Analysts Mull Expansion By Smaller Truck Fleets

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rucking analysts have begun to debate whether a fleet-building trend among small truckload carriers might undermine efforts by big carriers to raise freight rates while avoiding major fleet expansions.

A well-known analyst of transportation stocks recently stirred the debate when he said small carriers were already ramping up their fleets, and federal figures also show a rise in new entrants in the trucking industry this year.

But other analysts and industry veterans Transport Topics contacted said the small-carrier expansion would not be enough to push larger fleets off course and that a lack of truckload drivers would limit how many trucks hit the road this year.

Edward Wolfe of Bear, Stearns & Co. said in a trucking capacity report to investors that “smaller carriers appear to be earmarking the majority of their [truck] purchases as additions, while the mid-size and larger carriers are using more of their purchases as replacements and retiring their used trucks.”

For the full story, see the April 12 edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.