The first-quarter 2010 Fleet Sentiment Report Equipment Buying Index as reported by CK Commercial Vehicle Research fell 21 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 to a reading of 54.5.
The FSR Buying Index is a simple measure of planned buying behavior of for-hire, private and government fleets responding to CKCVR’s Fleet Sentiment quarterly questionnaire. The index is calculated based on a 100 reading in the 2008 first quarter when 49 percent of survey respondents planned power unit purchases and 49 percent planned trailer purchases.
The reluctance of fleet buyers to place orders for power units or for trailers in the first three months of 2010 resulted in the poor reading; 28 percent of respondents to the CKCVR’s Q1 Fleet Sentiment questionnaire indicated they planned to place orders for power units, and 25 percent planned trailer purchases.
Details of planned orders are reported in the Fleet Sentiment Report (www.ckcvr.com/fleetsentiment) available to subscribers. Extremely low reported Class 8 net orders for January reflect the sentiment of CKCVR’s fleet advisers.
