Equipment dealers take center stage this month in Pit & Quarry’s seventh annual “Dealer Issue,” with tariffs getting our cover billing.
While it’s uncertain how tariffs on key international trade partners will shake out, most dealers don’t anticipate major disruptions.
Still, as one dealer recently shared, some producers are approaching their capex with the mindset that tariffs will increase their costs at least somewhat.
“I know some producers are trying to incorporate price increases and tariff-related factors into future capex projects to estimate what future dollars will cost them,” says Greg Donecker, owner and president of Kemper.
Dealers, too, are taking action.
“One of the things we’ve been able to do is increase our inventory to buffer and mitigate that cost for the end users,” Donecker says. “I think most of our customers and my fellow dealers are kind of scratching our heads. We’re not sure what the tariff situation is going to look like. We don’t know what’s next. But we are taking a special approach: to be prepared but not overreact.”
Several other dealers weigh in on tariffs in this month’s cover story, which can be read here. Find out what they have to say – including Rock Machinery’s Bryant Fazer, Brandeis Machinery and Power Equipment’s Mark Strader and Crush Mode’s Micah Tysver.
Filling workplace gaps
Beyond tariffs, Donecker touched on another growing trend during our recent conversation: dealers stepping in to help producers address workforce shortages.
“With more people retiring in our customer base, producers are leaning more heavily on us for our knowledge and to be their solutions-based supplier,” he says.
Parts and equipment sales have traditionally been core revenue drivers for dealers – and they remain important. Increasingly, though, dealers are generating new business by offering services producers can no longer handle in-house.
“If producers don’t have the knowledge in-house anymore, they’re looking for help in their processing plants and even in their maintenance practices,” says Donecker, adding that this dynamic is partially why Kemper expanded its group by acquiring EastRock Solutions earlier this year.
Other ‘Dealer Issue’ highlights
Several other dealer-themed articles appear within P&Q this month. Read how Kimball Equipment Co. helped bring a 1,000-tph wash plant online in Arizona, how RDO Equipment Co. is partnering with Knife River Corp. to create jobs for disabled veterans and how General Equipment & Supplies’ Aggregate Expo continues to thrive.
Also, Fazer and Tysver detail in our Road to Prosperity section how producers are closing the workforce gap these days with larger equipment.
