Better Days

The 40th edition of the Mid-America Trucking Show was the most joyful trucking event in recent years, as smiling truckers were greeted by even happier equipment suppliers in frigid Louisville, Ky., last week.

With equipment makers increasing their sales projections for next year and with news of workforce expansions at plants being announced virtually every day, the vast show floor was a sea of optimism.

For instance, Daimler Trucks North America, the largest truck supplier in the country, raised its sales-growth forecast for Classes 6 through 8 to 30% to 35% over 2010 levels. Previously, the company had expected sales to grow in the 20% to 25% range. And several other OEMs announced production increases and higher sales projections.

Even the specter of $4-gallon diesel fuel, a looming driver shortage and global concerns about manmade and natural disasters weren’t enough to dampen the high spirits.

While some executives noted that this year’s sales volumes are still far from historical norms, everyone seemed relieved that the pace of business is beginning to look normal, with prospects for even better days later this year and in 2012 — and perhaps beyond.

It’s a welcome relief to hear about truck makers adding shifts and rehiring laid-off workers, and in seeing competitors sniping at each other as they touted the advantages contained in their products.

This year, supplier executives had to answer more questions about whether they had sufficient capacity to meet the rebounding demand than they did questions about whether they’d be around long enough to see the recession end.

The 2009 MATS was bleak, as the trucking industry endured its worst year in modern history; 2010 was notable in that it seemed to mark the end of the business trough and, perhaps, the start of the recovery. But the 2011 show was downright exuberant, if not as glitzy as in the salad days.

This is not to say that there isn’t still concern throughout the industry that the rebound could be derailed by new natural disasters or political instability in the Middle East.

But there was also a palpable feeling that many attendees in Louisville felt they had weathered an enormous storm, and had survived to fight another day.

There were also many fleet executives shopping on the show floor last week, indicating that some carriers have begun to move beyond simply replacing their aging equipment and were beginning to expand.

And that’s good news for us all.