Survey: Fleets Check Fuel Economy as Top Truck Purchasing Consideration

In February, Convoy surveyed over 474 small and mid-sized trucking companies across the United States to collect a snapshot of sustainability in trucking. Convoy’s Sustainability and Trucking report found that most carriers consider fuel economy a top consideration when purchasing a new truck, and less than half feel a pressure to reduce carbon emissions.

According to the survey, 50% of carriers plan to buy a new truck in the next year, up from 33% who reported the same in Convoy’s November 2020 survey.

Of those that indicated they are considering purchasing a truck within the next year, 94% said fuel economy was an important purchasing consideration.

The top barriers of carriers considering purchasing an electric truck was expense (58%), distance limitations (37%) and lack of charging infrastructure (34%).

About 36% of carries indicated that they feel pressured to reduce carbon emissions in their business. Those carries indicated that the top source of pressure to reduce emissions came from government regulations (22%) and more of awareness of the impact carbon emissions (21%).

Furthermore, 45% of survey respondents indicated that stricter environment laws and regulations hurt the economy, and 40% of respondents notes that they are not worth the cost.

Survey participants included owner-operators (58%) and fleet dispatchers. About 84% of respondents have fewer than five trucks in their fleet.