Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/772176
18 commercial carrier journal | january 2017 MARKETPULSE Fleets optimistic about 2017 MarketPulse survey respondents are increasingly bullish about business conditions over the next six months, with 56.5 percent of respondents expecting business conditions to improve (41.3 percent last month). Respondents from fleets with up to 100 power units are more optimistic, with 61.2 percent saying business will be better compared to 44.6 percent of respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units. On a month-over- month basis, survey respondents indicated improving business conditions in November compared to October, with 26.0 percent of all respondents saying November was better than October and 18.2 percent saying it was worse. Compared to the same month last year, however, 48.0 percent of all respondents said November 2016 was worse, while 24.7 percent said it was better. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 5.71 in November 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 edges up The Carrier Sentiment Index for November was 5.71, a slight increase from the October survey (5.61). 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. Responses from both groups were nearly identical: 5.70 for respondents from fleets with up to 100 power units compared to 5.72 for respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units. SOURCE: CCJ MARKETPULSE REPORT 1 = WORST 10 = BEST No hurry to buy Despite the growing optimism for 2017, only 33.8 percent of all respondents plan to add capacity in the next six months, while 63.7 percent plan to keep fleet size the same by either replacing aging equipment or not making any changes. 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 33.8% 34.8% 33.3% Replace aging equipment but keep fleet size the same 49.4% 39.1% 53.7% Decrease the size of our fleet 2.5% 8.7% 0.0% Make no change in our fleet 14.3% 17.4% 13.0% 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 "I've seen some positive signs since the election. Numbers are holding. Hopefully we have some of the regulations off our back so we can do business after January 20 th !" – November 2016 CCJ MarketPulse respondent T he following information is obtained from the November 2016 CCJ MarketPulse Report, a survey of more than 200 senior executives at trucking companies who have agreed to participate monthly. The November 2016 CCJ MarketPulse Report received 77 com- pleted responses from carrier executives. If you would like to participate in the CCJ MarketPulse survey, please email Jeff Crissey at jcrissey@randallreilly.com. Driver shortage remains top of mind Once again, driver availability ranks as the biggest worry for survey respondents, with 44.8 percent listing it as their top concern. Freight pricing (32.9 percent) and freight volume (17.1 percent) trade spaces as the No. 2 and No. 3 concerns, respec- tively. The political climate in Washington was a top concern for only 2.6 percent of respondents, still good enough to rank No. 4 on the list.