When Leer founder John Collins started exploring business opportunities in the early ’70s, pickup truck caps were regarded as a rather insignificant part of the RV market in which John was working. This would quickly change. Established by Collins in Elkhart, Indiana, in 1971, Leer was part of a “golden era” that permeated the Elkhart area at that time, and Collins was able to almost immediately turn his vision into a profitable business endeavor.

Leer’s early success was due mainly to Collins’ ability to keep the company on the cutting edge of the industry and continually offer dealers and consumers something they couldn’t get from Leer’s competitors. When Leer began, white was the most prevalent color in the truck cap industry, and Collins quickly broke tradition by introducing an array of new truck cap colors to the marketplace. This innovation was followed by the development of newly designed truck cap windows, an all-aluminum truck cap, and a thermoformed ABS roof section which gave cap roofs a more sculpted look without adding a great deal of cost. By 1977, more and more truck caps were being made with fiberglass, and Collins adopted the same philosophy toward fiberglass as he had toward aluminum. Style, Collins felt, was a critical aspect of truck cap production, and the flexibility of fiberglass enabled Leer to greatly expand its design capabilities. Approximately 90 percent of Leer truck caps are now made of fiberglass.

Since its inception, Leer has continually expanded its operation, and in 1973 a second plant was constructed in Atlanta. This facility was followed by a plant in Milton, Pennsylvania, in 1985 and a plant in Woodland, California, in 1987. The introduction of the Milton plant also included the establishment of a sister company, Leer Specialty Products, a wholesale parts distributorship. Leer’s dealer network has also consistently grown over the years and consists today of over 800 dealers across North America.Leer owes its almost 30 years of success to many factors, but none of them have been as monumental as the continued dedication of the Leer staff. “I have a great sense of pride in seeing this company and the people who help run it grow, not just in size but also in what they have accomplished,” said Collins in 1991. “I’ve seen people at all levels rise to the occasion and accomplish things that have personally been very rewarding to them. I’m very grateful that I can be a part of that.”

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