by Rebecca Walker — December 19, 2008—Managers of the nation’s fleets of construction equipment and trucks rated 2008 as an “off” business year and forecast more of the same for 2009, according to Construction Equipment‘s Annual Report and Forecast. The report is available online.
Contractor work volume declined in 2008 compared to 2007, according to 45 percent of fleet managers, and increased for only 26 percent. Business forecasts for 2009 are split between 30 percent calling for increases in contract volume over 2008 and 29 percent calling for further decline. Fleet size, again compared to the previous year and measured in terms of number of machines in the fleet, increased for 27 percent and decreased for 14 percent. Fleet size in 2009 will remain the same size as 2008, according to 72 percent of managers.
“The crushing credit crunch and what we now know was the start of a recession slowed or stopped construction projects across the country and left equipment managers staring into 2009 wondering just what the year would bring,” said Rod Sutton, editor in chief of Construction Equipment and constructionequipment.com. “There’s no doubt construction equipment users were aware of these problems, as these results show.”
Also included in the report is economic analysis of the construction industry, including forecasts for 2009 major economic indicators such as residential housing starts, nonresidential construction spending, interest rates, and gross domestic product (GDP).
For more information, see the Web site of Reed Business Information.
