Industry Executives Say Trucking Capacity to Grow in 2005

espite efforts by many public truckload carriers to avoid expanding in 2005, overall trucking capacity was poised to grow modestly this year, fleet suppliers, analysts and trucking executives said.

While only a few large fleets said they would add capacity in coming months, small truckload and less-than-truckload carriers continued to buy equipment to accommodate business grabbed from their larger TL counterparts, leading large fleets themselves to expand eventually, industry officials said.

At the same time, some private carriers would build their fleets because of difficulty getting enough trucks from their for-hire partners, officials said.