--- title: The Truck You Need in April Gets Ordered in October description: Building centre trucks need a chassis and an upfitter, and spring queues get long. Why ordering in the fall gets you a better truck for the spring season. image: https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Owner%20Planning%20New%20International%20Flatbed%20Truck%20for%20Spring.png --- [![Trinity Truck Sales logo](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/Trinity%20Truck%20Sales.jpg)The Building Centre Truck ProgramOperated by Trinity Truck Sales](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/?hsLang=en) [Home](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/?hsLang=en) Who We Help ▾ [Home Hardware](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/the-home-hardware-truck-program?hsLang=en) [Castle Building Centres](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/castle-truck-program?hsLang=en) [All Canadian Building Centres](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/building-centre-truck-program?hsLang=en) [Fleet Advisor +](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/fleet-advisor-plus?hsLang=en) [Our Truck Guide](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/building-centre-product-catalogue?hsLang=en) [About Trinity](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/our-story?hsLang=en) [Blog](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly) [Contact](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/contact-me-global?hsLang=en) ☰ Looking to speak with Phil? call directly at [(289) 527-4345](tel:12895274345) [Home](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/?hsLang=en) › [Blog](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly) # The Truck You Need in April Gets Ordered in October ![Phil Aitken](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/e0b1fa7ef5f70dbbc84514aff5461c2a) **Phil Aitken**, President, Trinity Truck Sales • Oct 26, 2026, 9:27:27 PM • 3 min read ![\ Every spring I get the same call. A dealer's season is about to start, contractors are lining up framing packages, and one of the delivery trucks failed its safety or blew a transmission. They need a replacement in three weeks. Sometimes we can find one. Often we can't find the right one, and the dealer ends up with a truck that's close enough to get through the season. Close enough tends to stay in the fleet for ten years. The fix for that call happens in the fall, and it's a lot less stressful than the spring version. ## Why spring trucks take so long A building centre delivery truck is rarely a stock unit. It starts as a chassis from the manufacturer, then goes to an upfitter for the deck, the crane or forklift mount, the lighting and the toolboxes. Each of those steps has its own queue. In the spring, every building centre, landscaper and contractor in the country wants their truck at the same time. Upfitters get busy, and the parts they need get busy too. A build that takes a few weeks in November can take a lot longer in April. I've watched the gap between ordering in the fall and ordering in the spring decide whether a dealer gets the truck they spec'd or the truck that happened to be available. ## What fall gives you Ordering in October or November gives you time to get the spec right. You can look at last season's deliveries, talk to your drivers, weigh your current trucks and decide what the new one needs to do. You can't make good spec decisions with a full yard and a broken truck. It gives you better odds on build slots. Manufacturers and upfitters plan their schedules months ahead. Getting in line early means your truck gets built in the slot you want, not the one left over. It gives you room on price. Year-end is when a lot of model-year changes and pricing updates land. This year there's a bigger reason than usual, with the 2027 emissions rules expected to push diesel prices up on the new engines. An order placed this fall stands a better chance of landing before that change. And it gives your accountant something to work with. The timing of a truck purchase can matter for your tax year. That's a conversation for your accountant, but you can only have it if you're planning ahead. ## Plan your spring fleet now Before the snow flies, walk through your fleet with three questions in mind. Which truck is most likely to fail in the next six months? Which truck no longer fits the work you're doing? And if one truck went down on May 1, what would you do? The first two answers tell you what to order. The third tells you how much risk you're carrying into the season if you don't. Our fleet cost tracker can help with the first two. It flags trucks whose repair costs are climbing and runs a keep-or-replace calculation on each one. ## Talk to your drivers while it's quiet Fall is also when your drivers have time to think. Ask them what slowed them down this season, which truck they avoid taking out, and what the job sites asked of them that the trucks couldn't do. Those answers belong in the spec, and you won't get them in May. ## You don't have to sign anything yet Planning in the fall doesn't mean writing a cheque in the fall. It means getting the spec settled, getting pricing in hand and knowing where your truck would land in the build schedule. When you're ready to commit, you can move fast. If you want to look at your spring needs now, give me a call. I'd much rather build you the right truck over the winter than help you find a close-enough truck in April. 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For 18 years Phil has spec'd, sourced and delivered work trucks for Canadian building centres. [Read Phil's story](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/our-story?hsLang=en) or call [(289) 527-4345](tel:12895274345). Have a truck decision coming up? ## Send me your daily load and delivery radius I'll come back with a spec, price and sourcing plan. No obligation, no lot-pushing. [Get a Quote](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/contact-me-global?hsLang=en) ## Keep reading [![Why A Multi-Store Home Hardware Owner  Put Tractor-Trailers Into His Fleet](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/1791599250754.jpeg)](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/why-rob-lawrie-put-tractor-trailers-into-his-home-hardware-fleet) ## [Why A Multi-Store Home Hardware Owner  Put Tractor-Trailers Into His Fleet](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/why-rob-lawrie-put-tractor-trailers-into-his-home-hardware-fleet) Oct 26, 2026, 9:11:07 PM [Read the article →](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/why-rob-lawrie-put-tractor-trailers-into-his-home-hardware-fleet) [![Dashcams, Telematics and Your Next Insurance Renewal](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Dashcam%20View%20From%20F750%20Truck%20Cab-1.png)](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/dashcams-telematics-and-your-next-insurance-renewal) ## [Dashcams, Telematics and Your Next Insurance Renewal](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/dashcams-telematics-and-your-next-insurance-renewal) Oct 16, 2026, 8:42:31 AM [Read the article →](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/dashcams-telematics-and-your-next-insurance-renewal) [![Gas or Diesel in Your Next Medium-Duty Truck? Look at Your Delivery Route First](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Blue%20Ford%20F650%20And%20Diesel%20Trucks%20At%20Busy%20Construction%20Yard.png)](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/gas-or-diesel-in-your-next-medium-duty-truck-look-at-your-delivery-route-first) ## [Gas or Diesel in Your Next Medium-Duty Truck? Look at Your Delivery Route First](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/gas-or-diesel-in-your-next-medium-duty-truck-look-at-your-delivery-route-first) Oct 12, 2026, 8:28:20 PM [Read the article →](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/gas-or-diesel-in-your-next-medium-duty-truck-look-at-your-delivery-route-first) Trinity Truck Sales Inc. Phil Aitken — President  |  (289) 527-4345  |  [phil@trinitytrucksales.ca](mailto:phil@trinitytrucksales.ca) Copyright © Trinity Truck Sales Inc 2026 [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-aitken-a9b96819/?originalSubdomain=ca)    [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561022720417) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Phil Aitken", "url" : "https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/author/phil-aitken" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-27T01:27:27.967Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-27T01:27:27.000Z", "headline" : "The Truck You Need in April Gets Ordered in October", "image" : [ "https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Owner%20Planning%20New%20International%20Flatbed%20Truck%20for%20Spring.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/the-truck-you-need-in-april-gets-ordered-in-october", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/Building%20Centre%20Truck%20Program%20Logo.png" }, "name" : "Trinity Truck Sales Inc." } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "jobTitle" : "President", "name" : "Phil Aitken", "worksFor" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Trinity Truck Sales Inc.", "url" : "https://trinitytrucksales.ca" } }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-27", "datePublished" : "2026-10-27", "description" : "Building centre trucks need a chassis and an upfitter, and spring queues get long. 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