RV Weekly

I took some heat for an earlier blog about global warming and its possible impact on the RV industry. I was accused of all sorts of things by phone, e-mail and in blog replies. I was accused of being anti-environment, of having my head in the sand, and of being a “global warming denier.” One guy in France promised to never read RV Trade Digest again.  Well it appears as though my instincts were correct. In an article out of Madrid, Spain, an agency has identified another primary source of global warming — tourists.  

“Holidaymakers may be ruining their favorite destinations through pollution and greenhouse gases, making the tourism industry one of the world’s worst polluters, experts say,” the article noted. 

Even European trade associations designed to promote tourism are admitting that tourists are horrible for the environment. Here’s what else the article noted: 

“Tourism is unfortunately one of the vectors of (climate) change at the moment and contributes, through its excesses, to the process of global warming,” World Tourism Organisation (WTO) director general Francesco Frangialli told an international conference on meteorology in Madrid this week. “In 2006, 842 million people took a holiday in a foreign country and 40 percent of them flew to their destinations. That’s 336 million people, or more than the population of the United States, taking trips which spew greenhouse gases that fuel global warming.” 

You can read the full-text of the “objective” news article by visiting this site. I highly encourage anyone interested in knowing how environmentalists intend to shut down the RV industry to read this article.  Although activists are currently targeting the airline industry, this is only the first salvo in their war against anything pleasurable. The environmentalists’ true mission could be discerned by reading the final paragraph of the “news” story:

“That could mean higher air fares, but some in the travel industry believe tourists would be ready to pay a little more to protect the places they love,” the article noted. 

Please allow me to interpret liberal-speak.  The writer is actually saying, “People who love to travel can expect to pay more in taxes and fees to fly anywhere, especially to popular tourist destinations. Once there, they can expect to may more in taxes and fees to enjoy their vacations.”  In our industry, the same philosophy could be applied.  Imagine reading a story someday soon in the New York Times that says, “That could mean higher prices for recreation vehicles, but some in the RV industry believe RVers would be ready to pay a little more to protect the places they love and the lifestyle they enjoy.” Over the next five years, the assault on active environmentalists (people who love playing outdoors) by environmental activists (people who hate corporations and America) working to ”save the planet” from the “global warming catastrophe” will be fast, fierce and completely frivolous.  To add legitimacy to their arguments, expect activists to develop and financially back an organization like Naturists Organized to Bolster Healthy Environmentally-Appropriate Diversions and Sports (NOBHEADS). This group’s sole job will be to issue press release after press release espousing how RV, boat, ATV and snowmobile owners and dealers actually agree that restrictions on their use should be implemented, and that stricter CAFE standards be adopted — even if it means they can’t have vehicles with enough power to tow trailers. There won’t be a shred of truth to the releases, but who cares if it gets five minutes on CNN. Their membership will number in the tens of thousands because the Sierra Club will include concurrent membership in the NOBHEADS group as a value-added service. It’s amazing how many people don’t see how this farce will affect the viability of our industry. They don’t see how global warming nuts will seek to raise taxes and, thus prices, on fuel to punish people with big cars, trucks and motorhomes. They don’t see how the activists will seek to prevent those carbon-emitting vehicles from being near any beach, forest, desert, mountain, stream, lake, river or wooded area where they can “endanger the fragile ecosystem protecting the planet.” Even carbon-emitting humans will be banned from these eco-areas. The activists will seek to block any construction of any new RV park on the grounds that building it will just encourage more use of these unnecessary and polluting vehicles.  Just like squirrels who will relentlessly attempt to gain access into a “squirrel-proof” bird feeder until they can actually savor the sunflower seeds, environmental activists will relentlessly bombard politicians with junk science and mass hysteria until they can savor a sweet victory in which nobody can use anything but feet to recreate outdoors — and only on approved trails.  

After reading Mike Molino’s testimony before Congress regarding the sale of FEMA units, one of our readers contacted me with what I thought was a brilliant idea.  What if the RV industry were to add just $1 to the price of the mandatory seals on all new units and then give that dollar to the RVDA for use in developing educational programming for all RV dealers. All in all, the extra dollar would have little impact on any specific sale, but it would generate nearly $400,000 per year to help offset the costs of developing curriculum and conducting more training courses around the country. It’s no secret that our industry is struggling to improve customer satisfaction scores. Although I agree there’s still a lot of work yet to do to improve consistent product quality, the most recent Roper study showed that dissatisfied customers at the dealer level poses a huge risk to the future profitability of dealers and manufacturers alike. Somewhere around 35 percent of customers who had a bad experience at a dealership admit they would not recommend the manufacturer or the dealer to other people. And it’s no secret the industry annually loses 25 percent of its customers who simply give up the lifestyle primarily out of frustration. While dealers certainly don’t deserve all the blame, it’s clear they play a significant role in ensuring happy, satisfied customers.   RVDA has done a fantastic job in developing the RV Learning Center. They have brought on exceptional instructors, they have worked with top universities to develop effective curriculum and the RVDA convention/expo is second to none in its ability to deliver quality training, even though less than one in five RV dealerships is represented at that conference — primarily due to the cost of flying staff to Las Vegas. 

