Here are the key findings from the March 2018 CCJ MarketPulse survey:
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- Carrier sentiment for business conditions in March 2018 was 7.56, up slightly from February 2018 (7.52).
- Respondents with up to 100 power units rated March at 6.79, while respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units rated March at 7.79.
- Month-over-month business conditions improved again in March, with 64.0% of all respondents saying it was better than February. 90.1% of survey respondents forecast even better business conditions in the next six months (78.6% of those with more than 100 power units and 93.6% of those with up to 100 power units), while only 3.3% expect business conditions to be worse.
- 6% of respondents from fleets with up to 100 power units and 74.5% of respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units plan to add full-time employees in the next six months.
- 5% of all respondents plan to increase the size of their fleets in the next six months (61.7% of respondents with more than 100 power units compared to just 21.4% of respondents with up to 100 power units). No respondents plan to decrease fleet size, while 31.1% of all respondents expect to replace aging equipment while maintaining current fleet size.
- Driver availability is the top concern for 93.3% of all respondents, just off February’s all-time high of 93.6% and still well ahead of freight pricing (3.3%) and fuel costs (1.7%).
Click here to download the full March 2018 CCJ MarketPulse report.
