The recent Second Quarter Business Expectations Survey by Transport Capital Partners found the carriers' responses were essentially unchanged for the last four quarters on capacity plans.


"The industry's desire to add capacity remains conservative, as most new orders are for replacements," said Richard Mikes, TCP partner and survey founder.

TCP expects the second half of 2011 to likely show a greater capacity gap as freight volumes expand and carriers remain conservative on additions. Larger carriers (over $25 million in revenue) are more conservative, with 32 percent not adding any capacity, compared to 24 percent reported by smaller carriers. Thirty-nine percent of carriers intend to add some capacity with one quarter acquiring contractors.

When carriers were asked if they had been able to find reasonable credit, over 80 percent indicated they had.

"This indicates that the credit constraint issue is behind most truckers compared to the first quarter of 2009 when only half the carriers reported reasonable credit," said Mikes.