Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/759228
20 commercial carrier journal | december 2016 MARKETPULSE Business conditions slowly improving Survey respondents indicated improving business conditions on a month-over-month basis, with 32.4 percent of all respondents saying October was better than September and 13.8 percent saying it was worse (compared to 23.8 percent in the September 2016 sur- vey). Compared to the same month last year, 23.7 percent of all respondents said October 2016 was better, while 43.8 percent said it was worse. In the next six months, 41.3 percent of respondents expect business conditions to improve (28.8 percent last month), with respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units slightly more optimistic. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 5.6 in October 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 holds steady The Carrier Sentiment Index for October was 5.61, essen- tially unchanged from the September survey. 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. Respondents from fleets with up to 100 power units were slightly more positive, ranking October at 5.75 compared to 5.55 for respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units. SOURCE: CCJ MARKETPULSE REPORT 1 = WORST 10 = BEST Capacity remains level Carrier intentions to add capacity remain stable, with 30.0 percent of all respondents saying they are planning to increase fleet size in the next six months, while 63.8 percent plan to keep fleet size the same by either replacing aging equipment or not making any changes. Meanwhile, 6.2 percent of respondents indicate they will decrease the size of their fleets in the next six months. 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 30.0% 29.2% 30.4% Replace aging equipment but keep fleet size the same 43.8% 41.7% 44.6% Decrease the size of our fleet 6.2% 8.3% 5.4% Make no change in our fleet 20.0% 20.8% 19.6% CCJ MarketPulse is brought to you by Shell Rotella. 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Much worse Better Much better More than 100 power units Up to 100 power units Overall Worse Same 0% Business forecast for the next 6 months Jan. June July Aug. Sept. Nov. Dec. Feb. March April May Driver availability Political climate in Washington Freight volume 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Oct. Regulation Freight pricing Carrier top concerns 2015 2016 "While we are excited to see a Trump victory and a Repub- lican-controlled Congress, it will be interesting to see how quickly Trump's policies will move this country forward." – CCJ MarketPulse respondent T he following information is obtained from the October 2016 CCJ MarketPulse Report, a survey of more than 200 senior executives at trucking companies who have agreed to participate monthly. The Octo- ber 2016 CCJ 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. All about drivers With the presidential election behind us, only 2.5 percent of respondents rank the political climate in Washington as their top concern, down from 6.3 percent in last month's survey. Once again, driver availability leads the way as the top concern for 41.6 percent of all respondents. Freight volume was the top concern for 33.9 percent of respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units but just 9.5 percent of respondents from fleets with up to 100 power units. Freight pricing fell to the No. 3 top concern at 22.1 percent for all respondents.