The past year has been a year unlike any other. In 2020, businesses had to pivot to keep running, especially when it came to their fleets. Essential businesses were seeing unprecedented demand for their goods and services and needed extra capacity to deliver. Other companies had their vehicles sit idle for months and needed to find a solution to improve utilization. And now in 2021, things are changing again. So what does that mean for transportation and returning to pre-pandemic operations?
The first leap forward will be this Spring of 2021. With the season, COOP is anticipating an increase in rental vehicle demand that presents an opportunity for businesses like yours. Adapt to your businesses’ changing transportation needs using our insight into Spring trends. We foresee the next few months being particularly active this year due to COVID-19 pandemic recovery efforts. Our platform is a perfect fit for when fleet flexibility is a priority.
Read on for our Spring 2021 guide to review the changes 2020 had across multiple industries, explore the rental demand trends that we foresee for Spring 2021, and learn how your business can take advantage of the high-demand this season.
Last year challenged the transportation industry and made businesses reevaluate their fleet capacity needs. To get an idea how businesses adapted and solved their problems in 2020, we looked beyond the rental trends:
We anticipate some of these trends will continue to stick around even after things return to normal. This season will see businesses rapidly become fully operational, while both commercial vehicle Renters and Owners can leverage the COOP platform to grow during the bounceback.
So what’s in store for the rest of 2021? Changes like the vaccine rollout, distribution of stimulus checks, and an anticipated travel rebound will play a key role in business returning back to normal. In response to all this, businesses are hiring at record rates and transportation chains across industries are getting reestablished in Spring.
Direct effects of the pandemic response have been felt across industries as consumer confidence rises. Receiving the second set of stimulus checks encouraged many companies to get their operations up to speed, with the expectation that consumers will start to spend more on goods and services. Also the widespread roll out of the vaccines is allowing people to get back into the workplace and move more freely. People are eagerly planning trips away from home which will jumpstart demand from the Tourism industry and the adjacent Business & Personal Services Industry.
Another unique circumstance that will affect the commercial fleets this year is the microchip shortage that is delaying the production of several vehicle types. These microchips power everything from windows to semiconductors and without them the output of major truck manufacturers like Daimler has slowed. Since power vehicles will still be needed despite orders being pushed back, we anticipate a drive toward the rental market. Ownership of trucks, especially newer ones, will prove to be high-demand commodities in the Spring under the growing backlog of truck production.
Spring typically sees the most rental demand outside of the Q4 holiday season. This year, a return to pre-pandemic trends plus the return to normal business operations suggest a peak in this rental demand. Take note of the rental trends in the years leading up to 2021 and what that could mean for Spring 2021’s rental demands.
In Q2 certain vehicles are rented more than others historically. Outside of the significant change of the pandemic, rental demand changes month-to-month based on many factors that span industries and location.
In previous years, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles like trailers and sleeper tractors have made up most of the vehicle rental demand in the Spring. April and May are strong rental demand months for tractors and trailers respectively. Dry trailers and flatbed trailers, driven in-part by the construction industry preparing for infrastructure improvements and housing projects, are great for securing long-term revenue as they average over 22 rental days per transaction. Additionally, refrigerated trailers and reefer trucks make up nearly 1/5th of the share of total rental days in Spring.
The growth of final-mile vehicle demand will continue through 2021 alongside the rising popularity of consumer packaged goods delivery. Dry trucks that do well to maneuver city streets such as box trucks and cargo sprinter vans will see increased rental demand.
Request or rent out vehicles in these high-demand specs with COOP soon, as businesses are competitive about looking to secure long-term rentals to keep the vehicles throughout the summer.
As the economy overcomes the challenges of last year, make sure your business is prepared. Keep the wheels moving and look to leverage COOP as a tool to help positively impact your bottom line.
If you need extra fleet capacity to meet demand, find and reserve the vehicles as early as possible. With COOP, it’s easy to find vehicles where you need them - filter the results easily from the hundreds of vehicles available and rates on vehicles that work for your business. Many businesses will experience spikes in demand that will reflect on the marketplace when renting last-minute, so reserve from a trusted business near you as soon as you can.
If you have commercial vehicles that are sitting idle, make them available on COOP. During this busy time, vehicles can easily be out on the road for months generating revenue for your business. Follow our Owner Best Practices to take full advantage of this season and get the best possible impact on your bottom line, for example:
The combination of a changing transportation industry landscape, the growing coast-to-coast reach of the COOP platform, and the eagerness of businesses to normalize operations will make Spring one of the biggest opportunities of the year for COOP users. Get started using the platform to give your business fleet flexibility and take advantage of this exciting time.
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