Compare Products Print This Page

x
Close

Lessons from NATDA

Every year, Flaman Trailers travels to the North American Trailer Dealer Association (NATDA) tradeshow to learn about changes in the industry.  This year the tradeshow was in St. Louis. This year, as we have every year, we learned a lot. There are new parts and new trailers coming into the industry and all manufacturers showcased new improvements to their line ups. This is a great event for the industry.  Besides the product specific learning, we also walked away with three big thoughts.

So what did we learn?
 
First, the industry is consolidating: like all industries the companies are getting bigger and buying each other. Broadly speaking, this means two things: there will be less manufacturers and thus less choice, but more resources put into the remaining trailer manufacturers, meaning increased quality and options, more innovations and ultimately increased value to the end customer. This is a good trend for the industry.
 
Second, the industry is growing.  The amount of dealers waxes and wanes but the industry leaders are getting bigger and better at what they do. Customers are receiving more pre- and post-sale consideration and care. The dealer network is becoming more professional and more dealers are offering full service solutions.  This too is a good trend for the industry.
 
Last, we learned as we always do, that we have work to do. Flaman Trailers strives to be an industry leader by providing trailers for every use.  We have more products to receive training on, and shortly we will have more products to offer, thus more choices to help you find the trailer that specifically meets your needs. 
 
We come out of this event every year with new ideas and new energy, with the ultimate goal of providing more value to our customers.  I can already say, I am looking forward to next year.