RV Shipments Rise As More Americans Desire To Bring Essence Of Home With Them While Traveling

Call it the turtle solution to wanderlust in the age of COVID-19.

Eager to travel - but wary of hotels, airplanes and restaurants - more Americans are taking their homes with them everywhere they go, reviving a recreational vehicle business that had been devastated by shutdowns earlier this year.

Wholesale shipments of RVs posted their highest monthly total in June since October 2018, according to the RV Industry Association, the industry's main trade group, marking a sharp reversal after months of deeply depressed business. In data provided to Reuters, the group tallied 40,462 units shipped last month, a 10.8 percent increase over a year ago.

By contrast, shipments in April were down more than 82 percent from a year ago and down nearly 30 percent in May.

"We didn’t anticipate this turn being as strong as it has been," said Craig Kirby, the group's president. "People don't want to fly, they don't want to stay in a hotel. In an RV, you can cook your own meals and sleep in your own bed."

Kirby said his group expects more people to start using RVs as mobile offices as well. Some manufacturers are developing RVs "with dedicated workspaces that allow for the desks and other systems to be stowed away once work is over," he said.

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