TT Private 100: Corporate-Owned Fleet Expansion Is Curtailed by Economic Downturn and Excess Capacity
This story appears in the Aug. 3 print edition of Transport Topics.
The U.S. economic downturn and the resultant oversupply of for-hire hauling capacity curtailed the growth of many corporate-owned truck fleets during the past year.
Companies with products tied to manufacturing and home building were hit especially hard, based on interviews with fleet operators for the 2009 Transport Topics Private 100 list of the largest carriers in the United States and Canada.
While a group of 18 large petroleum, chemical and industrial gas fleets increased their tractor count by 4.9%, and beverage fleets added 0.9% more power units, companies in other sectors — food service and grocery, wholesale and retail distribution, and agriculture and food processing — saw a collective decline in tractor counts.
The recession wasn’t the only factor behind the retrenchment.
Some fleets, such as U.S. Foodservice and Wal-Mart Transportation, pressured by their corporate owners to meet environmental sustainability goals, found that if they packed more cargo on their trucks and designed more efficient delivery routes, they could cut fuel and emissions while reducing the number of vehicles needed.
The economic slowdown “gave us an opportunity to look at what we were doing,” said Bernie Cassetori, vice president of fleet management for U.S. Foodservice. “When business is growing, you’re reacting to growth instead of analyzing how to do business.”
The size of Wal-Mart’s fleet, which ranks No. 3 with 6,751 tractors, is actually smaller than a year ago and, while the company is planning to step up purchases of new tractors in the next 12 months, officials said the overall size of the fleet is not expected to change much.
Overall, private fleet managers are taking a cautious approach to buying new power units.
Concern about new diesel-engine emission regulations that take effect in January are promoting some companies to hold on to their power equipment longer than usual.
A survey of 60 fleet managers show that 46 companies plan to buy 5,202 tractors in the next 12 months, compared with 5,603 tractors they actually purchased in the prior 12 months, a decline of 7.2%.
On the other hand, the same group plans to buy 4,574 trailers in the coming year, compared with 3,534 trailers in the previous 12 months, an increase of nearly 30%.
To read about these and other developments, see the Transport Topics Top 100 Private Carriers section, which is included in this edition after p. 18.
Editor’s Note: The 2009 Transport Topics 100 listing of private carriers will be posted online at a later date.
