Trailer costs are increasing rapidly as the costs of materials and shipping rise almost daily. Why do some trailers seem inordinately priced?

Obviously there are many costs involved in any manufacturing. The actual item costs include the materials, accessories and construction labour. In addition are the overhead costs to purchase and run the facility; mortgage, utilities, machinery and equipment, insurance etc. Then you add the costs of promoting the product; sales people and advertising, trade shows etc. The costs of each employee are added, salaries, insurance premiums, state and federal occupational expenses, and training. Various "non productive" ( one that does not build the product) employees are necessary. These include book keeping and accounting, shipping, administrative and of course the boss. If there are stock holders, they all want a piece of the pie.

A large corporation selling many units can invest in robotics, cad and the latest computer driven equipment. These expenses can be amortized over many trailers being sold, which allows a larger production and more equipment.

The smaller business without the large sales volume, has higher labour costs during assembly. Many automated chores handled by the machines in the larger company, may be done one at a time by hand. This restricts the output and allows inconsistencies between products; IE Friday afternoon and Monday morning build days. This would account for quality differences within the same brand.

The business owner has to sit down with his accountant and spread sheets to determine what pricing he can determine for his products. His costs are paramount, what his competitors are marketing is equally as important. He has to be competitive and have a profit to survive, while making his ownership worthwhile.

A large established business, one that has absorbed all the start up costs, should be able to sell higher volumes at lower prices than a smaller, younger company. Obviously this is not happening. What we are seeing is an attempt to get every nickel that the consumer is willing to spend.

Generally, trailers and horses are not necessary items to own. In most cases, the owners of both, have discretional funds available, that they are willing to spend for their pleasure. (This would not apply to working horse owners) The horse accessory business, has done an excellent job, to relieve many of us of great amounts of money. Call it pride, love, glamour, whatever you care to, your attachment to your horses and hobby have few boundaries. The businesses count on these emotions, and take full advantage of them.

How many of you own rigs that cost more than your first house? How many have sat down to actually figure out how much money you've spent during your life time on your horses? The key words are "sitting down".

This "stuff" is overpriced, but look at how many of us are willing to spend the funds to own it. Whose to blame? There's a mirror on the wall.

Gard

When I got back into horses a couple of years ago, my brother-in-law told me that the horse purchase would be the CHEAP thing. It's everything else that goes along with the horses that is so expensive.   

Biggest Reason: People Keeping Buying and Paying For Them.... Yes i have not gone to some ropings because of fuel this year. Kinda dumb to go rope for a $500 check, entry fees cost $100, $300 in fuel, $100 in eating, $plus whatever else might come along. I would have to win just to break even. One weekend not so long ago I spent way to much on entry fees, lets just say alot more than $100, then put in $825 in fuel from friday to sunday night. After stopping in at the Outback for a steak on the way home with the wife and kid I got to thinking, thinking while enjoying a cold draft(key word: cold it was 97 outside). I got to thinking about what I had spent??? Damn it man. Something has got to give. So we watch where we go and enter.

As far as the first house I owned, well lets just say I had a 93 F150 that cost more than my house did and I bought both of them new. Yes it was a mobile home but at the time home sweet home. Now the truck and trailer cost more than my current house. Good thing is that most of it and the house belong to me. And no the house isnt on wheels, happens to be tick heavy for wheels since there are 28 cubes of brick surrounding it.

I agree with you about the horse industry in general is over inflated. I used to say I wouldnt pay 10k for a horse. Now that is cheap horse and we have looked at some 35k horses. Dumb? You bet. And no I havent done that one yet. Still riding the 10k horses. Its all over inflated from one end to the other.

I know I am considering getting rid of my entire rig. Going back to one pickup and smaller LQ trailer. We used to have just as much fun in a stock trailer and pickup as we do not in "comfort". When I was a kid a trailer period was a luxury. Most folks carried the horse in the pickup with wood sides/stake on the bed if it had them. That was not that long ago my hair is not even all the way grey.

