Work Truck Solutions, the online platform that enables commercial inventory searches by body type and chassis, Thursday announced the top 10 most searched-for U.S. work trucks for 2017. This data represents more than 700,000 searches completed by online visitors of dealerships in the Work Truck Solutions network.
The company says the top 10 searches were:
- Service Body 124,478 (17.27 percent)
- Cargo Van 73,591 (10.21 percent)
- Platform Body 68,588 (9.52 percent)
- Service Utility Vans 62,257 (8.64 percent)
- Dump Body 55,913 (7.76 percent)
- Cutaway Vans 53,448 (7.41 percent)
- Van Upfits 28,213 (3.91 percent)
- Snowplow 27,490 (3.81 percent)
- Cab Chassis 25,901 (3.59 percent)
- Contractor Bodies 24,010 (3.33 percent)
Work Truck Solutions says its commercial inventory solutions makes them uniquely positioned to provide this level of search data on work bodies. Dealers who use their service also have access to back-end analytics previously unavailable in the work truck industry. The resulting insight on which bodies or chassis are trending helps dealers reduce flooring costs and better estimate what trucks and vans to stock, the company says.
“You want as much information and reporting as possible,” says Tom Murray, marketing director and inventory manager for Brandon Ford in Tampa, Fla., when asked about the role of data at the dealership. But, as he says, not all that information is relevant. “As a dealer, there’s reporting everywhere, it’s reporting overload. Everything that you advertise you can run reports on and look at, but not all that data is something you can use.
“The simple reports that Work Truck Solutions sends us shows what people are actually looking for. You can see what your customers search for — like 4-wheel drive, crew cab, the type of body they’re interested in — and then compare that information month after month to look for trends. That’s really helpful.”
Work Truck Solutions adds that it provides each of their dealers with a data coach who analyzes the dealer’s reports and gives them targeted recommendations. This helps commercial dealerships understand and take advantage of new information even when they’re not used to using data to inform their decisions. Work Truck Solutions also provides data to help other stakeholders in the commercial vehicle supply chain, such as body manufacturers, distributors, fleet management companies and OEMs.
“The work truck industry has been underserved by technology and data companies,” says Kathryn Schifferle, CEO and founder of Work Truck Solutions. “It’s our goal to provide commercial dealerships, body manufacturers, distributors and OEMs with the same level of insight and reporting that other industries enjoy. The industry needs this data to help them adapt to market changes, become more efficient, and drive their success. We want to put the right tools into our partners’ hands.”
