Truck Driver Training

Trucking carriers registered 38.7 percent fewer new trucks in the third quarter of this year than they did in 2008, according to the September issue of Polk Commercial Vehicle Solutions' Commercial Vehicle Market Intelligence Report. The report forecasts activity in the trucking industry. This downward trend has been attributed to the poor economy.

Independent truck drivers and truck driving companies are trying to make their trucks last longer to avoid the expense of new vehicles. A truck that would usually be replaced after five or six years is now being repaired so it can stay on the road for another year or two.

The flip side of this news is that used truck sales have skyrocketed due to the same poor economy. Used commercial vehicle registrations for the third quarter were up 46.5 percent from 2008, and used truck activity accounted for 68 percent of commercial vehicle transactions in the third quarter, compared to 49 percent in the same period last year. Truck driving companies and independent truck drivers still need to buy new or newer vehicles. A truck that is only a year or two old is still going to be more efficient than an older truck, it will need fewer and less costly repairs than a new truck, and payments are going to be less than a new truck. It makes sense to upgrade older fleets with newer vehicles rather than buying brand new at this point in the downtrodden economy.

Interestingly and surprisingly, orders for commercial trailers rose 80 percent from September to October, a 124 percent boost from October of last year, according to the latest State of the Industry: U.S. Trailers by ACT Research. Trailers can’t last as long as a truck, so when it comes time for replacement, there isn’t much repair that can be done and new ones are needed. A possible reason there is such a large uptake in the demand for trailers is that truck driving companies had been holding off on the purchase of new trailers and costs may be down due to the hard economic times, making the last few months a great time to buy.

While the increase in both used trucks and trailers has increased, there needs to be a significant increase in new vehicle registrations before the market can return to a more normal level. Do you agree? Do we need new truck sales to increase before the trucking industry & the economy starts to recover?