Construction is dead, right? Not entirely. Even in down times there are things a-buildin,' and some people are buying new vocational trucks, say truck-maker representatives.

They see glimmers of activity in several applications, and the boom continues in oil and gas drilling, which need trucks similar to those used in mainstream construction.

Home building, a major driver of trucking activity, remains quiet as the country struggles with a vast inventory of existing homes for sale, many of which were foreclosed following the collapse of home values and the mortgage lending crisis. Road and bridge building aren't what they once were because all government entities are strapped for money. But some highway work is going on as previously committed funds are allocated and contracts awarded.

So a few fleets have resumed buying dump trucks. Even some mixer chassis and block trucks, which haven't sold for the last two years, are being ordered, the OEMs say. Buyers are taking various Class 8 makes and models, some of which are using the builders' latest proprietary diesels.

"Not only has the first quarter of 2011 seen an increase of roughly 325% in order intake over the same period last year, total orders for the first five months of 2011 have already outpaced orders for the entire year of 2010," reports Ann Demitruk, director of marketing at Western Star.

Most of that is coming from central and western Canada, where oil field work is healthy, and in Ontario, where stimulus funding for infrastructure improvements requires new trucks. The central and western U.S. also seem to be reviving.

"There's an uptick in the mixer market, but nothing like three or four years ago," says Alan Fennimore, vocational segment marketing manager at Kenworth. "We've sold as many mixers so far this year as we sold in the two years prior. People are starting to replace what they bought in '04-06, and then they started pulling back."

Industrywide, the increase in mixer sales was 30% to 35% in the first five months of this year, says Dave Rinas, Terex Advance's director of sales, who quoted the numbers from a monthly report issued by the National Ready Mix Concrete Association's Truck Mixer Manufac­turers Bureau. Domestic sales, which includes North America, was up 15%, while exports were up dramatically as other world economies are recovering faster.

But the market's become stagnant again, Rinas says. This is not unusual in the concrete business, whose operators tend to order trucks in the first and last quarters and lay off in summer and early fall.

Terex Advance builds front-discharge mixers, a small segment of the construction market that's been heavily impacted by the economy. Rinas says that glider trucks - new chassis and cabs with used or rebuilt engines, transmissions and tandem axles - make up 80% to 90% of the company's sales. New trucks account for 10 to 20%.

Cash-strapped concrete producers see much value in gliders because they cost 35% to 40% less than new trucks, and buyers also avoid the 12% federal excise tax imposed on new heavy trucks, Rinas says. There are also lots of parts sales, of drums and other components, "to extend the life of trucks that should be replaced by now," he says.