Driver Shortage Limiting Hauling Capacity, Potential Growth

In its Q3 2011 Fleet Sentiment Report, CK Commercial Vehicle Research—an organization that regularly polls a group of small, medium, and large for-hire, private, and government fleet operators to determine their purchasing plans, as well as the overall condition of their businesses—released figures indicating that 40 percent of fleets reporting to the organization are experiencing a driver shortage. Additionally, 25 percent of the polled fleets indicated that they believe that this shortage will have a negative impact on future growth.

Of those fleets that reported a driver shortage, 75 percent have an immediate need for drivers to fill vacant seats, 63 percent reported an inability to add capacity, and 42 percent have changed the way that they deploy their fleets (such as reducing their number of long hauls and focusing instead on regional and local freight opportunities).

Regarding the shortage, CKCVR’s founder, Chris Kemmer, remarked, “Freight demand is good among the majority of fleets that report to us, but some could definitely haul more if they could find good drivers. Even for those that have a full complement of drivers now, there is concern that this scarce resource will likely impact their future growth potential.”

The Q3 2011 Fleet Sentiment Buying Index, which measures of the number of motor carriers planning to add power units and trailers to their fleets within the next three months, rose to 104.3. This increase is primarily due to a large number of fleets planning trailer orders. The FSR Buying Index Table can be accessed at http://www.ckcvr.com/.

ATA Trucking Index Shows a Rise in Tonnage Hauled

According to the American Trucking Association (ATA), in the first half of 2011, the trucking industry experienced significant growth over the same six month period in 2010. This is evident in the ATA Truck Tonnage Index, which is a factor of the monthly tonnage hauled by motor carriers that are ATA members.

The net growth is largely thanks to a significant increase in the Index in June 2011 over June 2010. The 6.8% jump made June the strongest month for growth since January.

While an increase in the ATA Truck Tonnage Index is good news for the industry, the tonnage hauled for the second half of 2011 will depend largely on the overall strength of the economy. If sectors such as manufacturing continue to increase, then the tonnage hauled by motor carriers is expected to do the same.

For more information, visit http://www.truckline.com/pages/article.aspx?id=914%2F{8E1C7279-ED27-4C03-B189-CEEEE26BBB12}.