the cost to develop a forklift can very but the extra people needed like Jonnr.j pointed out can out way this. Crown have seen companies like Linde, junghienrich,Toyota enter it's core market of warehouse equipment. It had two choices one to sit a do nothing just let the competitors come in and take away business.Or two develop new products away for its core business and enter new markets,Like any other manufacture who is looking for long term servile Crown choice was to develop. The cost of this will probably pay for it's self over several years but the benefits to Crown and Crown employees will be much greater.

Just a simple observation on the C5 funding pay cuts. I understand Crowned opened a new facility to produce the C5 & also employed additional folks to run, build them & ship them & receive parts, probably added design engineers (w/ICE backgrounds) to develop them/test them etc etc, etc. And will continue to hire more as they expand the ICE line.
I don't work for Crown, but any one knows it takes more to build a forklift than eat steel wool & simply pass one.

I believe that R & D costs can be spread over several years (accounting wise) unless Obama took that away too!

Oh Please, both of these projects were in going in R&D for at least 10 years. Way before your paycuts. If you want to think that your pay cuts and take aways are for the RM6000 and C5 delelopment, then you are kidding yourself. The paycuts happened back in the late 80's and early 90's at Crown, the same way as these last one's. The Dicke/Dragon will still eat it's share while the line workers can work harder and go hungry. Greed and Ego, are the nastiest to the bottom of the food chain.

Oh wow to all the off topic posts. Like this is a kiddie u tobe video comment list. :)
Anyway. Of course they used the pay cut to finance the C5 and the new super secret reach truck. From my standpoint at the bottom of the ladder (where all the **** lands) they made no secret what the pay cuts were for. To maintain growth and keep jobs in a down economy. That means R&D.

Don't get me wrong, I was there for 18 years and loved my time at Crown as a valued employee. Dicke III came on board and things changed for the worse. You know what they say, the 3rd generation did not have to put in the Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Greed and Ego are a nasty thing. "Jimmy Three Sticks" has not earned it like Jim I & Jim II. A Sad Story for sure.

Bob m, sorry you had such a crappy experience with the Crown boys. I applied to the SoCal location about 7 years ago, glad I did not get the job. It takes good people to man an organisation and if Crown chooses to go the corporate route, I can only agree with you on the Clark statement.

Crown has lost their way and many of the employees that they valued 20 years ago. Arrogance will slowly kill their former reputation. Another Clark, just 25 years later.

Glad to see that more of rank and file has learned that Crown doesn't care about or value it's workforce. You are now free to get the word out to others. They have lost their way, and you have realized that they are on the same road that Clark took 25 years ago. Arrogance breeds just more arrogance.

The pay cuts continue to keep the Dicke's lifestyle intact. Private Jets, Extravagent lifestyles, with an appetite for the Good Life. The "Dragon" still needs to Eat, so you cut off the tail (Pay cut #1), cutoff the legs, one at a time (No more 401k contributions, Pay cut #2, Increase your cost for benifits) But you can't cutoff the Head, as the Dragon (the Dicke's) need to keep the Extravagent lifestyle. New Bremen is the Kingdom and the Dicke's rule the Kingdom. Now the market recovers and you get one take away back. Bet you don't see the other Pay cut returned until 2011 (maybe). Then you won't see a raise for ?????

Left Crown 10 years ago. Guess I got out in the knick of time. Yes, I am making way more coin, with less stress. Mother Crown has brainwashed everyone. If you have the skills and know how, get out now, there are plenty of options for your skills, talent, and expertise, versus staying in a stressful, low paying company that does not value your talents. If you want to worship New Bremen, just watch "The Truman Show" movie starring Jim Carrey, they are both a mythic fantasy world.

KevA wrote - "Jerry from SAC- is that you?"


