Used Car News: Opportunities for Independents

Work Truck Solutions offered independent dealers an option for a new market as the company joined a host of exhibitors at the NIADA Convention & Expo here in June. 

Steve Henning, director of marketing and Geoff Shepard, heavy duty sales manager, chatted with dealers who are either already in the commercial truck business or want to learn more. 

“We’ve been in business for 11 years and we help commercial dealers,” Shepard said. He’s been in the automotive industry for over 20 years total. 

He said dealers could start by either running a few commercial vehicles through their site or go all in on commercial, or a combination. 

Work Truck Solutions is a onestop shop where dealers, buyers or upfitters can connect, while also providing operational analytics and other tools for the commercial business. The company’s website offers an online market place called Convoy.com and the tool called VAST (Vehicle Acquisition Search Tool) where dealers can acquire commercial vehicles. 

The site can include anything from box trucks and service trucks to a 

Ford Transit, cargo van or Promaster van. 

“However we can help dealers move more metal, we’ll do it,” Shepard said. 

Work Truck Solutions will consult with dealers to help them determine what buyers are looking for in their area and what’s hot or what’s not. 

Henning said, like the regular car market, the commercial market varies based on region and job market.

“In Texas and Florida, there’s a lot of landscaping and pool maintenance business,” he said. “In the Northeast you may have some of that in the summer, but in the winter months you’ll have snow removal.”

 Henning said they are always looking at business and market trends and one trend is clear. 

“One of the trends we’ve seen recently is dealers looking for new revenue streams,” Henning said. “What else can I do because the market has shifted in recent years? So a lot of dealers now are looking for a new revenue stream opportunity and suddenly their eyes are open to commercial. ”There are always

opportunities. During housing booms, the need for pickups and construction vehicles are high. When housing slows, people need work for remodels or improvements. 

Henning added, “When you get a good commercial customer, they might need two or five vehicles. While the retail customer is buying one vehicle every few years, a business or a fleet will need multiple vehicles.” 

Henning and Shepard talked with a couple of dealers at the convention who are exclusively in commercial. 

“They recognize the value and ROI in that,” Henning said. “Some others have talked to us who say they have a handful of commercial, but they know that’s the direction they want to go.” 

One factor is they need to increase their presence and that’s where Convoy.com comes in. 

A dealer might have a customer at the lot looking for a vehicle the dealer doesn’t have in stock. 

That’s when VAST can help the dealer find the specific truck the customer is looking for. Convoy has over 200,000 vehicles on it and VAST has more than 100,000 units.