Key findings
- Carrier sentiment for business conditions continues to track with the economic rebound, up to 7.1 in September 2020 compared to 6.83 in August 2020. Month-to-month sentiment rose for respondents with up to 100 power units from 6.47 in August to 6.7 in September, while sentiment for respondents from fleets with more than 100 power units rose from 7.0 to 7.2.
- 45% of all respondents said month-over-month business conditions improved (down from 56% last month), but only 2% said it was worse. Business conditions continue to improve on a year-over-year basis, with 73% of all respondents indicating an increase in business compared to September 2019.
- Respondents from both groups share an optimistic outlook for business conditions in the next six months, with 57% expecting business conditions to improve; 12% of respondents expect conditions to deteriorate, up from 6% last month.
- 35% of all respondents plan to increase the size of their fleets in the next six months. 2% of respondents plan to decrease fleet size, while 63% expect to replace aging equipment while maintaining current fleet size or make no change in fleet size.
- Driver availability (75%) has skyrocketed to dominate as the top concern for respondents of both groups. Freight pricing remained in the second spot at 10%, while freight volume fell to just 2% (13% last month) as a top concern.
- Respondents from both groups reported higher seated truck counts compared to last month’s survey, with 64% reporting 92% or better seated rate. 71% of all respondents expect to increase recruiting spend in the next six months, while just 2% plan to cut recruiting spend.
Click here to download the full September 2020 CCJ MarketPulse report.
