Analysts Say Pre-buy Is Causing Excess Capacity
New York,NY,USA -Transport Topics, by Howard S. Abramson -May 14, 2007: -- The decline in freight volume this year and the number of heavy-duty trucks purchased last year during the “pre-buy” were both markedly bigger than analysts thought, leading to too many trucks chasing too little business, according to a host of speakers at a transport forum here last week... “Right now, we are in a freight recession,” which has been exacerbated by the fact that “fleets overbought” as many as 110,000 tractors last year, said Eric Starks, president of FTR Associates, a freight forecasting company... But most speakers at the Bear, Stearns & Co. Global Transportation Conference predicted freight levels would rise as 2007 wore on... “There are 120,000 trucks too many right now” on the road, said James Meil, Eaton Corp.’s chief economist. He said about 7% of the U.S. and Canadian fleet is currently underutilized... Most fleet executives said that, despite the drop in freight volume and the excess capacity, rates are not falling. But they acknowledged that rate increases are slowing and that there is push-back from some customers on fuel surcharges... (W J Andy's Public Photo Galery: I-84 round Salt Lake City)
Labels: freight analysis
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