By Mike Gast
Earlier this week, I sat in on a conference call with motorcycle dealers around the U.S. The conversation sounded very similar to the talk at a recent phone gathering of RV dealers.
Motorcycle dealers are worried, too. Supply chain woes have them anticipating severe drops in inventory as the summer goes on. Just like RV dealers, they are surviving on a bloated “oversupply” of cycles that were ordered in 2020 and delivered earlier in 2021. But now, factories are having trouble getting parts and production is stalling. Sound familiar?
Last week, a large RV dealer on the West Coast told me that an RV that is ordered today likely won’t be delivered until this time next year.
The logjam appears to be at U.S. ports, which are working at half staff trying to unload an increasing number of container ships. The next bottleneck is the trucking industry, which is having trouble finding enough truckers to haul the goods away. Perishable items go first. Parts for RVs and motorcycles come a distant second, at best.
It seems that regardless of the industry – whether it’s motorcycles, RVs, or even electric bicycles – consumers are in for a long wait for things to be “normal.”
Related:
RV dealers can’t find RVs to sell. How it affects you
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Boat parts, motorcycle parts, RV parts, new car parts, home builder parts and materials, you name it, there isn’t enough of it. There are several reasons for this, but that would be a topic for another discussion – and on a different site . . .
Same problem here in New Zealand. Ships waiting offshore. Shortage of port workers and truck drivers.