1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182 
Surviving the wait
Page 28
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Lead times are unlikely to get any better in 2008. Louise Cole looks into the underlying causes and asks operators how they are coping.
For several months now commercial vehicle lead times have been long and getting longer, and the problem shows no signs of abating before next summer.
The causes of the problem are well known: limited component supply (for instance in tyres, NOx sensors, and gearboxes) and rampant demand in Eastern Europe.
The UK and US markets are both having problems, which encourages manufacturers to move their product into the new growth areas.
And while operators may look forward to the day when trucks roll into the yard quicker, the manufacturers are keen that this shouldn't be at the expense of their lucrative new markets such as Poland.
So the question is: what can manufacturers and operators do to cope?