
Fred Gerling, Father of the Expando Chassis, Dies at 79 His commitment to next-generation design helped transform truck operations By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 - 11:11 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Fred Gerling, creator of the expanding production truck and founder/president of Gerling & Associates, died Dec. 7 at the age of 79. A memorial service will be held on Jan. 25, 2025, at 2:00-4:00 p.m. at Snyder Funeral Homes, Lasater Chapel, 11337 Upper Gilchrest Rd., Mount Vernon, OH 43050.
Fred Gerling, here at the 2016 NAB Show, was a constant presence in the outdoor exhibit area for decades.
Nearly every production-truck company in the U.S. tapped into Gerling's team as his commitment to innovation and his excellent trailers and chassis transformed the business and allowed engineers and staff at the nation's leading vendors to focus on the technical equipment and infrastructure. The chassis was designed to be light and flexible, allowing truly innovative workspaces and next-generation technology to be deployed with ease by such companies as NEP, Game Creek Video, and Mobile TV Group.
We have been very blessed, Gerling told SVG in 2012. We're delivering an average two projects every week, and, when you're doing that high volume and you're working with the greatest engineers in the world, they come in with these great ideas, and they challenge you. The gift of having that quality of people affiliate with your company is priceless. They come in and say, You know, if we did this, it would be a little bit better.' It's really remarkable. We challenge each other, and that makes everyone better.
Gerling's talent for sales and entrepreneurship led him to a career in the broadcast-television-equipment industry. In the early 1970s, he worked for Jimmy Rea Electronics and, in 1988, founded Gerling & Associates in Sunbury, OH. He began with just six employees in a small, rented space, and, through his dedication and leadership, the company grew to become the leader in manufacturing television-production vehicles across North America and beyond. His wife and, eventually, three of his children grew the company into a monumental success, which included an expansive manufacturing plant where mobile facilities for television production and mobile command centers were born, assembled, and eventually hit the road.
Gerling took immense pride in building an independently owned, family-run business, a legacy that continues under the leadership of CEO Jennifer Fenton; Director, Sales, Shannon Gerling; and new Treasurer BJ Gerling. For over a decade, his daughters have been at the helm of Gerling & Associates, ensuring that Fred Gerling's vision endures.
Born in 1945, Gerling grew up as one of four children on Buckeye Lake, OH. He developed a love for water activities early on, excelling at water skiing and ice skating during his youth. Married in 1974, Gerling and his wife, BJ, spent many years farming their land and shared a passion for travel and adventure, particularly annual family skiing trips to the Rocky Mountains. He took up flying in the 1970s and, an experienced pilot, continued to fly complex aircraft until the age of 77.
He is survived by his wife, BJ; children Christopher DeVol, Shannon Gerling, Jennifer (Dusty) Fenton, Molly Krownapple, and John Paul Gerling; and nine grandchildren.
Pat Sullivan, Game Creek Video, founder and president, says Gerling was an important, and unique, figure in the sports broadcasting industry.
He perfected the expanding side production trailer which has made the larger productions that we do possible, says Sullivan. Gerling and Associates built 93 trailers for Game Creek Video and each one has been an improvement on the prior unit. Unlike many manufacturers, G&A improved their workmanship instead of cutting corners to shave costs. In large measure, that has been the result of Fred's willingness to listen and BJ, Jennifer, and Shannon's management of the company over the last few years. We are grateful for that and we are confident that it will continue. We will miss Fred but every time a new Gerling and Associates mobile unit arrives at Game Creek I will smile and remember the good times we had together.
Condolence messages can be sent to [email protected].
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
19/03/2026
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, is pleased to announce the appointment of Rob Stanley as Regional Sales Manager - UK & Northern Euro...
19/03/2026
The recently announced joint venture between Accedo One and Magine Pro has been officially launched as Leyra. The new company will combine the two complementary...
19/03/2026
Budapest, Hungary, March 2026 - Demand for traditional matrix switching remains strong across live events, rental and staging markets. With a reputation for rel...
19/03/2026
DPA Microphones adds to its CORE microphone selection with the 4097 CORE Micro Shotgun, which delivers a new level of clarity, headroom and sonic transparency...
19/03/2026
Starfish Technologies will present the latest releases of its TS Splicer (Win) and TS Splicer (K8) at NAB Show 2026, together with a new Monitoring Dashboard de...
19/03/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, has announced that TrueVisions NOW, a leading streaming platform in Thailand, and part of the TrueVis...
19/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced significant enhancements to its XOS Advanced Media Processor that lower the cost of broadcast distribution while enablin...
19/03/2026
Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of award-winning signal processing products, and a founding partner in the openGear initiative has announ...
19/03/2026
Magewell a developer of innovative, high-performance video I/O and IP workflow solutions will be at the 2026 NAB Show on booth C6113. In addition to several...
19/03/2026
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting and quality assurance solutions, today announced it will showcase...
19/03/2026
2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Preview
April 19 22
Las Vegas
Booth N.1328
Summary:
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Imagine Communications will showcase the lat...
19/03/2026
Broadcast playout leader highlights innovation and industry collaboration
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist...
19/03/2026
Tuxera, a leading provider of quality-assured file systems and networking technologies, is highlighting remarkable advances in performance at NAB Show (booth N1...
19/03/2026
Intinor will showcase several new developments to the Direkt platform at NAB 2026, including enhanced SRT monitoring, expanded HDR transport capabilities and su...
19/03/2026
Broadcasters are rebuilding live operations workflows around IP delivery as satellite and dedicated fibre distribution decline, according to new research from C...
19/03/2026
Berklee Popular Music Institute's 24th Showcase Channels '80s Prom Nosta...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
How Chris Bolte Builds the Sound of PlayStation Games Chris Bolte '16 is a technical sound designer at Sucker Punch Productions, where he helps create the...
19/03/2026
Other Voices presents a legendary night of music as Foo Fighters bring their stadium anthems to St James' Church, An Daingean. The surprise performance teas...
19/03/2026
***Issued by RT on behalf of RTS Ireland Awards / Gradaim RTS 2026...
19/03/2026
It's a double feature on GFN Thursday. This week, GeForce NOW offers smoother sights in virtual reality (VR) and a sprawling new land to conquer.
Streaming...
18/03/2026
Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4.
Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...
18/03/2026
SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...
18/03/2026
The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...
18/03/2026
(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...
18/03/2026
Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville
Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...
18/03/2026
Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded
Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...
18/03/2026
Mix-reference plug-in overhauled
iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...
18/03/2026
Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives
Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...
18/03/2026
Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture
18 March, 2026
Media releases
New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...
18/03/2026
Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...
18/03/2026
London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...
18/03/2026
SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations
Brie Clayton March 18, 2026
0 Comments
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...
18/03/2026
Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K
Brie Clayton March 18, 2026
0 Comments
LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...
18/03/2026
Brainstorm transforms productivity and sustainability with Suite 7 at NAB Show 2...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...