New truck vehicle registrations show increase in January

Many experts say that individuals can get a good look at the American economy just by seeing how the trucking industry is performing. New commercial vehicle registrations for Class 3-8 trucks increased by nearly 12 percent in January, Trucking Info reports.

Polk Automotive Information and Marketing Solutions recently announced that nearly 32,175 new vehicle registrations were computed for Class 3-8 trucks in the first month of 2011, which is almost an 1 percent increase from December 2010. Furthermore, U.S. retail sales have shown a significantly higher year-over year increase.

Experts say that retail sales and new truck registrations often increase during December, January, February and April. This is a result of the difference between reporting of a retail sale by the dealer and the actual registration of that vehicle. However, Class 3 were the strongest performer, with new registrations at 12,625 units in January, which is a 57 percent increase over last year's numbers.

Fleet managers may wish to enroll their operators in online truck driving regulation training courses to educate them on developing trends that affect their industry.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job opportunities in transportation and material moving occupations are expected to increase by nearly 13 percent over the next seven years, which equates to more than 1,400 available jobs.

By Mark Priest

New truck vehicle registrations show increase in January

Monday, March 28th, 2011