Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/96778
Current Events Dealers Dive In To Help Sandy-Struck Region Short-term, Huber-charged rental and sales activity could settle in to a long-term negative for the industry. BY KIM PHELAN Mobilizing resources to help customers and communities in a crisis is something dealers do best – which is why one of the most frustrating immediate outcomes of Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy were, for some New York- and New Jersey-area dealers, the debilitating challenges of communication disruptions and fuel shortages. For example, at Tim Watters' Hoffman Equipment, a multiline crane and heavy equipment distributor headquartered in Piscataway, N.J., running out of diesel fuel for service trucks had the company resorting to siphoning fuel out of machines in order to keep service vehicles dispatched. "That's when we really started begging for [our fuel provider] to come by," said Watters, an AED officer slated to be chairman in 2014. "Finally after four phone calls of begging he brought fuel to us. The bigger problem was our employees trying to get to work who had no fuel in their cars. Our fuel provider felt so bad for delaying our diesel delivery that one day he send a gas truck in here loaded with fuel and he let all our employees fill up their cars – and that was a relief for everybody! It was probably the best perk everyone got all year." Damage at Hoffman Equipment's main office was minor, says Watters; not exceeding $10,000 he estimates, caused by a tree blown down on a fence. And with the exception of his Marlboro, N.Y., branch, his facilities all retained power and reopened Tuesday morning at 7 after the storm passed through the previous night. "There were pockets of neighborhoods that had power and by some stroke of good fortune our company [headquarters] was in one of those pockets," said Watters. "But four hours 26 | www.cedmag.com | Construction Equipment Distribution | December 2012 from where the storm came ashore people were still losing power – it shows you the extent and range of the storm." Loss of Internet and e-mail access was the more crippling issue during the first week following Sandy. For Hoffman Equipment, Internet comes through cable, Watters said, so the company was without it till Friday that week. Thanks to good fortune and good emergency backup planning, the lights and Internet were on for all 10 of Modern Group's locations across eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, but Chairman Dave Griffith says that cellular communication was the biggest challenge with which the company wrestled in the storm's aftermath. A forklift, power and equipment dealership based in Bristol, Pa., Modern Group runs on MobileFrame, says Griffith, which is dependent on an Internet wireless solution; Modern patched their problem by distributing mobile hot cards to staff, but the company will be evaluating how to solve the issue longterm, perhaps with radio backup. "We don't have an answer yet, " said Griffith. Help Thy Neighbor Extensive as Modern's inventory is, the needs have been great and unceasing. Griffith says the company has experienced an outpouring of equipment-to-the rescue from other dealers to the tune of 180 forklifts. "Literally I was able to call down and overnight had rental trucks coming at me from Ohio, from New England, from Virginia; they literally rolled in overnight," said Griffith. He added that Modern has been dropping generators to competitors, as well, and sent fleet to other regions Photo courtesy of H.O Penn. Blown Away: