COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After a few months of promising sales improvements, equipment buying is expected to take another dip to close out the year, according to CK Commercial Vehicle Research's fourth quarter Fleet Sentiment Report.

Orders are expected to drop in the next three months, despite higher readings in the last few quarters. The Fleet Equipment Buying Index fell 23 percent from the previous quarter, a reflection of the low numbers of respondents with plans to place orders for new trailers. 

The research returned the smallest percentage of fleets with plans to buy trailers in the fourth quarter than any other period in the six years CKCVR has collected the data.

Only twenty-one percent of those surveyed have plans to purchase trailers in the next three months, according to the report, while 46 percent plan to place orders for power units, slightly lower than the four-quarter moving average.

"One positive sign for power unit equipment demand is the fact that the largest fleets in our group are planning to place orders in the next three months; this should make a difference," the report said.

Of those who will purchase power units, one in five of the fleets are doing so to add capacity, while others were planning orders for replacement only.

One-third of the planned orders involve pre-2010 emissions equipment, but many fleets would like to avoid 2010 technology until more is known, CKCVR said.

According to the report, "those 'planned orders' are somewhat tenuous and will only solidify if the economy can continue to improve."