Seventy percent of all goods shipped in the United States are moved by truck. As a result, the health of the trucking industry, with annual revenues of $650 billion, or 4.4% of the U.S. GDP, is one of the leading domestic economic indicators. GE Capital has been helping finance the industry for the past 35 years. Because of its relationships with manufacturers, dealers, and trucking companies, it stands in a good place to judge the health of this crucial industry.
This fall, GE Capital released its U.S. Mid-Market CFO Survey, which polled chief financial officers across seven different industries, including trucking companies.
The data are encouraging, despite concerns about costs and regulations. Transportation CFOs are less optimistic about the U.S. economy and the global economy, but they’re relatively upbeat when it comes to the state of their own industry. They expect both revenues and profit margins to rise. At the same time, they expect their costs to increase as well, with energy expenditures their number one concern.
See our graphic below for more from the survey.
