This Editorial appears in the March. 18 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today. March is almost always an exciting time in the trucking industry, and this year it’s particularly true, with four of the industry’s top trade shows each displaying those tantalizing first glimpses of renewed growth.
Kicking off the month was the Truckload Carriers Association annual meeting, where carriers talked about improvement in freight demand, with its corresponding driver shortage.
In fact, fleet executives said that while their costs have increased faster than revenue, the capacity constraint traceable to empty truck seats will lead to higher rates as carriers catch up after a long string of lean years.
TCA’s gathering was followed by the Work Truck Show, where NTEA put a spotlight on the vehicles and equipment that contractors, utility companies and all manner of services and trades rely on to get their jobs done.
NTEA said it was its largest-ever event, with exhibitors reporting a healthy buzz as the improving economy starts to generate new business for construction and service trades.
Next was the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association’s Heavy Duty Dialogue session, with the annual meeting of American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council on its heels.
Some of the trucking industry’s leading executives participated in the dialogue, each of them exuding confidence about their companies and the growing health of the trucking industry.
Typical were remarks by Dick Giromini, CEO of trailer manufacturer Wabash National Corp., who said the trailer-building industry is looking forward to several years of growth as carriers replace their aging equipment, adding to natural growth from economic expansion. Even if the economy simply limps along at a 1.5% to 2% annual growth rate, pent-up demand will continue to drive trailer sales.
Strong stuff, strong enough to drive attendance at another of the industry’s premier events, TMC’s annual meeting, which drew total attendance of more than 3,200, the most since 2000.
Capping off the month is the Mid-America Trucking Show, at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, which this year will see more than 1,000 exhibitors filling the exhibit hall’s 1.2 million square feet.
All in all, this busy month offers a plethora of new and improved products, reflecting the inventiveness and optimism of American business.
While expressions of caution could be heard at all of the shows, signs are growing that the recession’s worst is behind us, keynoted by a sustained stock market rally that took the Dow Jones industrial average into uncharted territory last week.
Here’s hoping the good news continues.
