means that they may have several NAICS codes attributed to them. In these cases, secondary and tertiary codes will be assigned to include all parts of the business.
For example, if you are a dump trailer manufacturer, primarily, you will be assigned NAICS 336212; but if you also manufacture camping trailers for recreational vehicles, as well, you will also be assigned NAICS 336214 to cover that side of your business.
How Truck Trailer Manufacturers Benefit from NAICS
NAICS was first formed as a coding standard to be used by all Federal statistical agencies to more efficiently gather collections, analysis, and publications for all manufacturing businesses. By gathering this material, both the federal government as well as the businesses that operate under it now have complete access to all of the details for each business as it relates to its sector. 
Here’s how truck trailer manufacturers benefit from their NAICS codes:
- Specificity – For those just starting their manufacturing businesses, NAICS codes offer plenty of specifics that can provide a better idea of how the business will be classified. Within this, aspiring manufacturers will also be able to access public records and publications of direct competition that falls under the exact same code. This allows any vague or uncertain areas to be thoroughly researched and assessed before costly decisions are made.
- Federal opportunities – Because this exact same code will be used across a myriad of different industries, truck trailer manufacturers will have a clear idea of what types of federal opportunities they might be granted, especially in terms of filing statuses and tax breaks. Companies are also able to determine how different sizes of similar business that share the same code are able to take advantage of these benefits. This is all, of course, dependent on the size of the company, as some codes have different size standards attached to them.
As mentioned above, most manufacturers will be characterized by several NAICS codes, so be sure to determine your NAICS code(s) via the Census Bureau’s look-up tool first. There, you will find more resources on how this classification affects how your manufacturing business is viewed by the federal government.
