18 DC VELOCITY JULY 2017
www.dcvelocity.com
newsworthy
THE INDUSTRIAL TRUCK INDUSTRY’S TOTAL CON-
tribution to the U.S. economy in 2015 was an estimated
$25.7 billion, while its “jobs multiplier”—the number
of jobs supported elsewhere in the economy for each
direct employee—is higher than that for many indus-
tries, according to a new Oxford Economics report titled
“Lifting America: The Economic Impact of Industrial
Truck Manufacturers, Distributors and Dealers.”
The report, commissioned by the Industrial Truck
Association (ITA), was released in Washington, D.C., in
mid-June. ITA represents original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) and suppliers of parts and accessories for lift trucks,
pallet trucks, tow tractors, and automated guided vehicles.
The Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association
(MHEDA) also provided support for the project.
The study encompasses equipment manufacturing as well
as support services such as sales, leasing, and rental operations; distribution and logistics; and training, maintenance,
and repair services.
Annual sales of industrial trucks in the U.S. hit a record
high of 225,534 units in 2015, the most recent year for which
final data are available. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
estimates that over 540,000 industrial truck operators are
currently employed in the U.S.
WIDE-RANGING IMPACT
For purposes of the study, researchers broke down industrial truck manufacturing’s economic impact into three
categories: “direct,” “indirect,” and “induced.” The report
quantifies each category in terms of gross value added
(GVA) to gross domestic product (GDP), employment,
wages, and taxes paid. GVA is a measure of output less
intermediate consumption, defined as the value of goods
and services consumed as production inputs, such as raw
materials, power, and labor.
The report describes direct impact as operational activities
that add value to U.S. GDP, including production, direct
employment, wages, corporate profits, and taxes. Oxford
Economics estimates that the industrial truck industry’s
direct impact activities accounted for $10.8 billion in 2015.
Indirect impact stems from the procurement of goods
and services from other businesses within industrial truck
manufacturing’s supply chain. It includes employment and
GDP contribution by the OEMs’ own suppliers (for example, suppliers of parts and information technology support)
as well as by companies within the supply chains of those
suppliers. The report estimates suppliers’ GDP contribution in 2015 at $7.3 billion.
Induced impact includes employees’ spending in the
broader consumer economy. Employees of manufacturers,
Direct, indirect, and induced economic activity support-
ed by the industrial truck sector generated $3.3 billion in
federal tax revenue and $2 billion in state and local taxes
in 2015. The industry had the biggest economic impact in
Illinois, Ohio, and Texas, according to the report.
JOB GROWTH ENGINE
The industrial truck industry has been a significant generator of jobs. According to the report, the average rate of
employment growth from 2009 to 2015 was 4. 5 percent,
well above the U.S. average of 1. 4 percent. Around 60,000
people are directly employed in the industry, the report
found. OEMs account for about 24,800 of that number, and
dealers and distributors employ about 34,900.
Those jobs pay well. Average wages increased by almost
25 percent from 2009 to 2015, to $52,942, making this sector “an increasingly rare example of a thriving blue-collar
industry” with opportunities to gain skills and earn “
fami-ly-sustaining” wages, the report’s authors wrote.
An additional 64,000 jobs are supported by suppliers
to the industry; add in the estimated 86,000 “induced”
positions supported by consumer spending, and the report
credits industrial truck manufacturing with supporting
nearly 210,000 U.S. jobs.
The full report will be available in mid-July on ITA’s website, www.indtrk.org.
Industrial truck industry injects $25.7 billion
into U.S. economy, report says
Third-party logistics service provider Yusen Logistics
has opened a 53,820-square-foot logistics center near
Celaya, Mexico, to meet the growing demands of its
domestic and international automotive customers. …
Hearth and Home Technologies, a manufacturer of
wood and gas fireplaces,
has relocated and opened
a new 102,660-square-
foot showroom and distribution center at the Steele
Creek Commerce Center in
Charlotte, N.C. … Quiet Logistics Inc. has opened its
“fulfillment center of the future” in Hazelwood, Mo.
The new center enables two- and three-day shipping
to e-commerce customers across the United States.
ground breakers
HEARTH AND HOME TECHNOLOGIES
