Oshkosh equipment sales have fallen nearly 40%.

Equipment sales at Oshkosh Corp decreased 39.7% to USD368.4 million for the quarter ended 31 December. Backlog is down 84.9% for the segment, which includes JLG aerial work platforms and JLG, SkyTrak and Lull telehandlers.

Compared to the same period last year, access equipment sales in Europe declined 51% while those in North America were down 45%. Access equipment "customers remained cautious with purchases", Oshkosh says in a regulatory filing. "Tightening credit markets and recessionary economies further impacted construction of new residential and nonresidential projects."

Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based Oshkosh reported a company-wide loss of USD20.6 million on sales for USD1.39 billion for the quarter versus profit of USD35.2 million on sales of USD1.50 billion in the previous year's comparable quarter.

Meanwhile, Terex Corp of Westport, Connecticut, said 3 February it expects its earnings for 2008 to be approximately 5% below the low end of its previous full-year guidance range between USD5.69 and USD5.79 per fully diluted share. Terex plans to release its 2008 financial results on 11 February.

This revised guidance excludes charges associated with the reduction of production levels, asset impairments and certain other items. Comparable earnings for the full year of 2007 were USD5.85 per fully diluted share.

"Our fourth quarter 2008 results were affected by the rapid change in global economic conditions more than we anticipated, as well as continued input cost pressure," Ron DeFeo, chairman and chief executive officer, says in a statement. "We continue to feel the negative effect that credit availability has on customer sentiment and demand for our products, particularly in our construction, materials processing and (Terex- and Genie-brand) aerial work platforms businesses, as well as our smaller crane and tower crane product lines."