Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/555101
16 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | AUGUST 2015 MARKETPULSE T he following information is obtained from the June 2015 CCJ MarketPulse Report, a survey of more than 200 senior executives at trucking companies who have agreed to participate monthly. The June 2015 MarketPulse Report received 79 completed responses from carrier executives. If you would like to participate in the MarketPulse, please email Je Crissey at jcrissey@randallreilly.com. Only 6.3 percent of survey respondents see their business doing worse in the next six months, while 55.7 percent believe business will be better. Respondents from fleets with up to 100 power units are slightly more optimistic. Better days ahead 0% 60% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Much worse Better Much better More than 100 power units Up to 100 power units Overall Worse Same 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 6.52 in June B E S T M O N T H E V E R W O R S T M O N T H E V E R The Carrier Sentiment Index for June was 6.52 – up from the 6.2 reported in May. The index assesses the month on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the carrier's worst month and 10 being the best. The index level for carriers with more than 100 power units was 6.6 (up from 6.4 in May), while the level for those with 100 or fewer power units was 6.35 (up sharply from 5.8 in May). SOURCE: RANDALLREILLY MARKETPULSE REPORT Driver availability again tops the list of concerns for carriers regardless of size, but it has dropped sharply in the last two months. Meanwhile, carrier concerns about freight pricing and freight volume are increasing. January February March April May June 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Driver availability Freight pricing Regulation Freight volume Other Driver shortage remains key concern 1 = WORST 10 = BEST More eet executives are looking to grow the size of their eets, and carriers with more than 100 power units are far more inclined to do so over the next six months than respondents with up to 100 power units. Uptick in equipment purchases Carrier sentiment ticks up in June UP TO 100 MORE THAN 100 OVERALL POWER UNITS POWER UNITS Increase the size of our eet 39.2 26.9 45.3 Replace aging equipment but keep eet size the same 32.9 23.1 37.7 Decrease the size of our eet 1.3 3.8 0.0 Make no change in our eet 26.6 46.2 17.0 Our June is 12% behind May, but still ahead of 2014. Positive pricing has seemed to have been holding, however, my main concern is that the 'bigger' carriers try to increase their fleet size knowing that drivers are very difficult to find, hire and retain! – survey respondent CCJ MarketPulse is brought to you by Shell Rotella.