CK Commercial Vehicle Research reports that its Fleet Equipment Buying Index for the second quarter improved to 93.3 from 75.8 in the first quarter.
The index is a simple measure of planned buying behavior of for-hire, private and government fleets over the next three months. A lower reading indicates that fewer fleets are planning to purchase equipment while a higher reading indicates that more are planning to purchase equipment.
CKCVR regularly polls a group of fleet operators about their equipment purchasing and maintenance practices. In April 2009, 48% of respondents planned to place orders for power units in the next three months and 38% planned to place orders for trailers in that time period. In the previous quarter, 44% planned power unit purchases and only 30% planned to buy trailers. While there was an increase in the number of respondents who planned to place equipment orders, the size of those orders remains weak.
Complete survey results are reported in the Q2 2009 Fleet Sentiment Report, a quarterly report of CK Commercial Vehicle Research. For more information on how to subscribe to the Fleet Sentiment Report.