Following a successful 18 months since the Rokbak launch, the team are on a high heading to ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023. It will be the first time Rokbak articulated haulers have been on display at a North American tradeshow and, considering between 55-60% of the machines that leave the Motherwell factory currently head across the Atlantic, the team can’t wait to meet current and future customers and dealers.
The United States is leading articulated hauler demand with huge infrastructure spend and a lot of construction activity around house and road building. The total articulated hauler market for North America is usually around 3,500 units, with 2022 closing out with an expectation-defying 4,000 units. North American customers currently account for nearly half of the total market, which was just over 9,000 units in 2022.
“Our Rokbak haulers are working in clearance, aggregates, housing, even in the energy sector,” said Robert Franklin, director of sales – Americas. “We’re seeing a lot of our machines in quarries and on infrastructure jobs, making improvements to existing roads. Then there’s a lot of other dirt work, with assistance installing power lines and putting in new roads and highways. The US market allows us to tap into a lot of different sectors, so we’re not subjected to so many up and downward industry trends.”
Rokbak has approximately 35 dealers in North America, totalling close to 90 different locations, and the company will continue to expand its dealer network to better support customers. Rokbak’s American dealers generally carry a strong rental fleet.
“We’ve had a lot of interest in our Rokbak machines out on the West Coast and then through the south, across Florida, through Georgia into Alabama territory, and up into different parts of Canada,” said Franklin. “North America is a strong, healthy market for articulated haulers, and we’ve got a good, fair share of it.
“What we’ve also observed in the North American market is that used equipment has been in such high demand, our dealers have been selling off a lot of their original machines from their rental fleet. This means that the dealers obviously need to buy replacements for those rental fleet units. Currently the market is extremely strong and no-one’s slowing down. The future’s looking bright,” Franklin said.
Since the rebrand, Rokbak has become a major mover in both the United States and global market and demand for the company’s articulated haulers continues to go from strength to strength.
“It has been great to hear such positive feedback from our dealers and customers about the new Rokbak brand, as well as the performance, reliability and colour of the RA30 and RA40 haulers,” said Franklin.
“You never really know how a rebrand is going to be received and accepted – ‘who’s going to order first? And what’s our order book going to look like?’ But the response has been incredible. With a strong uptick in enquiries, dealer prospects ready to move forward with us and lots of orders, it went better than we could’ve hoped.
At ConExpo-Con/Agg, Rokbak will highlight the machines’ abilities to benefit construction projects, talk to customers about how the haulers deliver new benchmarks in both performance and total cost of ownership, and reinforce the company’s commitment to sustainability and journey to net-zero as part of the Volvo Group.
“ConExpo-Con/Agg gives us the chance to meet with both existing and new customers and dealers,” explained Franklin. “We’ve got a lot of good things ahead of us which we’re keen to demonstrate. We have a number of customers who are coming in to see the haulers for the first time, and with that comes new opportunities. When people see the new machines in real life they are blown away, the new Sand colour looks amazing on the iron.
“A successful ConExpo-Con/Agg and 2023 for Rokbak in the North American market will see us continuing to grow our market share by expanding our customer and dealer base. Mainly it’s about continuing success and continuing to grow. If we achieve that it will be a very, very good year for us,” Franklin concluded.
Visit the Rokbak team at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023 at Booth F-8926 in the Festival Lot.