Kevin from LB, is that you? PM me cscforkliftrepair at gmail

One off the main points is all manufactures have to have development to be competitive Crown have entered a new market with there gas truck how much this has cost to develop will be down to Crown. Some time it might cost a lot some times it might cost not that much. But there will all ways be cost's involved. The person who started this asked did was R&D financed by pay cust at crown the answer really is no it saved jobs because with out new products or entering into new markets like crown have done then ultimately the company loses market share and then job's go. Crown know that there is a market cross over to IC truck in there chosen area so they have developed a truck. How good this truck is time will only tell. When you look at other Crown areas like Asia they badge Doosan trucks to Crown

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sorry about the double post.

and Chub, as far as how a mom and pop make it?
Have you ever considered the overhead in brand name dealership? One of the main the reasons the brand name dealerships are claiming they not making it [like the gold mine this industry should be], is because they haven't wanted to draw line and look at "production vs non-production" personnel, for fear of what they see in the mirror.

it's 'pick on Chublil day', in case you didn't get the memo.

Amen to that, Dr Know!!

It's not that hard to kick the doors down. I know of two regions in the network where all you have to do is answer the service call and speak to the customer you are ahead of the game. By the way, my genes fought on the other side and against the 3rd Reich.
I applaud any tech that leaves to better themselves if their present employer can't step up. Very soon, there will not be enough tenured techs left to carry on the "we provide the best service"claim. The tenured guys you refer to have either been screwed over one too many times or are tired of what they are doing and should get out. For those who still enjoy what they are doing are worth their weight in gold. Any manager that doesn't realize that is a wanna be. I know there are still companies out there with that philosophy and if I choose to locate that company in this industry, that's my business.

DrKnow, please dont mistake my "clone" comment for anything racist, I just know that every Crown guy I ever met in the last 10 years looks like they have the same gene donor!! And as for the statement you made regarding the tenured and skilled guys leaving, who gets the bad end of the stick? The guy with 20 years leaving, or the company itself? And poaching in this buisness is and always will be a part of it. I would bet that at least 50% of the people you know who left did so making more money. Also, some of the laziest people I have ever met in this biz were the tenured guys!! Yea they knew their stuff, but talk about crabby all day long, and hard to find out in the field. I swear they had to have had cloaking devices on their service vans. Now as a manager, why would I continue to support that? Also the only companies who retain their employees are doing so at a loss in this economy. How the heck does a mom and pop set-up compete with a factory dealership? Yes I know its the level of service provided, I get it. But unless they are locked in with smaller companies themselves, its hard to kick down the door of a potential new customer. Long story short, if you dont have the answer to the problem and a solution that you can sell and implement yourself, you are just another wanna be manager who just cant find the right employer to bite.

Well first off I'm not a tech nor a Dr. I just play one on the net.

I do realize that companies do put enormous amounts of money into hiring, training, service tools, vans ect. and should expect a fair ROI. The other side of that thinking is: Good, bad or indifferent, without the service tech all those investments mean absolutely nothing. Last time I checked the van doesn't drive itself, the wrench doesn't turn itself.

Now are there techs or any employee for that matter that does not give a rats a** about giving their best effort everyday? Sure there are but at what point does management ask itself, what effects have wage, benefit cuts and threats of "If you don't like it, don't let door hit you in the a**" had on these employee's production/moral? In the last 12 months I have seen some of the best talent, techs, sales and management hired away due to the current state of affairs. Has management calculated how much of that investment and future business is lost when the 10-15-20 year tech, manager or salesman leaves?
I willing to bet that Mr. Manager duodeluxe is not able to.

Oh and to cublil, very nice on the blond hair, blue eyes and acne comment. Nice to see your true narrow mindedness come out. Your parents must be proud.

With that I leave you all with this little tidbit. As a janitor, you would be amazed at the the things I see and hear snooping around your desk and your trash while your not there! lol

Also DrKnow, I think you interviewed me once, about 5 or 6 years back. Also, Good people leave because they choose to, bad managers or not. No wait I mean KevA, yea you. Hmmm, let me think. Doesnt matter, every Crown guy I ever met looked like they were cloned in City of Industry, Blonde hair, blue eyes and bad acne!!!!