Survey shows van and truck fleet sizes declining Survey shows van and truck fleet sizes declining 14 July 2011

Nearly a quarter of van, truck and company car fleet sizes have continued to fall in the UK post-recession economy, according to a recent survey.

Out of 115 fleets questioned by MIB Data Solutions, 23% said that their fleets were smaller today than at the end of the recession in the autumn of 2009.

This contrasts with 17% of fleets saying that they have grown and 60% that say that their fleet numbers have reminaed unchanged over the same period. The companies questioned covered a wide range with between one and 600 cars, vans and trucks.

Nick Boddington, managing director at MIB Data Solutions, reckons the results show that the recession has continued to take its toll on many UK businesses, long after it had technically ended.

"Certainly, our data indicates that the number of fleets who have reduced in size during the last two years outnumber those who have seen an increase by some margin," says Boddington.

"It suggests that the recession has been having a marked, negative effect on many UK businesses long after it had technically ended and into a period when there was mild economic growth recorded."

And he adds: "It is difficult to draw exact conclusions from this trend but perhaps it suggests that smaller, more nimble companies had already downsized their fleets to the minimum level at the time when the recession ended, while larger organisations were still in the process of making changes to their fleets at that point."

Author
John Challen

This material is protected by MA Business copyright
See Terms and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
For multiple copies contact the sales team.