SIC 3537 Industrial Trucks, Tractors, Trailers, and Stackers
SIC 3537
This classification comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing industrial trucks, tractors, trailers, stackers (truck type), and related equipment used for handling materials on floors and paved surfaces in and around industrial and commercial plants, depots, docks, airports, and terminals. Excluded from this classification are establishments primarily involved in manufacturing motor vehicles and motor vehicle type trailers, which are classified in SIC 3710: Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Equipment, and those manufacturing farm type wheel tractors, which are classified in SIC 3523: Farm Machinery & Equipment. Also excluded from this industry are establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing tractor shovel loaders and track laying tractors, which are classified in SIC 3531: Construction Machinery and Equipment, and those manufacturing wood pallets and skids, which are classified in SIC 2448: Wood Pallets and Skids.
333924
Industrial Truck, Tractor, Trailer, and Stacker Machinery System Manufacturing
332999
All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
332439
Other Metal Container Manufacturing
The industrial truck and tractor industry includes a narrowly defined yet diverse assortment of products that are part of a larger industrial classification commonly known as the material handling equipment industry. This industry in turn forms a part of the enormous U.S. material handling systems industry market ($125 billion in 2005). Equipment within the smaller industrial truck and tractor category is utilized to move, package, and store both finished products and raw materials used to manufacture finished products. Accordingly, industrial truck and tractor products are used in nearly every industrial and warehouse setting; from "big-box" superstores to lumber yards to missile manufacturing installations. These can range from the ubiquitous forklift (there are various kinds of forklifts), to pallet trucks, order and stock pickers, and hand operated trucks. The Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) classifies these vehicles under the category "mobile and wheeled handling devices" and further divides this category into three subsections: "power operated trucks and components; tractors and trailers (including stackers and pallet trucks for in-plant use); and hand operated trucks, wheels, and casters." Furthermore, the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) classifies industrial trucks into three main categories that contain five classes of truck; electric rider (containing two classes of trucks), motorized hand (containing one class), and internal combustion engine (containing two truck classes).
Industrial truck, tractor, trailer, and stacker machinery system industry shipments increased each year from 2002 to 2004, according to U.S. Census data. These increased shipments coincided with a more positive U.S. economy (as evidenced by positive leading economic indicators including consumer and capital goods factory orders), which was slowly recovering from the downturn of the early 2000s. According to a 2005 ITA outlook presentation, between 2003 and 2005 factory shipments of the three main categories of industrial trucks (listed above) rose in the United States. Additionally, a 2006 Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA) Journal article stated that: "2006 will still be among the best years in recent memory," although the article conceded that growth beyond 2006 in the industrial truck industry will probably be slow.
The industrial truck, tractor, trailer, and stacker machinery system manufacturing is primarily composed of smaller establishments; in 2002 about 60 percent had fewer than 20 employees, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. In 1997 there were 461 establishments involved in this industry, while in 2002 the number of establishments had dropped to 419. Of these, 167 employed more than 20 people.
Geographically, the greatest concentration of industrial truck, tractor, trailer, and stacker machinery system manufacturing establishments in 2002 were in California (33), Ohio (29), Texas (29), Wisconsin (26), and Michigan (22), while California, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana had the most establishments, with 20 or more employees. Ohio led the industry with the most production workers, followed by Indiana, Texas, and North Carolina. Texas led the industry in shipment values ($635.5 million) and had 1,766 employees. Ohio followed, with shipments valued at $536.5 million and 3,220 employees; the most employees of any state. Indiana had shipments totaling $470.5 million with 1,533 employees, while North Carolina had shipments valued at $365.6 million and employed 1,279 workers. In 2002 the average amount paid for materials per establishment in this industry was $7.02 million.
America's entrance into World War II in 1941 signaled the beginning of a four-year surge in business activity that defined the future of many U.S. industries. The frenetic pace of production required to support the country's war efforts rejuvenated some industries, sparked the genesis of others, and launched many more toward exponentially higher production and sales volumes. For the industrial truck and tractor industry, the dramatically increased demand for manufactured goods created a commensurately heightened demand for material handling equipment; as the country manufactured more products, there was a growing need to move, stack, and store them quickly and efficiently. Consequently, the industrial truck and tractor industry was swept up into the expansion of U.S. industry as a whole, benefiting from the increased business activity enjoyed by the individual companies it served.
Augmenting this demand from the industry's traditional industrial customers was a vast government market that opened up during the war, as industrial truck and tractor manufacturers answered the sundry material handling needs of the military. The combination of these two factors fostered a rapid growth rate for the industry, amplifying the importance of industrial truck and tractor products in the successful operation of any manufacturing plant or military installation. During this period, truck and tractor products enabled manufacturers to approach production and sales volumes proportionate to levels recorded 50 years later, in the 1990s. Though its foundation was established before the war, the industry's modern structure was not fully defined until the 1950s and 1960s, when industrial establishments nationwide were transformed by the trend toward automation.
The robust growth experienced as a result of the war, and the increased applications for the industry's products prompted by the automation of U.S. industry following the war, prompted years of growth for the industry, a period during which industrial truck and tractor manufacturing companies began to record production and sales levels that distinguished the industry from other segments within the material handling equipment industry.
In the early 1960s, the sale of industrial trucks...
To continue reading
Request your trial