Signs of economic upturn. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

By Roger Renstrom

A number of North American forklift companies are expecting better times ahead, among them, the eastern and central US distributor of Heli forklifts.

The business is "going like an arrow, so we are pretty happy right now", says Bruce Pelynio, president and chief executive officer of Memphis, Tennessee-based Dobbs Imports LLC doing business as Heli Americas. "We have gotten out of the 'woe-is-me' phase and are seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel that may not be a train."

Pelynio says both quotes and orders for Heli products are up and the company is "well positioned" to take advantage of an improving economy in Heli Americas' 31-state territory.

He questions the actions of some manufacturers. "Everyone wants to participate in the recovery, so some people do stupid things with pricing," he says. "I have never figured a way to discount your way to success."

Pelynio notes his favourite quote: You can't spend (market) share. "That (measurement) seems to be the Holy Grail for many manufacturers."

Pelynio notes the constrained state of the financial industry. "Banks are not doing leases for forklifts," he says. "Credit is not what it is being touted in the newspapers."

At the same time, "people showing exemplary performance through the downturn can qualify for a loan," Pelynio says. "People will not find easy-lease money just as they will not find easy-mortgage money (and, for certain,) they just cannot get a USD250,000 loan on goodwill."

Pelynio says many end-users have stretched the service life of their fleets and are beginning to encounter maintenance issues with older equipment.

Certain equipment has been "beaten into the ground," he notes, "and, if it has been in mothballs, it is expensive to repair."

Getting manufacturing capacity ramped up will take time, with end-users, meanwhile, probably experiencing longer delivery times. "All of the major domestics are at 20-plus-week levels with moderate sales levels," Pelynio says. "If we ever get back to 2007 (volumes), it will take manufacturers six to eight months to ramp up." Empty forecasts have prompted suppliers of motors, castings, cylinders and other components to slow down, and, typically, the manufacturers utilise the same suppliers.

Heli equipment is "able to provide more than a four- to five-year lifecycle," he maintains. "We will be competitive. We do not have overbuilt component designs, and we do not have proprietary software."

Pelynio in his territory has opted to avoid distributing the largest forklifts that Anhui Heli Co Ltd of Hefei, China manufactures. "I made a decision to stop at 40,000lbs (18,000kg)," he says. The Heli line "does go up to 100,000 lbs (45,000kg)."

Pelynio observes that the materials handling industry has "seen the start (of a recovery), but is it sustainable in the third or fourth quarter" of calendar 2010? I think so."

Forklift distributor Ramon Chavez Jr is a realist, although he does not regard himself as an authority.

Asked how the North American economy is doing in the forklift industry, Chavez says: "It is still dog eat dog out there. However, it is a great time to buy for the wise end-user. US dealers are fighting for every sale."

Chavez operates the San Antonio, Texas facility of Permian Machinery Movers Inc, a family-owned and -operated distributor of forklifts and materials handling equipment.

"Everyone will be affected by this recession," he says. "It might be at different times in each sector, but if you have not (been affected), it's coming. The forklift business has bottomed out and is slowly coming back."

Chavez noted that demand brings the need to produce. "That will get the phone ringing," he says. "It's coming from all sectors slowly."

The energy segment, a key industry in Texas, "seems to be the last one standing or not yet affected by this recession," Chavez says. "I think demand for oil will eventually fall, thus completing the cycle. The graph of the overall supply and demand line seems like a giant heart beat, slowing to climb for about 20 years (and) then down sharply only to start up again for the next 20 years."

The San Antonio site and other Permian locations in Odessa and El Paso, Texas represent the TCM and Tusk forklift lines.

Meanwhile, another dealership sees movement.

"We have seen a 10% increase in quote activity, but I have no confidence" in a quick economic recovery, says Rick Chastain, sales manager in Poway, California for a Crown Equipment Corp factory store. The location serves San Diego and Imperial counties in the US and the northern portion of the state of Baja California in Mexico.

At a recent trade show, Chastain and his team exhibited the Crown C-5 Series cushion forklift, which has an industrial S250 internal combustion engine from the power systems unit of Deere & Company of Moline, Illinois.

New Bremen, Ohio-based Crown, known primarily for its electric forklifts, released the C-5 Series to the commercial market in December.