Growth Stock Strategist recommended Supreme Industries (NYSE: STS) in early May, and earlier this month we interviewed Supreme’s CEO Mark Weber and CFO Matthew Long. Our interview starts on page 4.

We love how the delivery-truck company is capitalizing on exploding demand for e-commerce shipping. The truck bodies Supreme makes are perfectly suited for quick deliveries. As one of the few nationwide suppliers of such trucks, Supreme has the edge in competing for business as the customers for its products both shrink in number and grow in size. Higher sales volume and a more profitable product mix are driving profits higher.

Despite the stock’s huge year-to-date gain we think it can almost double from here. Our target is $23.

Here’s the interview, which dives into e-commerce, leasing trends and the growth potential for Supreme:

GSS: Who are your customers?

STS: We sell light duty and medium duty work trucks through all the leading chassis original equipment manufacturer dealerships across the U.S., so we have a broad network of partners. In addition, we sell to the national and regional leasing companies, rental-truck companies and both nationwide and single-location end users.

GSS: What are your competitive advantages?

STS: National network, quality and best-in-class delivery. And we take the time to understand the businesses of our customers to a level where we can provide guidance on the type of trucks that best suit their needs. Supreme is a genuine partner that improves their business performance versus just providing a truck body.

GSS: What are your biggest growth opportunities?

STS: Capitalize on the leasing trend and the overall industry consolidation to more national accounts. Our data indicates that we still have a minority market share, so we have opportunities for continued growth.

GSS: What keeps you up at night?

STS: Finding enough talented people to meeting the demands for consistent growth. We have proven that “people make the difference,” so we have to constantly be on the lookout for talent.  Also, this is a cyclical industry, so we must stay ahead of the next recession, taking prudent actions to manage through the cycle.

GSS: What industry trends are affecting your business?

STS: Consolidation within the trucking industry has resulted in more nationwide fleets and more truck leasing versus truck ownership. As one of two work-truck-body manufacturers that manufacture nationwide, Supreme can benefit from these trends. The national fleets and leasing companies place higher demands on their original equipment manufacturers, like us, but for those who can meet their expectations there are ample opportunities to grow.

GSS: What economic indicators should investors watch to keep on top of cyclical trends important to you?

STS: We monitor housing permits and starts, as well as the yield curve, as leading indicators of economic expansion or contraction that affect our primary markets.

GSS: You’ve enjoyed tremendous improvement in your gross profit margins over the past six months. What is behind this change and how sustainable is it?

STS: We made significant investments in our sales organization during the past couple of years to complement our best talent and build a proactive customer-centric sales team. We also invested heavily before 2014 in our manufacturing facilities, increasing our ability to deliver a high-quality product with best-in-class, order-to-ship lead times. This combination has led to increased volume, which lets us manufacture more efficiently. During 2016, we have enjoyed a higher mix of retail (higher margin) shipments that more than offset lower rental fleet (lower margin) shipments, as some rental fleets pulled back spending due to economic uncertainly.

GSS: How far can you see ahead for future earnings?

STS: Our backlog generally represents the next three months of revenue.

GSS: What long-term trends are driving your revenue?

STS: Our main markets are in the class 3 through class 7 straight trucks, with very limited exposure to class 8.  The average age of the class 3-7 population remains high, so the replacement cycle is projected to provide positive momentum. In addition, the steady increase in online purchase drives volume growth in business and home delivery, which increases demand for straight trucks.