Specialty Fabrics Review November 2020 - 37

MARKET WATCH

TARPS AND TRUCK COVERS

ike many segments of the specialty fabrics industry,
tarp and truck cover manufacturers have been
challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, and some
have discovered new opportunities.
The U.S. military is one of Tarp Innovators' biggest
customers. Between fulfilling those contracts and meeting
other customer needs, the company has not experienced
significant interruptions in customer demand, but it has
contended with delivery delays in the supply chain. Tarp
Innovators product specialist Deano Perlatti notes an
average two-day lag in supply chain order deliveries to its
Poulsbo, Wash., location.
"Two days doesn't sound like much, but when you've got
a spill containment product that your client desperately
needs or the project site is going to get shut down, one or
two days is a big deal," he says.
Shipping from Canada has required extra time "as the
products maneuver borders now," he adds.
Rodger Romero, West Coast sales manager with Buckles
International Inc. and immediate past chair of IFAI's Tarp
Association, says end product manufacturers are not
ordering supplies in the quantities they once did.
"They keep moving in a forward direction, but they're
not willing to invest like they've done in the past because
they're not receiving the orders like they used to," Romero
says. "It's a trickle-down effect."
The pandemic has been a driving factor in many
companies pivoting their business. Perlatti sees a decline
in fabric products for backyard applications as consumers
hold back on discretionary spending. Romero notes that
some in the tarps industry have had to manufacture other
products as a result of the pandemic.
"I've seen my D-ring business slide a little bit," Romero
says. "We're moving in other directions where we know we
can get orders."
Case in point: some companies have turned to the medical
sector, manufacturing materials for pop-up tents used at
COVID-19 testing sites. Tarp Innovators has collaborated
with partners, suppliers and competitors to help design
a 54-unit surge capacity hospital that can be located in

a vacant lot or parking lot, offering individual complete
negative pressure isolation rooms, as well as small testing
structures. Perlatti says the company has also designed
barriers for small restaurants seeking to increase seating
capacity while following public health guidelines.
At Best Tarps in West Memphis, Ark., president Shea
Williams says that business bounced back to record levels in
the summer after the company was restricted in the spring
to curbside pickup. And its diverse seasonal business is
holding strong: the company manufactures hopper bottoms
for farmers in August and September, dump truck covers
for drivers hauling asphalt in October through December,
and tarp systems for trucks used to spread fertilizer in
January and February.
While the pandemic resulted in some layoffs at CoversAll Canvas Products, Finleyville, Pa., due to pandemicrelated restrictions, president Ellis Stokes worked with
family members to check the mail, answer the phone and
work on projects for essential companies. The company's
awning work fell behind schedule, but after restrictions
were lifted, Stokes' employees were catching up on spring
orders. Stokes attributes an increase in the awning side of
the business to people spending more time at home. One
client requested a winter awning in late summer because
she may be working from home permanently and wants
to be able to go outside during the winter.
"Normally we don't do that now, but this isn't a normal
time," Stokes says. "I guess we're going to be doing a lot
more covering for the winter."
Perlatti says the industry has just scratched the surface
of what can be done in relationship to COVID. "As we struggle
as a nation to get our grips on this, I think more is going to
be coming our way and everyone's way," he says. "Being
able to adapt and develop your product in a way that meets
those kinds of needs is really important."
And while the transportation industry is undergoing
disruption in such areas as driverless trucks, Williams has
no immediate concerns.
"You still have to load the trailers and keep the product
dry," he says.

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Specialty Fabrics Review November 2020

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