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Red Dot Corporation produces premium mobile HVAC units and components for heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles. Vertically integrating world-class engineering, rigorous testing, and operations with a global reach under one roof, Red Dot partners directly with customers from design through delivery to craft responsive climate control solutions that endure.
With facilities in North America, Europe and Asia, Red Dot ships to hundreds of aftermarket distributors and OE customers around the globe, spanning the construction, agriculture, defense, and trucking industries. Red Dot was founded in 1965 and is proud to be owned entirely by its employees. |
Company History
Red Dot traces its beginnings to the late 1950's, when Harcourt G. “Harky” Runnings started a sideline business making heaters at his automotive radiator repair shop in West Seattle. Custom-made for mail trucks operating on the Alaska Highway, they were built for performance and durability. Harky’s reputation grew, and soon cooling and heating trucks was his principle line of work. In 1965, he incorporated Red Dot with a plan to develop heating and air conditioning products specifically for heavy-duty vehicles and off-highway equipment.
Throughout the history of Red Dot, our commitment to serving these markets has never wavered.
Innovation & Leadership
Red Dot quickly became an industry-leading manufacturer in the design and production of mobile HVAC systems and replacement parts.
The company produced numerous industry firsts, including the trinary pressure switch, air-operated water valves and vent doors, low-profile rooftop condensers, the Grilldenser and the ProTecht A/C compressor protection and system diagnostics. Based on Red Dot’s longevity, experience and the strength of its systems, others look to the company for insight into industry trends and engineering excellence.
Embracing the opportunity to work with industry leaders every single day, Red Dot invested in the engineering tools and trained personnel vital to delivering performance, quality, and durability to customers in innovative ways. In 1989, Red Dot constructed its Technical Center to support our Advanced Engineering and Test Group. Today, this facility—dedicated as the H.G. Runnings Technical Center following Harky’s death in 2005—is one of the most sophisticated test centers in the industry.
A Better Place to Work
As focused as Harky was on products that bring comfort to people in demanding job environments, the welfare of his employees was his number-one concern.
In the early 1970s, Red Dot went to a four-day workweek so employees would have Fridays for personal business, a radical idea at the time. Back then, there was no banking or shopping on weekends; today, if two parents are working, it can eliminate a day of daycare.
To symbolize how our success rests on the shoulders of the people who work here, the pillars in our Seattle factory—the Pillars of Red Dot—carry the names of longstanding employees.
Harky believed the greatest benefit for an employee was the opportunity to become an owner. Upon his retirement in 2000, Runnings sold 100 percent of Red Dot's ownership to its employees, fulfilling a promise he made when he founded the business.
He said, “The best decisions for a company are made by people who want to carry the business forward for themselves. Indeed, the people who design, test, assemble and package your products have a vested interest in your success.”
Committed to Heavy-Duty Markets Worldwide
Today, Red Dot is a global supplier of integrated systems, modules, unit kits and components to hundreds of heavy-duty aftermarket distributors and OE customers around the globe. We have experienced and versatile representatives around the world, providing market-specific product development and support to customers regardless of their locations. With experience tackling HVAC challenges from every corner of the globe, and global projection capacity, Red Dot has the capacity and capabilities to provide HVAC solutions of every size.
We opened our first facility outside the United States in Suffolk, England, in 1998. In 2008, we established Red Dot China to bring our expertise and technical capability to customers in Asia. With each new market, we’re driven by knowledge, integrity, innovation and a can-do attitude—the same principles that inspired Harky to build the best products for the heavy-duty vehicle industry in the first place.
Red Dot traces its beginnings to the late 1950's, when Harcourt G. “Harky” Runnings started a sideline business making heaters at his automotive radiator repair shop in West Seattle. Custom-made for mail trucks operating on the Alaska Highway, they were built for performance and durability. Harky’s reputation grew, and soon cooling and heating trucks was his principle line of work. In 1965, he incorporated Red Dot with a plan to develop heating and air conditioning products specifically for heavy-duty vehicles and off-highway equipment.
Throughout the history of Red Dot, our commitment to serving these markets has never wavered.
Innovation & Leadership
Red Dot quickly became an industry-leading manufacturer in the design and production of mobile HVAC systems and replacement parts.
The company produced numerous industry firsts, including the trinary pressure switch, air-operated water valves and vent doors, low-profile rooftop condensers, the Grilldenser and the ProTecht A/C compressor protection and system diagnostics. Based on Red Dot’s longevity, experience and the strength of its systems, others look to the company for insight into industry trends and engineering excellence.
Embracing the opportunity to work with industry leaders every single day, Red Dot invested in the engineering tools and trained personnel vital to delivering performance, quality, and durability to customers in innovative ways. In 1989, Red Dot constructed its Technical Center to support our Advanced Engineering and Test Group. Today, this facility—dedicated as the H.G. Runnings Technical Center following Harky’s death in 2005—is one of the most sophisticated test centers in the industry.
A Better Place to Work
As focused as Harky was on products that bring comfort to people in demanding job environments, the welfare of his employees was his number-one concern.
In the early 1970s, Red Dot went to a four-day workweek so employees would have Fridays for personal business, a radical idea at the time. Back then, there was no banking or shopping on weekends; today, if two parents are working, it can eliminate a day of daycare.
To symbolize how our success rests on the shoulders of the people who work here, the pillars in our Seattle factory—the Pillars of Red Dot—carry the names of longstanding employees.
Harky believed the greatest benefit for an employee was the opportunity to become an owner. Upon his retirement in 2000, Runnings sold 100 percent of Red Dot's ownership to its employees, fulfilling a promise he made when he founded the business.
He said, “The best decisions for a company are made by people who want to carry the business forward for themselves. Indeed, the people who design, test, assemble and package your products have a vested interest in your success.”
Committed to Heavy-Duty Markets Worldwide
Today, Red Dot is a global supplier of integrated systems, modules, unit kits and components to hundreds of heavy-duty aftermarket distributors and OE customers around the globe. We have experienced and versatile representatives around the world, providing market-specific product development and support to customers regardless of their locations. With experience tackling HVAC challenges from every corner of the globe, and global projection capacity, Red Dot has the capacity and capabilities to provide HVAC solutions of every size.
We opened our first facility outside the United States in Suffolk, England, in 1998. In 2008, we established Red Dot China to bring our expertise and technical capability to customers in Asia. With each new market, we’re driven by knowledge, integrity, innovation and a can-do attitude—the same principles that inspired Harky to build the best products for the heavy-duty vehicle industry in the first place.