Transportation Pushes Factory Orders to 1.2% Increase

Orders for transportation equipment drove new orders placed with U.S. factories, as measured by the Commerce Department, to a 1.2% increase in December, with analysts predicting more increases in the months to come, Bloomberg reported.

Commercial trucking depends on factory orders and commercial spending for much of its business; therefore increased factory orders are good news for trucking.

The Commerce Department said that new orders increased to $322.2 billion, or 1.2%, in December following a revised 4.3% drop in November. If transportation equipment is excluded from the figures, orders rose only 0.8% -- up from a revised –0.9% in November.

Also fueling the December increase was an 11.3 increase in capital goods ordered for defense purposes.

Bloomberg said the largest-ever quarterly reduction in inventories is likely to lead to factories turning out more goods, citing analysts’ reports that inventories are down to levels that cannot be cut anymore.

For the full year, factory orders fell a total of 8.5% in 2001, making it, according to the Commerce Department, the worst year for the statistic since the government began keeping comparable figures in 1992.

Commercial trucking depends on factory orders and commercial spending for much of its business; therefore increased factory orders are good news for trucking.

The Commerce Department said that new orders increased to $322.2 billion, or 1.2%, in December following a revised 4.3% drop in November. If transportation equipment is excluded from the figures, orders rose only 0.8% -- up from a revised –0.9% in November.

Also fueling the December increase was an 11.3 increase in capital goods ordered for defense purposes.

Bloomberg said the largest-ever quarterly reduction in inventories is likely to lead to factories turning out more goods, citing analysts’ reports that inventories are down to levels that cannot be cut anymore.

For the full year, factory orders fell a total of 8.5% in 2001, making it, according to the Commerce Department, the worst year for the statistic since the government began keeping comparable figures in 1992.

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