Rokbak Regional Sales Manager Kevin Clark has worked with trucks for over four decades. With a large region to cover in the USA, he discusses increasing Rokbak hauler market share and the positive response to the trucks since the Volvo Group acquisition and the rebrand in 2021.
Rokbak continues to see huge demand for its RA30 and RA40 articulated haulers in North America, much to the delight of Kevin Clark, Regional Sales Manager. In his territory – the north-east of the United States, which stretches from the Canadian border down to the state of South Carolina, encompassing Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the Carolinas – Rokbak's market share has improved by 55% in the last three years.
"One of the big things that set us aside from other articulated hauler manufacturers is that our trucks are simple to operate and maintain," says Kevin. "They are hardworking and good value for money. We don't go for all the excessive, fancy bells and whistles that make it more difficult for an operator to use.
"North America is the number one market for the truck line right now, and our customers really like the reliability, the savings they can get on fuel efficiency and the look of the trucks."
Most articulated dump trucks that leave the Rokbak Motherwell factory in Scotland currently head across the Atlantic. The US is leading 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. However, the market has exceeded 5,000 units over a rolling 12-month period, with the total global market exceeding 10,000 units in the same period.
Mining, quarrying, urban infrastructure, highways and housing developments are the big sectors for Rokbak ADTs. Kevin has also seen the trucks used to move wet concrete for airport runways, snow removal and ruby gem mining.
"In my territory, the areas we see Rokbak trucks working in are usually urban, so our customers appreciate the easy manoeuvrability of the trucks," explains Kevin. "They can be operating in very confined spaces sometimes, especially up in the northeast corner."
With over four decades of experience with articulated haulers, Kevin's whole career has been around the truck line, whether it's been in retail, equipment management for an end user, or as a representative on the manufacturing side.
After starting out selling construction equipment at 18, he spent seven years as an equipment manager for Terex Trucks' largest North American customer, Atlantic Contracting and Material, which had a fleet of 58 Terex Trucks. The company continues to be one of Rokbak's largest end users of equipment in the US.
Kevin joined what was to become Rokbak in April 2018, four years after the Volvo Group bought the off-road truck product line from Terex Corporation. However, it was long before that, when he was on a trip to the articulated hauler factory in Motherwell, that he decided that he wanted to work for the company.
"I just knew as a young retail guy I wanted to get to that position where I was representing the manufacturer because I felt so strongly about the product and its capabilities," says Kevin. "I knew this is where I wanted to be; it was the direction I wanted my career to go. And here I am today!"
As an equipment manager, Kevin saw first-hand the issues with the older Terex Trucks prior to the Volvo Group's investment. Moving to the other side of the fence, he then saw all the improvements that addressed issues with the transmission and improved reliability and uptime.
"The trucks have never been better," concludes Kevin. "Feedback from our dealer partners and customers is incredibly positive. There have been huge improvements in reliability; the trucks are simple to operate and maintain, and they have a spacious and comfortable cab.
"Rokbak trucks are hardworking, and they are designed to make it easy for operators to perform the tasks they've got to do. Feedback from dealers and customers is always, 'We like this truck because it's easy to operate'."
