Forklifts and the US GDP

Industrial trucks and forklift sales are directly tied to our economy. When our economy does well, more forklifts are required to move the goods ordered by customers and end-users. Conversely, when a downturn occurs, forklift sales drop, sometimes dramatically as they did with the recession of 2009. What few people understood until now, the economic impact these forklifts make on our economy. Recently the Industrial Truck Association in conjunction with Oxford Economics researched the topic, and below are some of the significant findings.

• Industrial truck manufactures generate 209,600 jobs in the US, directly and indirectly.
• The economic impact of forklift on the US economy is $25.7 billion dollars. Here in North Carolina, forklifts generate over $1.4 billion dollars to our state economy.
• Over $15 billion of that contribution is a result jobs that support forklift sales and service such as service technicians, the parts that are made and sold and installed on forklifts, training centers etc…
• The Bureau of Labor and Statistic (BLS) estimates that there are about 540,000 industrial truck operators in the US.
• There are over 200,000 forklifts sold annually in the US.
• Over 1 million forklifts are sold around the world each year.
• The industrial truck industry generate about $5.3 billion dollars in state and local taxes. Here in North Carolina, state and local taxes are over $103 million dollars.

As you can see, when we sell a forklift we create a lot of work not only here at Apex, but for our customers, their customers and the impact is felt all throughout our state and national economy.

Report – Industrial Trucks Effect on State and National Economics