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February 22, 2014 - Capacity Growth An Inevitable Result of Lowered Utilization

Commercial Carrier Journal (www.ccjdigital.com) and TruckingInfo.com both recently ran stories highlighting TCP Survey data from the 4th Quarter Business Expectations Survey.

The survey showed a large majority of carriers expecting to grow capacity, and many moving to replace their aging vehicles.

The new hours-of-service rules have resulted in lower utilization of equipment. As a result, carriers are being pushed to increase capacity and raise driver pay.

The number of carriers indicating they are not going to add capacity has been trending down, and is now at its lowest level yet for the TCP survey, at just 27 percent.

Larger carriers expected to be more aggressive in adding equipment than smaller carriers. Thirty-nine percent of larger carriers expected to add between 5% to 15% compared with only 27% of smaller carriers.

“We suspect that all the 2007 pre-buy tractors are being traded out. If smaller carriers are not able to replace older, less fuel-efficient equipment (and their higher maintenance costs), those carriers will not be well positioned to benefit from looming good times,” says TCP Partner Richard Mikes.

TruckingInfo.com Article: http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/story/2014/01/capacity-growth-an-inevitable-result-of-lowered-utilization.aspx

Commercial Carrier Journal Article: http://www.ccjdigital.com/monday-money-carriers-to-add-capacity-freight-indices-mixed-union-votes/

February 1, 2014 - Entry-Level Drivers Will Be Sought

With the many changes taking place in the regulatory and economic environment, many carriers are reviewing their labor policies. Highlighting 4th Quarter BES results, Commercial Carrier Journal (ccjdigital.com) recently reported on these trends.

The TCP survey showed less than 30% of carriers hiring inexperienced, entry-level drivers. But that number is set to grow. Slightly over half of all carriers expect to soon be training and utilizing inexperienced, entry-level drivers.

While this majority is slight, a stunning 84 percent of carriers are willing to support allowing younger, properly trained drivers to enter the driving pool.

“We believe this means they support other carriers hiring and training younger driver so that they can then poach them later,” says Richard Mikes, TCP Partner.

Read the article here.

January 21, 2014 - Carriers Optimistic On Near-Term Volumes & Rates

A recent article in Commercial Carrier Journal (ccjdigital.com) references the TCP Fourth Quarter 2013 Survey to highlight carrier optimism for volume and rate growth.

Continuing the positive trends of the previous quarter, more carriers are expressing optimism for increases in volumes and rates. Since the fourth quarter of 2012, positive volume expectations have risen from 29 percent to 61 percent.

With those increasing volumes, a majority of carriers are also expecting rates to climb over the coming months. There are now close to three times as many optimistic carriers as pessimistic carriers.

“Volumes and rates continue to be more entwined as positive GDP numbers are laid on top of effective capacity brought down by the FMCSA driving hour mandates,” says Steven Dutro, TCP Partner.

Check out the full article here.