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What a shit show.....I have to check my watch to find out which Prime Minister I am currently meant to be respecting. Sometimes makes you think that the Corbyn might have been a better choice - now that would have been really rocky. And in other news.... plenty of trailers coming through now - so it looks like the Covid supply issues are finally working their way through the supply chain. Since the summer holidays the numbers per week have become almost ridiculous - I think we had 32 new trailers last week released by the factories. So suddenly famine turns to feast and that is putting pressure on administration and haulage.
We are not seeing much let up in price inflation. What is given with one hand is being taken by the other. Decline in the pound sterling has meant commodities such as steel and aluminium plus the remaining finished components are all either US dollar based or euro based and the purchasing power of a pound has gone south. So whether the trailer is made complete in the UK (say 80% materials and 15% labour and 5% piss it up the wall) or in Europe (85% materials and 13% labour plus 2% piss it up the wall) we are in the famous phrase 'All cooking with the same water'. That means we are all seeing massive price increases for the product once built. The good thing is that it is supporting strong residuals on part exchange and used trailers.
As this blog has taken about 2 minutes to write there could be another prime minister waiting to be thrown out of Downing Street.
Posted by Andrew on 24/10/2022
Good news happens at least once a week I find.
Posted by Andrew on 22/04/2022
STAS Trailers have only gone and done it again: Factory of the Future Award 2022. Well they do have a fabulous reputation throughout Europe and it is a feather in their cap that they won the award for a second time. Seems almost an oxymoron to win the Future twice but let us not quibble. STAS also won Employer of the Year 2022. I have had the good fortune to look behind the scenes at many factories in many countries and STAS has got a jaw dropping beautiful factory. I would put Kassbohrer in Istanbul up there - if only for the colossal KTL dipping room and 1.5km painting loop!! and if you just want amazing then the Knorr Bremse factory near Munich also stands out. But it is STAS's year this year (again). Well done and it is a credit to a thoughtful and talented top team that drive the thinking at STAS. A pleasure to work with and a lovely tipping trailer to sell.
Posted by Andrew on 05/04/2022
We often get asked the question: Is Fruehauf still in Business?
Well the answer to that is long and complicated. Crane Fruehauf, Fruehauf have changed their names so many times over the last 30 years. Successive business failures in 2003 ish and 2010 ish and 2021 ish have caused subtle changes in the name and in production. It is currently in business in Grantham - previously in Dereham. The company went through another clang in September 2021 when the previous Shareholder fell out with it's Managing Director. As the senior economist of the Handelsbanken commented 'It would take extreme skill to make a business go bankrupt in 2021'. I suppose due to generous Furlough and loan environment. But Fruehauf managed it. It is very unusual the directors can put a court order on a business against the wishes of the owner but there you go.
Posted by Andrew on 05/04/2022
This is the problem of our century - getting a sense of proportion on all our problems - don't you just love Father Ted?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiKyfd6hA0
Posted by Andrew on 22/03/2022
