The Q1 2011 Fleet Sentiment Report Buying Index as reported by CK Commercial Vehicle Research on Tuesday, Feb. 1, rose to a new high of 102.3. The FSR Buying Index (Q1 2008 = 100) is a simple measure of planned buying behavior of for-hire, private and government fleets responding to CKCVR’s Fleet Sentiment quarterly questionnaire.
In January 2011, 58 percent indicated they were planning to place orders for power equipment during the next three months, with 42 percent planning to place trailer orders during the same period. Average planned order size, as a percentage of current equipment inventories, is 11.6 percent for power units and 10.4 percent for trailers. The Fleet Sentiment Report finds that input received during January from their fleet advisers support a good beginning to 2011 for new equipment demand.
The Fleet Sentiment Report also includes input from fleets about their 2010 emissions engine choices. “The responses we have been receiving from our fleet advisers indicates that as they are making the decision, all but a small percentage of the group that regularly reports to us have determined that SCR offers them more benefits than the advanced EGR technology,” says Chris Kemmer, CKCVR’s founder. “There does still remain a significant percentage that have yet to make up their mind, but the trend is definitely towards the SCR brands.”
CKCVR regularly polls a group of small, medium and large for-hire, private and government fleet operators about their equipment purchasing plans and overall fleet environment. The quarterly Fleet Sentiment survey includes questions about short- and longer-term equipment buying plans, preferred OEM, new specs, current fleet capacity vs. freight demand, equipment utilization rates including the percent of parked vehicles, 2010 emissions engine choices and best-in-class product ratings. In January 2011, 55 fleets operating more than 70,000 medium- and heavy-duty power units and 140,000 trailers responded to the quarterly Fleet Sentiment questionnaire.
