Dear readers,
For those who missed our President’s Word of Winter 2020-21, TWIN is celebrating its 70th anniversary of founding this year!
The last 15 months have been a real roller coaster, sometimes you can put the tip of your nose outside sometimes you have to stay locked in the house, PHEW! Not easy for morale. I think we all agree on one thing, the recent deconfinement plans are received as a breath of fresh air! It feels good to be able to visit relatives, friends and neighbors; to be able to go out when it’s dark; to go back to see his favorite restaurateur… Let us hope that the worst is now behind us and that we can look to the future with optimism. It is clear that our lives will have changed forever and that we will have to continue to remain cautious; nothing can be taken for granted.
As for business, this pandemic will have left a lot of traces! The recent significant increases in material costs (metals and wood among others) and our workforce are currently causing us serious headaches and we will unfortunately have to increase our prices throughout the year. In addition, we had to adapt to life as best we could with teleworking and flexible hours.
When we analyze 2021-22, the major shock will come to us from the availability of trucks; the shortage is drastic and severe. We are currently talking about 9 to 12 months before we can think of getting a new chassis if we order it today! Our allocations for our pool trucks are also likely to be significantly reduced as well. Without a chassis, it is difficult to install and deliver our equipment. We therefore expect a very significant increase in repair and restoration, hoping that the lead times for the supply of replacement parts remain reasonable. Hopefully, this rarity will be gone by mid-2022; my recommendation to ALL our customers, do not wait, order your chassis immediately today if you want some for 2022!
In the area of good news, we recently entered into an agreement with GM of Canada for accreditation to a GM pool (truck inventory) and service called “ship through”. This process gives General Motors the ability to control a truck chassis, and have it transported directly from its plant to TWIN, which will be able to perform the required installations according to specifications. The chassis are then returned to GM for delivery to dealers. Companies with large fleets whose vehicles are located across the country benefit from this program, which allows them to have uniformity in equipment both in terms of quality and cost as well as similarity. Of course, with the scarcity of vehicles currently it will be difficult to see the benefits this year, but this excellent news will bring dividends as soon as the supply returns to a more normal pace. We thank our partner TWIN Equipment from Ontario for access to this service, their support has been very important in this success.
Another good news, as some have noticed, our website was no longer functional since the beginning of 2021 for reasons beyond our control, but from the beginning of July you will have access to our new website, clean, easy to navigate, with new sections completely redone. Feel free to share your comments with us. Go take a look at the TWIN.CA.
In terms of our products, we have recently had great success with our tire truck and impact damper projects; you should come across in the coming months on the roads of Quebec our most recent achievements! If you have any questions about our products, please do not hesitate to contact our sales team in info@twin.ca or call 514-353-1190
I would end by wishing all our customers a great summer with family and friends, enjoy it, but respect the rules and remain cautious.
Thank you for entrusting us with your vehicles.
Louis Beaulieu, President and Chief Executive Officer