Dealing With Uncertainty

by Shelley Morris - 

Uncertainty was a common theme at this year's NTEA show, as customers, vendors and dealers all wonder what President Trump's rapid-fire policy decision making will do to the real economy for the remainder of the year and beyond. Like many manufacturers, we are dependent upon suppliers that may have import parts subject to tariffs, and unfortunately, the tariffs are all over the place. How will it affect us? I don't know. I can tell you that many suppliers are jumping out on front of tariffs to raise prices, even before the tariffs go into effect. The same thing happened in 2016, during Trump's first term. In the end, weaker demand ultimately led to lower prices in 2017.

One of our best and most favored vendors is caught in the cross hairs of the tariff war: VMAC.  VMAC and Maintainer have worked hand in hand for a number of years to help them launch a line of hydraulic air compressors for the mobile work truck industry. VMAC is a Canadian company, and our relationship has grown together because they are a great partner. Our relationship has nothing to do with sourcing cheaper imports; it is based upon the quality and commitment from them to be a best-in-class supplier, and they are. When we had our supplier summit a couple years ago, VMAC was the first to commit inventory,  warehousing, and dedicated production to Maintainer. That's what best in class partners do. No tariff is going to replace them or change our commitment to them. We will figure something out. 

Back to NTEA. In spite of all the uncertainty, NTEA was one of the best shows we've ever attended outside of Con Expo. Interest in the new crane and body upgrades was high, and the reception to the changes was universally positive. Not only were the trucks and cranes on display a big hit, so was our accessory product display. We have a bright future with after- market products: cranes, lube skids, drawer sets, bolt bins, and even more catch basin cranes. Our challenge remains how to develop the sales and production elements to meet the demand. I have challenged our team to break apart our business opportunities into separate buckets, or enterprises. Each of the products I listed is a separate business opportunity. We need to schedule, plan, build and sell these products independently of each other to realize the potential they offer.