Key findings
- Carrier sentiment for business conditions in November 2019 was 5.4, down from 5.8 in October. Month-to-month sentiment fell sharply for respondents with up to 100 power units from 6.3 in October to 4.9 in November, while sentiment remained steady at 5.6 for respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units.
- Month-over-month business conditions in November 2019 leveled out, with 55% of all respondents saying it was the same as October 2019, 18% saying it was worse and 26% saying it was better. Business conditions were markedly worse on a year-over-year basis, with 63% of all respondents indicating a drop compared to November 2018.
- Respondents with more than 100 power units are more optimistic about the next six months, with 39% expecting business conditions to improve, compared to just 15% of respondents with up to 100 power units.
- 27% of all respondents plan to increase the size of their fleets in the next six months. 8% of respondents plan to decrease fleet size, while 45% expect to replace aging equipment while maintaining current fleet size or make no change in fleet size.
- After taking over the No. 1 spot last month as the top concern for all survey respondents, freight volume (37%) has increased its margin on driver availability (24%) as the top concern. Freight pricing came in tied with driver availability, followed by cash flow (4%).
- Respondents with more than 100 power units reported higher seated truck counts than respondents with up to 100 power units. 24% of all respondents expect to increase recruiting spend in the next six months, while 6% plan to cut recruiting spend.
Click here to download the full November 2019 CCJ MarketPulse report.
