The CCJ MarketPulse is a short survey of 200 for-hire fleet executives. Its purpose is to gauge fleet sentiment regarding monthly business conditions and concerns as well as hiring and purchasing plans. Here are the key findings from the June 2016 CCJ MarketPulse survey:
- Business conditions in June held relatively steady compared to the previous month, up to 5.6 from 5.56. Respondents from fleets with up to 100 power units were more optimistic, rating June a 5.9 (5.6 in May), compared to respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units which rated June a 5.4 (5.54 in May).
- ď‚· Month over month, 26.3% of respondents said June was better than May, compared to 19.8% who responded it was worse, but 48.7% indicated business in June 2016 was worse than June 2015. Over the next six months, 32.7% of respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units expect business to get better, compared to only 23.8% of respondents with up to 100 power units.
- ď‚· Only 35% of respondents from fleets with up to 100 power units and 39% of respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units plan to add full-time employees in the next six months, continuing a steady decline in the last several months.
-  Overall, 25% of respondents plan to increase the size of their fleets in the next six months (down from 39.2% reported in last month’s survey), while 44.7% plan on replacing equipment but maintaining current fleet size. 7.9% of respondents indicated plans to decrease fleet size.
-  Driver availability (39.5%) is trending again as carriers’ top concern, pulling away from freight volume (23.7%) and freight pricing (22.4%). 6.6% of respondents listed Political climate in Washington as their top concern, increasing from last month as the election draws near.
