MANAGING 10-50 COMPANY VEHICLES
Spartan Motor Inc. acquired Royal Truck Body, which will continue to go to market under the Royal Truck Body name.
Strong demand for light- and medium-duty trucks in the 2018 model-year increased order-to-delivery (OTD) times, resulting in widespread upfitter backlogs despite reduced fleet allocation availability due to competing strong retail demand for trucks.
Spec’ing a medium-duty truck is a complicated process that requires hundreds of decisions and choices, with each potentially impacting another. It is a science to achieve the balance between over-spec’ing and under-spec’ing a truck.
The fleet industry in the United States is no stranger to acquisitions and mergers as we have witnessed with the decades long consolidation occurring among fleet leasing and management companies, automotive OEMs and their suppliers, and daily rental companies. The same holds true for the upfitting industry, which, in the first eight months of 2017, witnessed an uptick in acquisitions.
Home service companies offer a wide menu of services. This can require vehicles with plenty of space for equipment, upfitting to keep supplies organized, and a system that helps the main office keep track of vehicles.
The number of available options, combined with getting exactly what is needed for your fleet, can be daunting at best. But, with some homework and research doing the upfitting job right can be easier than it appears.
With the increasing demand and growth of the commercial truck and van segments – particularly among utilities and service industries – the percentage of upfitted vehicles is growing. Upfitters are feeling the pressure of increased demand. In recent years, the huge influxes of vehicles needing upfitting have left some upfitters, at times, overwhelmed.
Light-duty trucks are often used by vocational fleets, and the needs of these fleets vary. Upfitting options range from storage solutions and inserts to full service bodies and everything in between.
Rarely does one-size-fit-all in vehicle spec’ing and truck and van upfits are case-in-point. Manufacturers work to stay one step ahead of fleet needs with constant improvement and new product advancements.
To help combat the Ebola virus, Matthews Specialty Vehicles converted three of its units into bloodmobiles and sent them to the West African nations of Guinea, Nigeria, and Liberia.