More Equipment Financed in 2011, Survey Says

Equipment financing activity within the trucking industry rose to $4.17 billion in 2011, a 3.5% gain from $4.03 billion in 2010, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association reported.

Bill Choi, ELFA’s vice president of research and industry services, said the truck transportation category includes warehousing and storage businesses.

The group’s 2012 survey found that financing for trucks and trailers, which includes equipment used for general purposes and not freight hauling, rose to $10.55 billion in 2011, up 26% from the $8.37 billion reported a year earlier.

For all industries combined, new equipment financing rose 16.5% during 2011, compared with a 3.9% increase reported in 2010, the survey showed.

It was the second straight year of growth, following a 30.3% drop in 2009 and a 2.2% decline in 2008, ELFA said.

The survey is based on re­sponses from 109 ELFA member companies.