Work Truck Sector Makes Do

By Jim Galligan, Editor

Slow sales continue to plague the commercial truck sector but the consensus among executives from truck equipment manufacturers, suppliers and upfitters contacted is that the downward slide in business has stopped and a slow recovery will begin this year. 

While not great news, it is better than the alternative for a sector that has been hit hard by the recession, said John Price, owner of Alliance Truck and Equipment, LLC, an equipment distributor and upfitter in Springfield, Va.

Price said he, his customers and the suppliers he deals with are more positive about the prospect of improved business this year than last, but added that their positive attitude was tempered by the depths of the recession they all experienced the past few years.

“I do believe it will get better this year,” Price said. “But you know when you stop hitting yourself in the head with a hammer it feels good. That’s where we are right now.”

Jeffrey Messer, president of Messer Truck Equipment, Westbrook, Maine, said he began seeing some business increase in the fourth quarter of 2009.

“In my opinion, we hit a bottom the second or third quar-ter last year and we’re beginning to see improvement again. I think we’ll have slow, steady growth throughout 2010,” he told LIGHT & MEDIUM TRUCK.

Jeff Warnecke, vice president of sales for Adrian Steel, Adrian, Mich., would not cite specific sales figures, but said it, too, has seen a slight increase in business.

He attributed it partly to the introduction of the Ford Transit Connect van as well as incentives by other van manufacturers. Adrian Steel provides shelving and truck interior storage systems.

“It has been very, very challenging, but we’re starting to see a little uptick,” Warnecke said.

The sector will have a long way to go to return to the highs manufacturers and upfitters experienced in 2006. The sales value of all commercial trucks and truck equipment — including chassis, bodies, trailers, assemblies and miscellaneous equipment — fell to $50 billion in 2009, or 61%, from a value of $127.4 billion in 2006, according to estimates from the National Truck Equipment Association. The 2009 figures were the latest available and may have been revised after this issue went to press, said Steven Latin-Kasper, NTEA chief economist.

“It will take several years for the industry to get anywhere near those numbers again,” said Jim Carney, NTEA executive director. “It appears that truck sales have hit bottom, but going forward how far and how fast can we expect it to rebound? I think what we are looking at is three or four years of slower growth. I

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