SURVEY * USA - Industry looking up, truckers tell surveyors

Transport Capital Partners: Truckers expressed a more hopeful outlook on the future of the economy

Nashville,TENN,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -11 June 2009: -- In its quarterly Business Expectations survey, TCP found that carriers expects conditions such as freight volumes, rate stability, insurance renewals, credit and mergers and acquisitions to improve in the next 12 months... In general, 36.9 percent of participants anticipate business volumes to pick up in the next year, compared to 21.4 percent in February and 17 percent in November of last year... Three out of four firms noted that improving fuel economy by limiting truck speed was their first priority in boosting profit. Reducing the number of non-driving employees was another effective step to increasing profit, with six out of ten implementing this. Other popular methods included reducing driver pay and benefits, reducing non-driver pay and benefits, parking trucks and selling off truck capacity... (More truckers are feeling that the sun is starting to shine on the industry)