For most of the past year, we have been writing about how the pent up demand for trucking services due to the coronavirus pandemic has caused the trucking industry to rebound with terms such as “on fire” and “skyrocket on top of a skyrocket”. Frankly, we are running out of terms to describe how well the trucking industry is performing right now. Exploding? Volcanic?
Numbers
The fine folks at ACT Research say that the new truck sales for the month totalled at 40,000 units. This is a decrease from February of around 10%, but there are two facts that support the case for the trucking industry being ablaze:
- This is the sixth month in a row where sales were at or above 40,000.
- The year-over-year increase from March 2020, where lockdowns were enacted nationwide, was 424 percent. Purchases more than quintupled.
Steve Tam, vice president of the ACT, says the increased demand is thanks to the American Rescue Plan. “Fanning the flames of an already robust economy, $1.9 trillion in additional stimulus has started filtering its way into consumers’ pocketbooks.” He also says that the proposed American Jobs Plan, should it become law, will also add fuel to the fire.
Conclusion
Freight Transportation Research (FTR) has said that the past few months’ intense sales will eventually stop when face to face with a supply chain shortage caused by shutdowns from COVID-19. Whether or not the 10% decrease from February can be attributed to this is yet to be seen.
If what FTR says is true, now is the time to purchase or lease a truck to add to the fleet, not later when production is stalled due to a lack of components!
