I've been in this business over 30 years now and I now all too well what I'm dealing with. It's unfortunate how the industry has changed. But, adapt and survive.

Troy when dealing with Eastern you will need more than a discount schedule. They typically give away the razor to sell the blade. Leasing deals with maintenance are always below competition by a lot. I'm never sure if they truly perform all of what is quoted. The folks in NJ will have a challenge especially now, they need to start booking units...usually that means buy the business.

Used trucks are a big part of their business. If buying a 3 year old truck, be sure you are getting what was sold. They do not always play by most others standards.

Having said this who knows how much NACCO is supporting them.

So now that the dust has settled and the news is public let me respond to some of the comments. Modern continues as a customer focused/employee owned company. We are also an open door/open book company and as such I am happy to have a conversation with any individual. We have selected new partners which we feel match up with our customers and the markets we serve and as a result we have laid down our relationship with Hyster with whom we have had a long and productive relationship.

This is a new day for an established company and I can promise you that the one thing that won't change is our values and how we respond to our customers, employees, and partners. We are continuing to grow and thrive and change with the market. I am very confident that our founders would love the changes we have made It was in their DNA and it continues in mine and the current management team. For the record 54% of the retained earnings of the company have flowed to employees, that is on top of salary and benefits. That is I record I am extremely proud of as is our board.

As Chairman and a major shareholder I remain very confident in our management team and the future of Modern. I am not fond of social medial when an individual can post without attribution. If you want to have a fact based conversation you know where to find me and I welcome all conversations.

Dave Griffith

So, now that we know Modern is no longer the Hyster dealer and has switched to Clark and Hyundai I guess the discussion on how poorly the company is run is over. I think it was a good decision on Modern's part. However, to appoint Eastern as the Hyster dealer is probably a poor decision on NACCO's part but I guess we'll see. I always saw Modern as an ethical company and you always knew what you were getting with them, no shady dealings, which reflects on their management team. Eastern on the other hand, not so much, which also reflects on their upper management.

Troy Morgan
Owner
Lift Truck Solutions, LLC

Thank you and I will respond when the dust settles. A fact based discussion would be interesting from my perspective so agendas here can be clear. Easy to talk with anonymity.

Dave GRIFFITH
Chairman

Dave Griffith should be recommended for actually posting on here.it's not often you can say a CEO or Chairman puts the companies view across.People may not agree and that's OK but at least he put his point of view across

No matter what others have said, the fa cts are that Modern's share of market in lift trucks has decreased dramatically ansd the excuse that Hertz and other rental companies made this happen are BS! Modern lost focus on the business that made them and the ESOP program has been a huge disappoitment to Moden;s lon time employees as the value of their stock has de creased from ewhat it once was. Modern may survive and I hope it does as there are many families who's liveyhood depends on it. However, I still maintain that Joe McEwen and Al McCuly would be ashamed of what Modern management has done to this company no matter what the excuses are about the recession etc.. Yesy many lift truck dealers failed but very few that were the size and had the success of Modern dropped to what they did.

Eastern offering signing bonus and salary increase to technicians...stealing from Modern or whoever. This is getting interesting.

How many Sales or aftermarket people will make the move?

So lets look at the facts. 60% of Moderns revenues still comes from the forklift business. 40% from construction and generators. All are managed by separate individuals. More than half of Moderns service revenues in the forklift business comes from non Hyster product. The leadership team in 2007 was the same team that brought the company from 60MM to 200MM. The rental business was sold when the industry competition became United, Sun Belt, Hertz, etc all large national public companies. Modern would not have competed given it's size and ESOP structure. The forklift market in 2007 went from 200000 units to 90000 units and Moderns market went to 75% electric. Given the industries it serves and the financial discipline with which it is run it survived a blow that 355 of the industry did not. The workforce was sized to the market and every obligation was made. The company currently is profitable and growing.

Any time you want to have a discussion one on one let me know and I will be happy to arrange it with the current management team or the board or perhaps you don't want to have a fact based discussion. Modern has always been open door and open book and I welcome the discussion. For the record McEwen and McCully would have pulled the same strings and in fact did through out Moderns history. You can reach me at [email address removed] or if the email is blocked through Moderns website. Dave Griffith, Chairman. I welcome the conversation.

The commentary from Sport05 is spot on. The departure from the traditional profit centers with new management around 2007-2008 killed the company. Blame was placed on the economic downturn, but it was in fact the ignorance of the then CEO and his inferior management team, and CFO, brought in from other companies. The reason they were then running a 9 branch $90M dealership, is because they had started with a 25 branch, $250M dealership. Holding full day meetings on the benefits and use of LinkedIn is an example of the pathetic management style exhibited. They will continue to reap what they sow.

While there are some valid points raised, Modern recognized several years ago that NACCO's future dealer network would be fewer and larger dealers. Increasingly it was more difficult to make money selling Hyster and dealing with quality/warranty issues, less compensation from NACCO for Nat Account sales, keeping a quality sales force. The allied products added to their business was just in keeping with the eventual separation with NACCO. This is not just about Modern both smaller Hyster and Yale dealers will be bought, retired or merged for a larger footprint. Look out for Baltimore and Pittsburgh to be combined.. The funny thing is dual brands are not translating into increased share by these larger dealers.

Modern has had other lines and in fact other divisions for many years including the years that they were one of Hyster's premiere dealers. If a company is well managed and the appropriate resources apportioned to the various businesses a dealer is in, they can be very successful. There are many examples of this across our industry. What hurt Modern was when The new (after Joe McEwen) management took over and decided that they did not want to have such a large percentage of Modern's business dedicated to Hyster as they did not like to have NACCO telling them what they needed to do. From that point on Modern's attention to lift trucks diminished to the point that they were no longer a top performing dealer for Hyster. It is a classic example of poor management that led to this point. That is why I still maintain that Joe McEwen and Al McCully would be rolling over in their graves based on these events.

Modern might be a text book study on why adding additional types of equipment to a dealership (heavy construction, light construction, light towers, gen sets), etc seems complimentary but really should be all run as separate groups/locations.

Some dealers can do it but they seem to be a minority. Keep us forklift weirdos to themselves!

Modern gave up on doing forklifts for the most part. Pass by their shop in Bristol and there's nothing but wood chippers and Hyundai construction equipment out there.
That might be part of what happens when there are no forklift people on the second floor. Scrambling for A/R.

Blame Nacco all you want but if Modern "drops" Hyster for Hyundai, Clark, Doosan, whatever, it would have to be seen as a failure for Modern.

Every OEM has its problems. If there weren't problems then Nacco would be Tesla and simply sell direct and not have dealers. Or Apple and sell direct online.

Hyster: tons of brand recognition. Clark/Hyundai/Doosan/China: no brand recognition. Modern: losing brand recognition, closing stores, leadership changes...