A jump of 11-12% in freight rates in the last five months has led to a better fleet utilisation since December 2013, when it hit an-time low of 60%, indicating a recovery could be in the offing. With a strong government at the Centre, analysts and industry experts predict the worst may now be over and commercial vehicle industry is likely to see an upswing in FY15.
?Fleet utilisation is now back to 80-85% levels on the back of demand coming in from many routes along with freight rates moving up as well,? said Gagandeep S Klaire, director, marketing, Majha Transport. He also said that the industrial production is expected to move up in three month after which the buying trends will re-emerge.
Industry experts are betting the new government’s focus on infrastructure development and policies that will improve GDP growth as the reason for the likely recovery in the industry. ?It can be said the worst may be over and FY13 and FY14 were years of adjustment, when the country?s on-road truck capacity grew slower than GDP as fleet operators tried to align their capacities,? said Sanket Maheshwari, analyst, auto, ICICI Securities.