The Q3 2010 Fleet Sentiment Report (FSR) Equipment Buying Index as reported by CK Commercial Vehicle Research jumped from the previous quarter to 90.2, the best reading in two years. The FSR Buying Index is a simple measure of planned buying behavior of for-hire, private and government fleets.
45.1% of Q3 study participants plan to place orders for medium and heavy power units in the next three months, with 43.1% planning trailer orders in the same time frame. Fleets responding to the survey operate in excess of 40,000 medium and heavy duty power units and 110,000 trailers.
"The number of fleets planning equipment purchases continues to improve quarter to quarter in 2010," notes Chris Kemmer of CKCVR. "In Q3 we again saw reduction in the number of parked vehicles reported, improved stated utilization rates and a closer alignment of available freight to haul and fleet capacity. The one measure which moderates our enthusiasm now is the average size of the planned orders, which fell below the four-quarter moving average for both power units and trailers in Q3."