But, new ways of getting training into the hands of more dealership staff are being developed all the time, whether the training is delivered by satellite or the Internet. The Extra Dollar Campaign could generate even more money to help offset the cost of providing that training to ensure more dealership staff could take advantage of the programming.  Even if the money isn’t needed for more conferences or to develop more curriculums, money generated by the campaign could also be used to work with tech schools around the country to encourage more young people to consider careers in the RV industry, especially as repair technicians. There is hardly a dealership in the country that couldn’t use more trained technicians. The demand for service greatly exceeds our industry’s capacity to meet that basic customer need.  

I doubt the RV Industry Association would be willing to part with any money allocated toward the Go RVing campaign, something the seal program is designed to fund. But adding a single dollar to the price of the seal to improve customer service by improving dealer education or recruitment ability is certainly worth a second look.

Congress is at it again. It seems that this current bunch of hooligans just isn’t happy unless it is trampling on someone’s rights to freedom of expression. The latest effort is so jaw-dropping in its complexity, it’s hard to imagine that any elected official seriously contemplated the bill that is not only winding its way through Congress now, it passed the Senate Committee of Government Oversight by a vote of 20 to 0. Just a few years after Congress passed the Incumbent Protection Act, also known as campaign finance reform, H.R. 894 threatens the very foundation of political free speech in America. Called the Executive Branch Reform Act, this bill was introduced by — surprise — a Hollywood Democrat. It would impose amazing new requirements on 9,000 executive branch employees to keep track of the names of citizens who contact them and what they talked about.  All that information would be compiled four times a year and published in a massive directory. In other words, your boss and neighbors will not only be able to see what contacts you have made with some government employees, they can also see what you talked about. It treats every citizen as a lobbyist and seeks to intimidate people to the point they don’t contact government officials for fear of exposure. If this bill is passed, influential employees of the executive branch of government must keep records of all conversations during work, at a bar, an RV industry reception or after work. Even a discussion with a spouse might be construed as desiring to influence national policy — and must be reported, critics say.  Its passage would have a chilling effect on speech between citizens who pay for 100 percent of government services, and the people they hire to serve them. 

This June, members of the RV industry will descend upon Washington for the annual Committee Week meetings, some of which involve visiting Capitol Hill to lobby legislators.  Surprisingly, this bill will not cover contact with senators and representatives.  But, if anyone in the RV industry dared to contact a senior official of the National Park Service, Federal Highway Administration or Bureau of Land Management for any reason, that contact would be recorded and disseminated for the world to see.  Perhaps our legislators need to review a Congressional resolution adopted in 1791.  Called the Bill of Rights, the very first provision states:  

 ”Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to . . . petition the government for a redress of grievances.”  

 

Now I’m no attorney, but neither was the guy who drafted this provision. It clearly states that Congress cannot, in any way, create a law that prohibits someone from contacting a government official to vent frustration or attempt to influence the government agent to adopt the citizen’s point of view in any area that is of interest to the citizen. This bill is very similar to the now defunct Section 220 of the Senate’s Lobby Reform bill. That provision would have required grassroots organizations (RVIA, RVDA, RVAA, ARVC, ARC) to document every phone call, e-mail, office visit, fundraising appeal, newspaper interview or public appearance they made either in support of or in opposition to any matter before Congress. The organizations would have been required to regularly submit that document to the government for auditing and verification. Fortunately, the very grassroots organizations that the legislation set to silence rose up and defeated this provision.  But, when elected officials are hellbent on protecting their own power, it appears nothing will stop them in accomplishing their mission, especially pesky citizens who dare to question the king.  This isn’t a time for complacency. Americans learned their lesson a few years ago when they were convinced the U.S. Supreme Court would strike down Congress’ infamous campaign finance reform act that prevents citizens from engaging in political speech 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election. The Supreme Court upheld the very provision of free speech our founding fathers thought so highly of that they made it the FIRST provision in the Bill of Rights.  

