Where trailer sales boom
Feb 1, 2008 12:00 PM
What a difference an ocean can make.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the truck and trailer market has been booming, benefiting trailer manufacturers and trade show managers alike.
Thanks in large part to a booming economy in Europe, the Royal Professional Organization of Flemish Road Haulers and Logistics Service Providers (SAV) reached new highs in attendance and exhibitor participation with its recent biennial trade show. Attendance was up 11% over the 2005 edition of the show. The 25,000 attendees came from 39 countries. They saw displays from 173 companies and strolled through 376,740 square feet of exhibits.
Trailer 2007, held November 23-27 at the Kortrijk Xpo in Kortrijk, Belgium, displayed Europe's latest answers to a changing market and new regulations.
Many of the concerns facing commercial truck and trailer customers in Europe are similar to the challenges of fleets in North America. The Netherlands and Germany, for example, are experimenting with “eco-combies,” an effort to achieve greater allowable lengths through the use of doubles sets. A more productive transportation system is needed to address an acute shortage of truck drivers, a shortage that will worsen in the coming years as one-third of the population retires. Railroads, however, are opposing efforts to liberalize size and weight laws.
“The market is incredibly strong right now,” says Lode Verkinderen, secretary-general of SAV. “Backlog for trucks and trailers here has reached 18 months. We calculate that every 1% growth in the economy causes the transportation segment to grow 1.2%. We anticipate a 40-45% increase over time.”
The economy in Eastern Europe in particular has been growing rapidly, and the residents of those nations need trucks and trailers, Verkinderen says.
“Eastern Europe has no tradition of local manufacturers,” Verkinderen says. “Those countries either had no manufacturing, or they have communist-era production. The manufacturers in Western Europe now have an entire continent to supply.”
Verkinderen characterizes the Benelux — the economic union of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg — trailer industry as small and innovative. An estimated 100 trailer manufacturers operate in Belgium alone, he says, and they produce low-volume, highly customized orders for their customers.
“Customers set high standards for price and value, and they expect trailers to be able to be loaded and unloaded quickly,” Verkinderen says. “Because of this, a lot of manufacturers will test market their products here. If the product is successful here, it will be successful elsewhere.”
The next edition of the show will be held in 2009. Plans are already underway to expand the trailer show to include a limited number of trucks.
