In the first 6 years since returning from World War II, Robert Bacon and his new bride had five children and started Applied Handling, Inc. in 1952. The one-man manufacturer’s representative used a secretarial service on East Jefferson as his first base of operations, while establishing a reputation as a smart, honest businessman that people wanted to do business with. His motto was, “If you pay your bills promptly, people will want to do more business with you.”
During the war, shipments were made on pallets for the first time. When plants switched back to building automobiles, they needed to unload hundreds of trucks per day. This required fork trucks to be driven from the dock to the truck and dock levelers were the only way to handle the variety of truck heights. Bob made his mark by introducing equipment and partnering in developing one of the new designs in dock leveler equipment. The new designs improved the loading dock operations of Stroh Brewery, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. Additionally he sold conveying and storage & handling equipment that helped his customers increase their productivity in the post war boom years.