Data from fleet managers responding to the 2018 Mid-year Report indicate that the levels of activity anticipated at the end of 2017 are on track with forecasts made in our Annual Report & Forecast, published in January.
Survey results
Fleets projected a replacement rate slightly higher than 10 percent, on average, and the mid-year rate is right there. Fleet expansion also mirrors projections. At the end of 2017, 40.4 percent of respondents expected to increase the size of the equipment fleets in terms of number of machines. Mid-year, 41.6 percent report that they have indeed increased fleet size.
These activities appear to have directly affected overall fleet condition, to a greater extent than anticipated. Mid-year, 56.4 percent of respondents report fleets in “excellent” or “very good” condition. This is substantially higher than the reports gathered at the end of 2017, with 43.7 percent of respondents falling into these two fleet-health categories.
On the business side, more than half of equipment managers report increased revenue within their organizations. This number, however, falls below projections: 60.2 percent forecast 2018 revenue would increase when asked at the end of 2017. The swing was almost totally to the decreasing-revenue side, with 13.7 percent citing a decrease so far in 2018, compared to only 7.3 percent who said that they expected to see revenue declines.
Construction Equipment sent email invitations to select members of our audience who buy, specify, or influence purchases of equipment. We asked about business and equipment-fleet trends. Results and analysis are provided as a service to the industry through the partnership of Construction Equipment and Case Construction Equipment.
