MOSSVILLE, Ill. — FCC Equipment Financing, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Financial Services, recently released a comprehensive report designed to provide a compilation of viewpoints on the current status of the trucking industry and future forecasts, along with customer insights.

The report, titled “North American On-Highway Market Issues: Current Status and Future Outlook,” provides overviews of the North American truck market broken out by heavy duty and mid-range sectors, along with an On-Highway finance market overview.

While numerous industry resources were consulted in the development of this report, a fleet customer survey designed to track industry trends and growth factors and how they impact the acquisition of class 6-8 vehicles provided key information.

“In addition to extensive non-captive end user financing experience, we have specialists that are focused entirely on the transportation industry. This enables us to provide an unequaled level of customer service,” said Lee Kermode, national sales manager for fleet financing with FCC. “We aren’t just a funding source-we act as advocates on behalf of our customers, managing risk while ensuring our financing package meets their individual needs. Our dedicated resources in this market and the considerable assets made available by Cat Financial give us the flexibility to meet a fleet’s requirements.”

Highlights of this survey include the following:

More than 95 per cent said business will be as good or better in 2006 than 2005.
More than 50 per cent said the volume of freight they planned to haul increased in 2005 over 2004.
81 per cent indicated their capital budgets would be the same or better, with more than 25 per cent saying new equipment budgets will increase for 2006.
75 per cent expect truck pricing to increase in 2006 versus 2005, with 25 per cent saying the increase would be significant.
62 per cent said trailer pricing would increase in 2006 versus 2005, but only
12 per cent thought the increase would be significant.
82 per cent of fleets surveyed stated they are implementing fuel surcharges to offset the rising cost of diesel fuel.
Fleets indicated that the most important cost factors impacting their businesses were fuel costs (64 per cent) and driver costs (23 per cent).