- H.O. Bouchard has purchased Gould Equipment through a wholly owned subsidiary, adding a specialized Bangor, Maine, tank-service operation.
- Gould continues to operate under its established name, with services spanning propane and petroleum truck equipment, tank welding, changeovers, inspections, calibration and parts.
- The companies have not published the purchase price, new capacity targets or expected effects on service pricing and turnaround times.
H.O. Bouchard has completed the Gould Equipment acquisition, linking one of Maine’s established bulk-transport operators with a Bangor shop that has served petroleum and propane equipment customers for nearly a century.
H.O. Bouchard acquired Gould Equipment through its newly formed Bouchard Services subsidiary in 2026. (Graphic courtesy of H.O. Bouchard)
H.O. Bouchard says it purchased Gould Equipment through Bouchard Services LLC, a newly formed subsidiary. The current Bouchard Services website identifies the company as wholly owned by H.O. Bouchard and operating under the Gould Equipment name from its existing Hildreth Street North address.
For tank fleets, the practical significance is the combination of two types of experience: H.O. Bouchard’s day-to-day operation and maintenance of bulk equipment, and Gould’s specialized work on propane and petroleum trucks, trailers and pressure vessels. The acquisition does not yet establish that customers will see lower prices, shorter queues or more shop capacity. Still, it gives Bouchard a dedicated platform for selling, building, inspecting and repairing the equipment its energy-sector customers use.
Gould brings specialized tank work under Bouchard Services
According to Gould’s company history, Ralph Gould founded the business in 1928 as an oil-equipment distributor. It later expanded into custom oil and propane truck construction and became a Heil transport-trailer dealer. Gould consolidated truck assembly, maintenance, equipment warehousing and certified pressure-vessel repair work at the Bangor site in 2008.
The current Gould service roster includes propane truck sales and service, oil and gasoline truck work, petroleum trailer sales and service, tank welding, tank changeovers, subframe repairs and replacement, meter calibration, data-capture installation, brakes, suspension, electrical work, painting and state and federal inspections.
Rear-mounted piping, metering and hose equipment are visible on an archival propane delivery truck featured in Gould Equipment’s gallery. (Photo courtesy of Gould Equipment)
Gould also identifies the Bangor operation as a certified “R” Stamp facility for repairs or alterations to pressure vessels, including truck and trailer tanks. Federal rules add a separate cargo-tank layer: 49 CFR 180.413 generally requires covered repairs or modifications to specification cargo tanks to be performed by a facility holding a valid National Board R Certificate. It requires welded repairs to the shell or head to be certified by a Registered Inspector. A May 2026 PHMSA interpretation further clarifies how the rule incorporates the National Board Inspection Code. The National Board’s current repair directory returns Gould Equipment Company among listed organizations.
That credential is particularly relevant to pressurized propane equipment, where welding or structural alteration is not interchangeable with ordinary truck repair. Tank Transport’s recent analysis of MC 331 inspection and leakage-test questions also illustrates why fleets need repair vendors that can distinguish mechanical work from regulated cargo-tank inspection, testing and documentation.
Bouchard connects fleet operations with outside service work.
H.O. Bouchard began as a Maine dump-truck operation in 1958 and entered the tank-trailer business in 1978, hauling heavy fuel oil from Searsport. Its current cargo mix includes propane, heavy oil, industrial chemicals, asphalt, jet fuel, gasoline and diesel, along with pneumatic dry bulk and wood pellets.
The company already operated a substantial maintenance department before the purchase. H.O. Bouchard’s Hampden shop advertises seven-day service, 18 mechanics, steel fabrication, cargo-tank repair, oil and propane calibration, tank-to-chassis conversions, inspections, engine and drivetrain work, and paint and body service for its own equipment and outside customers.
Gould adds a distinct customer-facing equipment business in Bangor rather than merely duplicating that general maintenance base. The acquired operation brings a longstanding parts channel, petroleum and propane truck-building experience, pressure-vessel work and specialized metering and equipment-installation services. The fit could allow customers to move more of a unit’s lifecycle—from specification and assembly through inspection and repair—through affiliated shops. However, the companies have not announced a consolidated scheduling or warranty system.
Customers should watch continuity, certification and capacity
Gould Equipment’s archival gallery includes petroleum-delivery equipment representing the company’s longstanding truck sales and service work. (Photo courtesy of Gould Equipment)
H.O. Bouchard said when it announced the agreement that existing relationships, points of contact and ongoing projects were intended to continue without interruption. Gould’s updated site lists Jeff Bouchard as president and Ryan Scanlon as general manager. Scanlon has more than 10 years of experience at Gould working with petroleum and propane trucks and trailers.
The retained Gould name and Bangor address support the continuity message, but several commercial details remain open. Neither company has published the purchase price, Gould’s revenue, parts inventory, bay count, annual build volume, repair backlog, or a timetable for integrating the Bangor, Hampden, and Eliot operations.
Fleets should therefore confirm the current legal entity and certificate information shown on estimates and regulated repair documents, while also asking whether parts accounts, labor rates, warranties, emergency-service procedures or scheduling contacts have changed. Those are routine integration questions, not evidence of a problem.
The transaction also fits a broader pattern of established tank-equipment businesses pairing local expertise with larger operating or manufacturing platforms. Tank Transport recently examined the TerraVest–Superior Pressure Vessels acquisition, which combined pressurized tank manufacturing with inspection, repair, and remounting capabilities. A comparable service-network strategy also appeared in the Tremcar–Pacific Truck Tank acquisition. The Bouchard deal is regional and smaller in disclosed scope, but its operating logic is similar: retain specialized local expertise while placing more resources and customer relationships behind it.
Maine Tank-Service Acquisition: Key Developments
- H.O. Bouchard purchased Gould Equipment through wholly owned Bouchard Services LLC.
- The Bangor operation continues to use the Gould Equipment name and lists Ryan Scanlon as general manager.
- Gould adds petroleum and propane truck equipment, tank repair, inspection, calibration, and parts capabilities.
- Financial terms, new capacity targets and measurable customer effects remain undisclosed.
