The Last 30 Days...
A little over a month ago I left the confines of the office and went back out on the road. Due to the RV manufacturers normal July shutdown, I decided to go out on a big truck.
It was interesting to say the least. It was nice to be back out on the open road traveling many highways I hadn't been on in years. The first couple of days I was reacquainting myself with a big truck, after that I was able to be more observant and compare then and now.
One of the things I noticed was much of the foolishness on channel 19 had died down quite a bit. It was still a tad bit raunchy around the truck stops, but much tamer than I remember it being. I think satellite radio could be the main reason for the for the long overdue maturity.
Another thing I noticed was the slowdown of the majority of the trucks. I had been assigned a 70 MPH truck and thought I would be next to the slowest thing on the road. To my surprise, I was faster than most. This was a fantastic move by trucking companies. More than fantastic...a must!
This is something that has perplexed me during this fuel crisis, the speed limit. I remember in the 70's when President Nixon lowered the national speed limit to 55 M.P.H. Not a popular move and I'm sure it wouldn't be today either. The statistics of that day shows that fuel consumption was reduced by only 1% or less. Personally I find this hard to believe.
While transporting RV's I experienced as much as a 10% increase in fuel mileage (dependent on weather conditions and terrain) by slowing to 55 MPH. Big trucks would have to experience more than a 1% savings to justify slowing their trucks down or they wouldn't do it. Keep in mind that the motors of today are much better than those of the 70's. In the 70's there were no computers...just points, plugs, and condensers.
Another observation was that traffic on the interstates seemed to be less as well. The majority of the traffic that was traveling had slowed a good 5-10 MPH from the posted speed limit. A good thing but aggravating at times as well.
My first 2 weeks out I noticed that the RV Transporter traffic was down. Normal considering that the majority of the plants had been shut down in July. But I will admit, it was a bit worrisome. Was the RV industry over? Could it be that the last nails were being driven in the RV industries coffin?
Since the first of the year everyone and anyone in the RV industry has been concerned. To be honest, you didn't have to be in the RV industry to have a worried expression on your face about the future.
Then finally a break, news that oil was finally going down. Not to the level of last year but finally headed in the right direction after what seemed like an eternity of going up everyday. As I write this oil is down another $3.00 a barrel and the average price of diesel is down over $.10 per gallon from a week ago. Finally!!!
The last couple weeks of my big truck experience proved promising as well. I began to see hundreds of transporters with new RV's on the road to a dealership somewhere. I knew I was seeing more and more units on the road, but being gun shy after the past 7 months I wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing the same one over and over again. I called a friend of mine at an RV transport company for confirmation.
Not only did I receive confirmation I was told to send drivers. Hallelujah!!!
Now, this doesn't mean that we're back to the good ole days of a year or two ago but it is the first real positive sign in months. What's next? RV manufacturers will be doing some fancy re-designing I'm sure. More fuel efficient lightweight towables. This will be great for the consumer and the transporter as well.
In reality over the past 10 years the towables have gotten larger and larger. Up until this last crunch many manufacturers were attempting to go even larger, legally. RV's are considered RV's up to a certain square footage of living space, any larger and they're a mobile home.
Many of us can look at some of the towables today and remember that not that long ago those would have been considered mobile homes. Some are just huge! With the emphasis now on becoming fuel efficient and lightweight, transporters should begin to see a higher profit margin in the not too distant future.
Today someone wishing to enter the RV transport business is in a better position than those entering as little as a year ago. Today you can buy a truck for as much as $10,000.00 off the sticker of a year ago. Just last week, while in Michigan, I saw a commercial where one truck manufacturer had resumed employee pricing on trucks.
Is the RV industry dead or dying? Not by a long shot. Is there money to be made? You bet if done right!
It was interesting to say the least. It was nice to be back out on the open road traveling many highways I hadn't been on in years. The first couple of days I was reacquainting myself with a big truck, after that I was able to be more observant and compare then and now.
One of the things I noticed was much of the foolishness on channel 19 had died down quite a bit. It was still a tad bit raunchy around the truck stops, but much tamer than I remember it being. I think satellite radio could be the main reason for the for the long overdue maturity.
Another thing I noticed was the slowdown of the majority of the trucks. I had been assigned a 70 MPH truck and thought I would be next to the slowest thing on the road. To my surprise, I was faster than most. This was a fantastic move by trucking companies. More than fantastic...a must!
This is something that has perplexed me during this fuel crisis, the speed limit. I remember in the 70's when President Nixon lowered the national speed limit to 55 M.P.H. Not a popular move and I'm sure it wouldn't be today either. The statistics of that day shows that fuel consumption was reduced by only 1% or less. Personally I find this hard to believe.
While transporting RV's I experienced as much as a 10% increase in fuel mileage (dependent on weather conditions and terrain) by slowing to 55 MPH. Big trucks would have to experience more than a 1% savings to justify slowing their trucks down or they wouldn't do it. Keep in mind that the motors of today are much better than those of the 70's. In the 70's there were no computers...just points, plugs, and condensers.
Another observation was that traffic on the interstates seemed to be less as well. The majority of the traffic that was traveling had slowed a good 5-10 MPH from the posted speed limit. A good thing but aggravating at times as well.
My first 2 weeks out I noticed that the RV Transporter traffic was down. Normal considering that the majority of the plants had been shut down in July. But I will admit, it was a bit worrisome. Was the RV industry over? Could it be that the last nails were being driven in the RV industries coffin?
Since the first of the year everyone and anyone in the RV industry has been concerned. To be honest, you didn't have to be in the RV industry to have a worried expression on your face about the future.
Then finally a break, news that oil was finally going down. Not to the level of last year but finally headed in the right direction after what seemed like an eternity of going up everyday. As I write this oil is down another $3.00 a barrel and the average price of diesel is down over $.10 per gallon from a week ago. Finally!!!
The last couple weeks of my big truck experience proved promising as well. I began to see hundreds of transporters with new RV's on the road to a dealership somewhere. I knew I was seeing more and more units on the road, but being gun shy after the past 7 months I wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing the same one over and over again. I called a friend of mine at an RV transport company for confirmation.
Not only did I receive confirmation I was told to send drivers. Hallelujah!!!
Now, this doesn't mean that we're back to the good ole days of a year or two ago but it is the first real positive sign in months. What's next? RV manufacturers will be doing some fancy re-designing I'm sure. More fuel efficient lightweight towables. This will be great for the consumer and the transporter as well.
In reality over the past 10 years the towables have gotten larger and larger. Up until this last crunch many manufacturers were attempting to go even larger, legally. RV's are considered RV's up to a certain square footage of living space, any larger and they're a mobile home.
Many of us can look at some of the towables today and remember that not that long ago those would have been considered mobile homes. Some are just huge! With the emphasis now on becoming fuel efficient and lightweight, transporters should begin to see a higher profit margin in the not too distant future.
Today someone wishing to enter the RV transport business is in a better position than those entering as little as a year ago. Today you can buy a truck for as much as $10,000.00 off the sticker of a year ago. Just last week, while in Michigan, I saw a commercial where one truck manufacturer had resumed employee pricing on trucks.
Is the RV industry dead or dying? Not by a long shot. Is there money to be made? You bet if done right!
posted by TALTOA at 1:56 PM
