Truck Parts & Service regularly takes the pulse of readers to gauge the health and well being of the aftermarket. Normally, it’s just a routine checkup. Through research we ask a few questions, check a few vital signs and maybe hear of an ache and pain here and there.
The results of our most recent reader survey, however, came back reporting quite a few more ailments, and even a few prescriptions for a little self remedy.
When asked to comment on their current local economic conditions, there were more “horrible,” “very poor,” “slow, stopped” and “very weak” responses than more cheerful, optimistic descriptions.
The numbers from the survey do bear out the nature of the comments, but I was surprised that, according to the data anyway, things weren’t as bad as one might think. There was even a little optimism.
Here are some economic-oriented highlights from the TPS reader survey:
- About 43 percent expect business to be comparable or better this year over last. Add those expecting just a minor dip in profits of up to 4 percent, and the number jumps to two-thirds of the respondents. Conversely, there’s also about 20 percent expecting a major decline in profits of more than 8 percent.
- There are probably numerous reasons for the wide gap expected above, but I’m guessing the biggest factor is the region and markets served. Some areas of the country are simply dismal for parts sales right now while others haven’t been hit nearly as hard.
If you’re a distributor in one of the worst-suffering regions, and if your primary customer base was construction, you probably don’t have a lot to smile about right now and are probably one of the 20 percent expecting a very poor year. More than a handful of comments lamented the fact they are too dependent on a particular market segment. Encouragingly, a few of those respondents also said they plan on taking on corrective measures to better weather the next downturn. - The short-term prognosis paints a healthy outlook with 40 percent anticipating business improving during the next six months, and another 46 percent that at least feels it won’t be getting any worse. That reflects most mainstream views that the worst of the economic woes are behind us and that if we aren’t in or near a recovery mode, at least things shouldn’t get any worse.
- That said, the flow of money is still keeping people up at night. Revenue was cited by 56 percent of respondents as their No. 1 concern. Access to, and the cost of, credit also ranked. Add to that a few comments about late payments and problems with receivables, and it’s pretty obvious quite a few readers are finely walking the line between revenue and expenses, watching operations very closely and feeling the impact of customers who are feeling financial pain as well.
Better times are ahead, and likely sooner rather than later. Let’s get through this and next year hopefully at this time we’ll be looking back a little leaner, a little wiser and a lot more optimistic and better positioned to survive this the next time around.
