Your most important decisions deserve the most qualified advisors.

News

August 7, 2013 - New Fleet Investments Unlikely for Many Carriers

Recent articles from TodaysTrucking.com and TruckingInfo.com report that inadequate rates of return are keeping fleets from buying.

They share results from the second quarter TCP industry survey that show only slightly over 50 percent of carriers seeing returns on investments that can justify new equipment purchases. This figure is up just four percentage points from November 2012.

Additionally, one-third of all carriers reported having no current plans to add any new equipment. At this time, replacing aging fleets is the principle driver of most equipment investment.

“Higher equipment costs in recent years, combined with the lower utilization resulting from new HOS rules, will continue to make adequate returns on investment a challenge,” said Steven Dutro, TCP partner.

Read the complete articles here and here.

August 6, 2013 - Larger Carriers More Positive About Renegotiating Accessorials

Forty-three percent of all carriers believe they will be able to renegotiate detention pay, up significantly from the November 2012 TCP survey. This increase is most likely in response to recent changes in hours of service regulations.

However, small carriers are more pessimistic than larger carriers on accessorials. Sixty-four percent of those smaller carriers anticipate no relief in charge negotiations.

“As freight demand grows, shippers who need consistent service will need to assist carriers in gaining operational efficiency and adequate compensation. Larger carriers are more confident they are positioned to achieve this customer cooperation,” stated TCP Partner Richard Mikes.

For the full article from OverdriveOnline.com, click here.

August 5, 2013 - Rates of Return Still a Concern for Trucking Industry

Results from TCP’s second quarter 2013 Business Expectations Survey were highlighted in a recent article from FleetOwner.com.

Truck capacity is tightening, but many carriers are still not earning a rate of return large enough to warrant an expansion of their fleets. Stagnant cargo volumes combined with higher operating and equipment costs will likely force carriers to hold back expansion efforts for the foreseeable future.

Read the full article here.

July 24, 2013 - New HOS Leading to Tightening Capacity

TruckingInfo.com references data from the TCP second-quarter industry survey in their recent article. Survey results showed that almost 40% of carriers are expecting utilization to lower more than 5%. Just over 38% of carriers expect under a 5% change while only 3% expect no impact whatsoever. Strikingly, almost 19% of carriers have still not determined the full impact of these new regulations. Click here to read the full article.

July 23, 2013 - Three-Quarters of Carriers Expecting Lower Utilization

TheTrucker.com reports that, with new hours of service regulations, in effect on July 1st, approximately 75% of carriers are expecting utilization to lower. The way shippers work to minimize the impact of these changes will also affect this tightening capacity.

“This potential reduction in truck capacity is hitting at the same time as spot rates are climbing, reflecting a stronger demand in June. Rates will likely increase further in the months ahead,” noted Richard Mikes, TCP Partner.

Full article here.

July 22, 2013 - Current State of the Truckload Industry

A recent conference call hosted by Stifel featured Transport Capital Partners Managing Partner, Dr. Richard Mikes. In the call, Mikes suggests that fairly flat demand and supply point to an upcoming capacity shortfall in the truckload industry. Furthermore, tightening supply and demand is increasing the potential for future rate increases. To read the full transcript, click here.

July 9, 2013 - Outlook Hopeful for the Transportation Industry

Powers & Stinson reports that TCP’s most recent Business Expectations Survey reflects a growing optimism among those in the transportation industry. More carriers now expect volumes to remain steady, or even grow, ending a 3-year trend of negative volume growth expectations. Additionally, a large majority of carriers are anticipating rates to increase over the next 12 months. Read the full post.

July 8, 2013 - Optimism Growing for Future Rate and Volume Increases

There is an increasingly positive outlook for volume and rate growth in the industry. Both TheTrucker.com and TruckingInfo.com recently shared encouraging data from TCP’s 2nd quarter industry survey.  The survey indicated that eighty percent of all carriers have seen rates hold steady over the past quarter. Furthering optimism, seventy-three percent of carriers are expecting rates to increase over the next year.

“Even with modest improvement in freight demand, carriers are anticipating much-needed higher rates from customers,” says Steven Dutro, TCP partner.

TheTrucker.com full article.

TruckingInfo.com full article.

July 8, 2013 - Three-Year Trend of Lowered Volume Expectations Ends

Today’s Trucking references data from the 2nd quarter TCP Business Expectations Survey to suggest a more positive direction for the industry. In this survey, half of all carriers reported that they expect volumes to increase. These results finally break a three-year trend of lowered second quarter outlooks. Read the full article here.

June 25, 2013 - Richard Mikes Comments on the State of the Trucking Industry in IMTA Quarterly

TCP managing partner Richard Mikes contributed an article to the most recent issue of the Iowa Motor Truck Association‘s quarterly Lifeliner Magazine. In the article, Mikes highlights data from last quarter’s TCP Business Expectations Survey showing increasing, if hesitant, optimism for volume and rate expectations in the industry. Trucking is warming up, but at what pace? For more, click here to download a .pdf of the full article.