Results are in from polling that got going a week ago with Part 1 of my Year in Review: four in ten operators are staring down a year that they expect to be categorically better than the previous one, from a business perspective. Optimism could well be expected, given the above-average rate picture this year, the late downturn in diesel prices and the late-year regulatory victory that was the rollback of the restart restrictions introduced in 2013, as noted one commenter under the poll here at OverdriveOnline.com: “The rollback of the reset rules and lower fuel prices made it better already.”
Owner-operators’ business forecast for 2015
At the same time, comparing the results to those of a similar poll conducted over the period heading into 2014 a year ago, it’s easy to see that uncertainty is up among readers, with a quarter of poll respondents declining to forecast the coming year — only just slightly more than one in ten did the same last year.
Nonetheless, as owner-operator Michael Wright had it, “The company I am leased to is expanding slowly and bringing in some good people that have proven track records. My average per-loaded-mile rate has been steadily going up, and I expect a good Winter and Spring. The rest of the year, we shall see… Anything can happen, but so far, I am optimistic.”
What do you think?
