With the weak United States economy, the heavy equipment industry is adapting and overcoming by going global. For this and all of the construction industry, a weak economy is a frightening thought. For the larger contractors, a lack of federal and state funds for large projects like roads, bridges and infrastructure mean that they won’t be working as much and need to start liking at medium and small jobs. For the medium and small contractors, a weak or slow economy means that contract work from large contractors will dwindle or at least there will be more competition. For small specialized businesses like landscapers, loggers and tree service companies a slow economy means that businesses and homeowners won’t be spending the money that year. If you’re in the equipment retail or rental business, all of these people are your customers and if any one of those demographics are have a bad year, then so are you.
For every region in the country, their seasons break at different times. Basically no one likes working when it’s too hot or cold, that included equipment. You get the picture. The heavy equipment industry is basically at the mercy of the economy both directly and indirectly. Cost saving measures are implemented every day to make sure that their machinery maintains its equity, customers receive the service and maintenance they need and the company can be in business for another year. From the big dealerships to small equipment houses, they all do extremely well at watching their day to day costs and making sure that equipment deals pass the fairness test. A real aspect of the industry that is not given as much attention as it may should pertains to their banking and funds acceptance. As with many service industries, many dealers have card not present accounts so that they can take credit cards over the phone or on a jobsite; while they’re also set up at the store with a terminal for parts and other over the counter sales.
