Tank & Refrigeration Trucking

BARRIERS TO ENTRY
High barriers to entry mean that new companies struggle to enter an industry, while low barriers mean it is easy for new companies to enter an industry.

CAPITAL INTENSITY
Compares the amount of money spent on capital (plant, machinery and equipment) with that spent on labor.
IBISWorld uses the ratio of depreciation to wages as a proxy for capital intensity. High capital intensity is more than $0.333 of capital to $1 of labor; medium is $0.125 to $0.333 of capital to $1 of labor; low is less than $0.125 of capital for every $1 of labor.

CONSTANT PRICES
The dollar figures in the Key Statistics table, including forecasts, are adjusted for inflation using the current year (i.e. year published) as the base year. This removes the impact of changes in the purchasing power of the dollar, leaving only the "real" growth or decline in industry metrics. The inflation adjustments in IBISWorld’s reports are made using the US Bureau of Economic Analysis’ implicit GDP price deflator.

DOMESTIC DEMAND
Spending on industry goods and services within the United States, regardless of their country of origin. It is derived by adding imports to industry revenue, and then subtracting exports.

JUST-IN-TIME
A strategy to improve profitability by reducing inventory and purchasing the raw materials that are needed for the immediate term only.

NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA)
A duty-free agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc across North America.

REEFER
Industry term used to describe any climate-controlled shipping container.

TRUCKLOAD
Any shipment that weighs more than 10,000 pounds.

Crude oil prices crashed to all-time lows in 2020 as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic swept across the globe. The pandemic drastically reduced manufacturing, industrial production and retail activities. Private investment and consumer spending fell. Consequently, industry revenue dropped 6.6% in 2020. Nevertheless, revenue is estimated to expand at an annualized rate of 2.8% to $55.3 billion over the five years to 2022, largely due to strong revenue performances in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, the industry benefited from a surge in demand from manufacturing, retail products, construction and transportation as the US economy recovered very quickly from a pandemic-induced recession. High demand for these products continued into 2022. Most significantly, the world price of crude oil spiked dramatically in the past two years. It rose 67.3% in 2021 and is expected to increase 54.7% in 2022. Industry operators were able to pass these exorbitant prices on to consumers, which contributed to large increases in revenue and profit in 2021 and 2022. Consequently, industry revenue is expected to increase 9.1% in 2022.