Welder-Turned-Entrepreneur: How Vitalii Shevchuk Is Building a Technology Company Around Truck Frame Repair

"One day I realized that I no longer wanted to follow other people's drawings. I wanted to create my own engineering product. I have a strong foundation – more than 20 years of work experience: from building bridges and working on large-scale infrastructure projects and welding a liner to repairing oil refineries and heavy equipment. Therefore, I never doubted for a minute that I would be able to realize my plans," says Vitalii Shevchuk, engineer, owner of Chicago Endurance Welding LLC in Illinois, and developer of a mobile hydraulic press for cold straightening vehicle frames.

Industry Challenges

The United States operates the largest trucking market in the world, making vehicle uptime a critical business metric. For transportation companies, every hour a truck remains out of service can translate into significant financial losses. Beyond repair expenses, equipment downtime can disrupt delivery schedules, reduce revenue, delay shipments, and jeopardize customer commitments.

Among the most serious mechanical issues facing commercial vehicles is frame damage. Whether caused by overloading, collisions, corrosion, or years of heavy-duty operation, deformation of a truck’s primary structural component can compromise both performance and safety.

Frame damage is far more than a maintenance concern. If left unaddressed, it can affect vehicle handling, accelerate tire wear, create misalignment in driveline components, and place uneven stress on the cab, suspension, and body structure. In severe cases, a damaged frame can crack under load, creating significant operational and safety risks. As a result, commercial vehicles with major frame defects require immediate repair before returning to service.

At the same time, the industry continues to face several longstanding challenges: a shortage of highly skilled specialists capable of restoring frame geometry, dependence on outdated repair methods, costly frame replacement procedures, and inconsistent repair quality. Fleet operators increasingly need solutions that can restore vehicles quickly while maintaining structural integrity and minimizing downtime.

An Innovative Alternative

To address these challenges, Shevchuk developed a mobile hydraulic press for cold frame straightening.

Traditionally, repairing a damaged commercial truck frame requires either welding – which can alter the properties of heat-treated steel and potentially weaken structural components – or complete frame replacement, a process that is both time-consuming and expensive. Shevchuk's cold-pressing technology offers an alternative approach.

The system restores frame geometry without welding or heat application, preserving the factory heat treatment and mechanical properties of the metal. By avoiding thermal stress, the process helps maintain the frame’s original strength and load-bearing characteristics while reducing the likelihood of weakened zones that may develop after conventional repairs.

Because the frame serves as the primary structural component of a truck, preserving its integrity is essential to long-term performance and safety. The technology is designed to extend equipment life, reduce repair costs, and return vehicles to operation more quickly than many traditional repair methods.

In a country where trucking remains the backbone of freight transportation, technologies that reduce repair time and improve equipment availability can generate meaningful operational benefits for carriers and fleet operators.

According to Shevchuk, developing the mobile hydraulic press required more than a year of engineering design, load calculations, prototype manufacturing, and testing.

The engineer acknowledges that bringing the technology to market has not been without challenges.

"It was necessary to prove the reliability of the flameless method to the first corporate customers in the USA, adapt the equipment for mobile transportation, and go through the local bureaucratic procedures of business registration."

In April 2026, Shevchuk conducted an inspection and repair of a Freightliner Cascadia commercial truck. During the initial assessment, a lateral deviation of 32 mm from the frame rail’s centerline was recorded. To measure the deformation and restore the frame geometry, Shevchuk used a custom-designed mobile hydraulic press equipped with a 30-ton RSC-3050 cylinder, a Mo-Clamp Tram Gauge diagonal measuring system, and a DeWalt self-leveling laser level.

Following the cold straightening process, the deviation was reduced to 2 mm. A subsequent visual and structural inspection revealed no microcracks, metal tears, or signs of structural fatigue, and no heating of the frame was used during the repair.

In September 2026, Vitalii performed cold straightening of a deformed load-bearing frame without heating the metal, using a mobile hydraulic press and a custom-fabricated reaction fixture. The process included assessing the deformation, identifying the points for applying hydraulic force, progressively restoring the frame geometry, and conducting a final visual inspection of the result. Through this work, he applied his cold hydraulic press-straightening method in practice for the controlled repair of heavy-duty equipment frames.

Looking Ahead

Today, Shevchuk works in the truck service industry through Longhorn Truck Shop while simultaneously expanding his own company, Chicago Endurance Welding LLC, based in Illinois.

The company's core focus includes complex structural restoration, truck metalwork repair, and the development of engineering solutions for heavy-duty equipment. As the founder, sole owner, and technical lead of Chicago Endurance Welding LLC, Shevchuk personally oversees the company's technical operations, including frame-damage diagnostics, cold hydraulic press straightening, quality control, and the training of employees in his proprietary cold-pressing method. The company provides specialized frame repair services for heavy commercial trucks and maintains ongoing business relationships with commercial clients.

As part of his continued professional development, Vitalii Shevchuk plans over the next 12 months to formalize the cold frame-straightening method he has developed by documenting it through engineering drawings, measurement protocols, risk assessments, and a structured “before-and-after” documentation system. He also plans to expand the application of his hydraulic press to agricultural machinery and heavy construction equipment and to develop new engineering products, including modular structural systems and mobile repair units.

In parallel, Shevchuk intends to further validate the designs of reliable engine stands, strengthen his quality-control and technical-compliance processes, and pursue formal professional training in the United States. Another important area of development will be sharing his practical expertise with other professionals through technical presentations, case studies, and training or mentoring sessions.

Beyond frame repair, he is also exploring additional engineering innovations, including modular construction systems and mobile repair solutions designed for industrial and commercial applications.

Ultimately, Shevchuk aims to grow Chicago Endurance Welding LLC into a larger technology-driven enterprise by creating a network of mobile service teams capable of restoring heavy equipment directly at fleet facilities. The long-term vision includes expanding into new engineering sectors while continuing to develop specialized equipment and repair technologies for the commercial transportation industry.