Get ready. Things are about to get heavy.

In 1975, C.W. McCall released “Convoy”—an epic country song (that became a not-so-epic movie) about big trucks rolling across the nation in a line like a cross-country truck parade. Now it’s 42 years later, and it feels like that convoy might soon be rolling its way right into your shop.

Why now? Because January saw a 13-month high in orders of Class 5-8 trucks. It was also a 27% increase from this time last year. When you adjust those numbers for seasonality, January 2017 is the best month for truck orders in nine years.

On top of that, a recent event held by the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association revealed that 40% of members of the National Private Truck Council (NPTC) are outsourcing the majority of their maintenance and repairs. And that’s in addition to the 40% of NPTC members who lease their trucks and are required to provide maintenance as part of their leasing contract. That’s 80% of the NPTC that will either come to you or your competition.

 So there’s only one question: are you ready for all of this business?

Before you answer, let’s reveal what a panel of aftermarket experts at the HDMA event said were two of the keys to successfully fulfilling their needs: training and technology.

 When it comes to training, it’s a significant concern. That’s no surprise. It’s been a concern for decades. But with more and more new technology going into heavy-duty trucks, they’re afraid shops can’t keep up. The good news? Recent research found that many techs say that more training and a better career path are important to them than higher pay.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that you spend the money to train your techs and then they leave for another shop. But in interviews, many techs say they’ll stay at a shop that’s equipped with the best technology available.

That’s where we can help. No one offers more up-to-date truck lifts than Rotary. Our truck lifts can help your shop reduce downtime, which increases your revenue. And because you won’t find better lifts, you’ll also save on long-term maintenance.

Our mobile lifts can even help increase your productivity by providing a lift when all of your bays are full. They can be moved into open areas—or even outside—in order to get a truck off of the ground and into your revenue stream. And with more sources of revenue, your business can really get off the ground, too 

So there you have it. The trucks are on their way. Are you ready?