Amid increasing signs that recovery in the freight markets will be slow, FTR Associates has reduced its projection for 2010 North American production of Class 8 trucks by 12%. The reduction comes even as the market continues to stabilize and the outlook for 2009 remains unchanged.
"It will take a substantial improvement in freight demand to soak up the current significant fleet equipment surplus,” says Eric Starks, president of FTR. “At the moment, demand for truck freight transport is still declining and is projected to bottom out in the fourth quarter. In our view improvement sufficient to drive new equipment purchases will not occur until 2011".
This information is contained in the July Flash Report, distributed to subscribers as part of FTR's North American Commercial Truck & Trailer Outlook service. Contact Helen Lile at [email protected] or 1-888-988-1699 ext 45 for more details.