When the RV industry’s leaders arrive in Washington in June, the defeat of this outrageous bill should top their agenda when talking with elected officials.

Not only were Gulf Coast dealers devistated by Hurricane Katrina, a natural phenomenon, now they are being devistated by Hurricane FEMA, a government agency dedicated to screwing up on a Category 5 basis.

News that the Federal Emergency Management Association would be auctioning off anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 used and, perhaps, never used RVs threatens the integrity and viability of the RV industry. You know, I doubt FEMA even knows how many units are sitting in storage lots across the country — some a few miles away from a community in Arkansas ripped apart by tornadoes a few weeks ago. Yet, FEMA can’t provide those displaced residents with shelter due to some federal red tape. Which proves the point you can always count on government to take your money and deliver empty promises when you really need their help.

One news report suggests the inventory FEMA will unload in the months ahead equals 20 percent of the RV industry’s total towable shipments in an entire year.  I wonder how the forces of supply and demand will play into pricing this spring?

I remember how RV dealers in the Midwest and West Coast unloaded nearly all their inventory at full price when the disaster struck.  Back then, dealers in the Gulf Region had to contend with the loss of their home, their businesses, their customer base and competition from other dealers — and some manufacturers they represented – to flood the market and capitalize on the tragedy. Now floodwaters will crush dealers in that region again as the FEMA levy breaks and tens of thousands of units rush into the market.

I hope those dealers outside the Gulf Region who sold the units to FEMA in the first place will see this as an opportunity to put used units back on their lots to spread this burden across the entire country.

It’s unfathomable that a U.S. government agency could seek to destroy an entire industry by flooding the market with goods and driving down prices. In reality, the Ladies Auxillary of the First Baptist Church of Puckwater, Iowa, would have a better grip on handling natural disasters than these bunch of yahoos.

Just writing this blog pains me greatly for I truly LOVE Fleetwood and marvel at the incredible job they have done in turning the company around with quality products created and made by talented people. But, I can’t help but scratch my head and wonder what this company was thinking when they announced today that they would begin manufacturing travel trailers from a plant in Mexico. 

It’s not Mexico that bothers me so much, it’s that Fleetwood just laid off hundreds of American workers the week before — then announced they would build the same trailers in a foreign country, ship them back to America and sell them to the friends and neighbors of the laid off workers.  It sounds like such a slap in the face to the people who have worked diligently to help Fleetwood turn the corner. 

If the company had announced they would begin building a new line in Mexico, I don’t think I’d be nearly as conflicted. If the company had a plant at full capacity and they announced they would expand production into Mexico, it wouldn’t bother me so much. After all, 2006 census estimates suggest the population of Mexico currently stands at 107.5 million — not including the 12 million Mexican citizens living illegally in this country. That’s a sizeable market for any company to pursue and the best way to pursue it would be by building units in that country as demonstrated by Toyota. 

There must be another reason for Fleetwood to jettison talented, hard-working Americans in favor of cheap labor a few miles south of the border. Could it be an indictment against the bureaucratic American government which lectures companies about bringing “good jobs” and “living wages” to local communities, then punishes the companies every step along the way.  Not only do companies have to worry about union demands, they must comply with OSHA demands, EEOC demands, EPA demands, a myriad of complicated labor laws, DOT requirements, IRS inquires and God knows what else just to make a product and bring it to market. And don’t forget the taxes, fees, tolls, permits, licenses and other government-orchestrated drains on profitability. And that’s only at the federal level. Add equally restrictive state laws, fees and taxes, and local zoning ordinances and I can see why a company would look for greener pastures elsewhere. 

But Mexico is no better. Yes, the labor is cheaper, but whatever companies pay to governments here in taxes and fees, the companies must pay to corrupt government officials in Mexico in the form of bribes and kickbacks. I’ll admit I have never toured a Mexican manufacturing plant, but I question whether the product quality is the same as that found in American plants.  It seems that if Mexican workers were as talented as we’re led to believe, their country’s economy would be booming and our citizens would be seeking work and a better lifestyle there. 

Now that Fleetwood has cracked the border to produce units in Mexico, it will be interesting to see how the move will impact product quality of the travel trailers made there. It will also be interesting to see how many other RV companies rush across the border to build RVs more cheaply, or to supply the manufacturers who do so. Because, if Fleetwood is marching to Mexico for a price advantage, that will be short-lived if other companies follow suit.    

I just don’t get it. To me, it seems like a dumb idea (or to get with the lingo, una que idea estupida) for Fleetwood or any company.  Am I wrong?