U.S. Logistics and Transport Survey Finds Strong Optimism

The U.S. Logistics and Transportation industry is highly optimistic regarding the U.S. economy and their company prospects over the next three months, according to the most recent quarterly survey by TCompanies.

• 74% are optimistic about the US economy over next three months (unchanged from Q2 2018);
• 80% expect increased revenues (up from previous quarter 75%) and 73% expect increased profitability (up from 67%):
• Inflationary pressure still strong as 56% plan to increase prices in next quarter;
• By 2-to-1 margin, workforce shortage remains bigger obstacles to growth than trade tariffs.

“The survey shows continued strong optimism in the US economy and in the logistics and transportation industry,” said Tom Burke, CEO of TCompanies.  “As with the Q2 2018 survey, there is still concern with inflationary pressures as a majority plan to increase pricing and pass costs on to customers in the next three months.”

US Economy

“With regard to the US economy over the next quarter, would say that you are:”

	Q3 2018	Q2 2018
Optimistic	74.15%	73.71%
Neutral	23.13%	18.29%
Pessimistic	2.72%	8%

Company Hiring

“With regard to hiring at your company in the coming quarter, do you expect that you will:”

	Q3 2018	Q2 2018
Increase	63.51%	64.37%
Stay the same	31.76%	30.46%
Decrease	4.73%	5.17%

Company Revenues

“With regard to revenues at your company over the next quarter, do you expect revenues to:”

	Q3 2018	Q2 2018
Increase	80.41%	74.86%
Stay the same	17.57%	18.86%
Decrease	2.03%	6.29%

Company Profitability

“With regard to profitability at your company over the next quarter, do you expect profitability to:”

	Q3 2018	Q2 2018
Increase	73.65%	67.24%
Stay the same	23.65%	25.29%
Decrease	2.70%	7.47%

Wage Growth

“With regard to your employee wages over the next quarter, do you expect to:”

	Q3 2018	Q2 2018
Increase	47.30%	38.29%
Stay the same	52.03%	57.71%
Decrease	0.68%	4%

 Pricing of goods/services

“With regard to the pricing for your goods or services over the next quarter, do you expect that you will:”

	Q3 2018	Q2 2018
Increase	56.46%	57.71%
Stay the same	40.82%	39.43%
Decrease	2.72%	2.86%

Obstacles to growth

“Over the next quarter, your largest obstacle to growth will be:”

	Q3 2018	Q2 2018
Workforce shortage	46.58%	43.6%
Trade Tariffs	18.49%	17.44%
Regulatory issues	10.96%	18.6%
Wage Costs	8.22%	5.23%
Energy Costs	6.16%	2.33%
Access to credit	5.48%	8.72%
Repair expense	4.11%	4.07%

The survey was conducted during the month of October 2018.

 

 

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