Friday, February 17, 2006

Market balanced, but buyers wary of surcharges and consolidation

Capacity for less-than-truckload (LTL) service is expected to remain balanced going forward but there is increasing concern from buyers and shippers that base rates and fuel surcharges are becoming intertwined, causing an overall cost increase for LTL services.
A recent quarterly survey from market analyst Bear Stearns found 63% of shippers expected LTL capacity to remain steady for the next 12 months, up from 49% the previous quarter. And the percentage of shippers who expect capacity to tighten (23%) is less than half of what it was a year ago (47%) and almost half of what the quarter before (40%) was, a sign that shippers are more comfortable with capacity levels today. Full story here......http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6305324.html?industryid=2150

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