What kills me is the LQ in the trailer alone was $310 per sq foot.  I built one hell of a nice home, brick and furnished for $50 per ( in 2000).  All total for the entire package is ASTROFRIGINNOMICAL.  Sometimes my hind site says I am duuummmmbbb.

Your exactly right on this one, I do Lq's for about $150 a square foot. I make excellent money at that rate, I have more than I can get done. The only reason I got into this was because I knew it didn't cost that much to do an LQ. I keep waiting for that guy that wants to spend $100K on the inside of his trailer. It is impossible to spend that kind of cash inside an LQ, but you see them for sale on this site all  the time. I just finished a Peterbilt Toter, 14' box with a slide, charged the guy $19K it had an electric awning, about 60ft. of rope lights, mirrored ceiling, soft walls, all solid oak cabinets and trim, real hardwood floors, self tracking satelite, real leather couch and dinette. A 32" flat screen mounted flush with the wall, another 15" lcd in the nose and I got fat on it. I cleared almost $10K for 60 days part-time work by myself. That's where the cash is, the guys that put the box on the truck for him wanted $35K to do it, and were going to do much less than I did.

That will work for everyone but the American farmer.Would be nice if it did,but,it doesn't.

In some cases I would say that you are correct. However, as a business, you have to maintain your equipment and upgrade equipment in most cases. In fact a certain amount of a manufacturing business' profit should be dedicated to tools and equipment. Labor costs have gone up. Costs to provide benefits to employees have gone up. Shipping has gone up. Materials have gone up. Tools and equipment have gone up. Right now, in my case, I am selling cattle and horses at a younger age for less profit. Keeping them longer is no more profitable than the younger age now. It costs more to keep a colt or calf per year than it ever has.

Living in Oklahoma, I have had the opportunity to see the inside of a few trailer manufacturers. I have been in GM when their plant was operational in OKC. Trailers do not have even a smidgen of the automation that there is in other manufacturing plants. For the most part they are stick built, cut to fit, hammer it in, get a bigger hammer if needed, one at a time projects. Some are more automated than others, but it is only small amounts. Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges.

"Crazy" is spending money on a trailer brand that has low resale value.  Kinda like buying John Deere, you pay a little more, but their is a much larger market for resale of the used stuff.  Except for fancier lighting, more wood, fabric, softtouchwalls, satelites, hydraulic jacks, etc options., the LQ base components haven't changed for 30+ years.  Most people demand these upgraded options, than complain about  the price of everything while drinking $5 per gallon of "bottled" water, paying a 500- 1000% markup on the fireworks, listening to their I-phone, working on their new laptop, etc. - GO FIGURE!![

QUOTE]Originally written by HTWOK on 2008-07-01 4:15 PM

That may be true about the cost of building a house versus a trailer....but does your house have wheels under it and towed by a vehicle and also have 2-6 horse all moving seperatly in the back?  Also can your house switch from an electric power source to a generator and have your appliances follow suit?  If you unplug your house from the power pole will your refrigerator run off propane and battery so your food stays cold?  What people don't understand is the kind of electrical and plumbing ingenuity that goes into these lq trailers.  Once again i will say that yes there is a huge markup on some of these name brand trailers.  Just because it cost more does not always mean its a better product.  We sell a very well built trailer and we warranty our interiors for the lifetime of the original owner (how many other Lq companies do that?). For example, we quoted up a trailer for a customer that had all the bells and whistles, had more options added and was a better trailer brand, just not as well known as some of the other larger companies.  We were $15,000.00 dollars less than the other trailer they were looking at.  The customer went with the more expensive trailer because it was a brand they were familure with.  Crazy. 

I don't keep track of all of them as it is a part time job. The Peterbilt Toter I had 140 hours in it, and that included driving time to pick up supplies, the only reason I kept track on it was it was the first one of those I had done. The Toter ended up paying me just under $60 per hour, not bad for a part time job, and one that I enjoy.