Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/667099
commercial carrier journal | april 2016 21 MARKETPULSE T he following information is obtained from the February 2016 CCJ Market- Pulse Report, a survey of more than 200 senior executives at trucking companies who have agreed to participate monthly. The Feb- ruary 2016 MarketPulse Report received 80 completed responses from carrier executives. If you would like to participate in the CCJ MarketPulse survey, please email Jeff Crissey at jcrissey@randallreilly.com. Business conditions improving Respondents are more optimistic about business conditions over the next six months compared to last month's survey, with nearly half of all respondents saying business con- ditions will be better in the next six months. 43.7 percent of respondents expect business to remain the same, while only 7.5 percent expect business conditions to decline (com- pared to 15.5 percent last month) over the same term. 45.5 percent of respondents from carriers with up to 100 power units said business conditions will be better, compared to 50 percent of respondents from carriers with more than 100 power units. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 5.5 in February 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 Carrier sentiment rebounds The Carrier Sentiment Index for February was 5.5 – up from 5.1 recorded in January and slightly higher than the 5.4 recorded at the end of 2015. 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 5.6 (5.2 in January), while the level for those with up to 100 power units was 5.2 (4.9 in January) . SOURCE: CCJ MARKETPULSE REPORT Carrier worries remain constant There was little change in the top concerns listed by respondents in the February 2016 MarketPulse survey compared to the January survey, with driver availability still ranked as the biggest concern for 45.6 percent. Freight volume (25.3 percent) remains a strong No. 2 concern overall, with 28.1 percent of respondents from carriers with more than 100 power units listing it as a top concern compared to 18.2 percent of respondents from carriers with up to 100 power units. Driver availability Regulation Freight volume 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Feb. Jan. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Other Freight pricing 1 = WORST 10 = BEST Adding capacity 40.0 percent of respondents in February said they were looking to grow their fleets, while 38.7 percent indicated they were buying equipment to replace aging equipment. 43.1 percent of respondents from carriers with more than 100 power units are more likely to grow fleet size, compared to 31.8 percent of respondents from smaller carriers, up from just 20.7 percent in January. IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS, WE PLAN TO: UP TO 100 MORE THAN 100 OVERALL POWER UNITS POWER UNITS Increase the size of our fleet 40% 31.8% 43.1% Replace aging equipment but keep fleet size the same 38.7% 45.5% 36.3% Decrease the size of our fleet 2.5% 0.0% 3.4% Make no change in our fleet 18.8% 22.7% 17.2% I suspect until the election is settled that uncertainty will reign. – CCJ MarketPulse respondent CCJ MarketPulse is brought to you by Shell Rotella. 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 Business forecast for the next 6 months Carrier top concerns 2015 2016