RV sales expert Bartlow Montgomery Myers discusses recent changes in the United States and Canadian RV standards and how they could affect RV buyers and dealerships.
Leading RV sales enthusiast Bartlow Montgomery Myers was one of the first to be informed about recent changes in RV standards within the United States and Canada. Here, Bartlow Montgomery Myers reveals more of what those changes mean for RV dealerships and individual buyers.
For years, Canadian and American RV associations have been working to synchronize RV standards between the two countries. The goal is to ultimately make RV trade between the United States and Canada easier. Recently, one of the final major barriers was removed.
This difficult barrier was the difference between the Canadian requirement CSA Z240 and the American requirement NFPA 1192. The two standards required slightly different wires to be stocked throughout RVs in the two different countries. This meant that if U.S.-based RV manufacturers wanted to sell RVs to the Canadian market, they would have to sell RVs meeting the NFPA 1192 standard to U.S. buyers and RVs meeting the CSA Z240 standard to Canadian buyers.
“The real problem with these standards was that the two types of wires are equally safe, yet all manufacturers had to stock one type of wire for RVs sold in the U.S., and a different type for those sold in Canada,” Bartlow Montgomery Myers said. “This added a lot of time and unnecessary cost to the manufacturing of each RV.”
Bartlow Montgomery Myers stated that he understands the standards were in place to maintain a certain level of safety among all RVs produced. However, both types of wire have been proven to be extremely safe, so this standard wasn’t providing superior safety. It was simply causing more difficulty for manufacturers and buyers too.
“Buyers would fall in love with an individual RV, but they wouldn’t be able to purchase it, because they lived in Canada, and that individual RV was stocked with wire adhering to U.S. standards,” Bartlow Montgomery Myers explained. “Manufacturers have been losing money, sellers have been losing sales and buyers have been having to wait longer or even settle for different RVs.”
RV industry experts have been working for years to synchronize the Canadian and U.S. RV standards. Many previous steps have been accomplished, but the synchronization of these standards is a major leap toward completing the process.
“The standards for RV safety have always been extremely high, and for that, we’ve always been thankful,” Bartlow Mongomery Myers added. “We all see safety as the top priority in the RV industry, but we want our safety standards to make sense.”
Bartlow Montgomery Myers explained that many of the former RV standards made it difficult for RV companies in the U.S., and Canada to do business together. This hurdle is now out of the way, and RV experts like Bartlow Montgomery Myers believe the RV selling, buying and ownership experience will be better for all involved.
