The year just passed by was one of the worst in the recent past for the economy in general and for the commercial vehicles industry in
particular. The year 2012-13 had witnessed a major slowdown compared to 2011-12. The general expectation was that 2013-14 would be a little better, getting India back to the over seven per cent growth, but the country went through a harrowing time. The heavy commercial vehicle industry performance was only just a bit better than in 2008-09 when GFC hit all the countries. Most companies in the industry had to operate almost below the breakeven capacity level. Added to this was the liquidity crunch making it all the more difficult to carry on.
The trailer industry faced many challenges in this already tough economic condition. Fleet utilization was very poor and new additions to fleet had to be postponed. The mining industry was very badly hit, and it continues to struggle with coal and iron ore mines operations shutdown. Thus the demand for heavy duty trailers, which was quite good in the previous years, came down. The market became very price sensitive, and the fleet owners looked for cheap alternatives or even reconditioned trailers.
The other challenge facing the trailer industry has been the greater use of multi-axle trucks 3118 and 3723. Considering the lower initial investment required for the multi-axle trucks for payloads of 25 to 30T, trailer usage in this segment was affected.
However, there are some positive developments in the industry. Fleet owners have realized the importance of trailer quality. The trailer is no more just a trolley. With the cargo movers expecting fleets to deliver on time and in the shortest time period, and with continued pressure to reduce the cost per km, fleets are required to travel at higher average speed, need to have minimum downtime on the roads and are concerned over the maintenance and operating costs.
And in the last few years, it has been realized that paying a little higher for a better quality trailer is a wise decision. Earlier many trailer 
builders were making their own axles and using second-hand ones. This has almost stopped. They ask for quality axles now. Some large fleet operators have gone one step further and have also stopped making their own suspensions or using cheaper ones. This is a turning point for the trailer industry.
York contributed its bit during the year to make heavy duty transportation more attractive. It introduced a new axle model 5625, which was based on its learnings from the industry in the last five years. This axle has performed extremely well and has been highly appreciated for the ease of maintenance and superior bearings life. The other rectangular beam axle for 13T rating with bigger bearings was a great success in the very heavy load segment when it has to operate in poor terrain such as in mines.
Also relaunched is the fabricated suspension with several improvements. The 15T suspension YTE 75/90 was as such a popular product for all heavy duty applications. The company improved this further with an innovation in the equalizer bush. This suspension now operates in dusty environment without the need for greasing. All this development has been possible because of the close involvement of the company technical service team with the fleet maintenance and management teams.
The Indian transport industry is now increasingly realising the benefit of using air suspension. Cryogenic and petroleum tankers are now convinced of the benefits of York Tecair I air suspension and are now standardizing on the same. Tankers with Tecair have run for over five years in poor road conditions and have not faced any maintenance issues at all.
Further, the fleets could get more than double the life of tyres and improve the fleet utilization, thus making investment in air suspensions attractive. Tecair performance is well proven over the years in many countries and is known to be the best in the industry. Many more segments would start using the air suspension in the next two years.
At the company’s Pune plant, the Engineering and R&D Department has been very busy last year. The plant developed several models that are required for the overseas market. Exports increased more than twice, and the plant exported to countries such as South Africa, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, etc. Several overseas customers visited the plant and appreciated the process and product quality.
At Auto Expo 2014, York will exhibit some of the new products developed during the year, and trailer builders and fleet operators will find the products highly interesting.