You’ve probably been hearing for months how the construction industry has a bright future, filled with high business demand and an increase in jobs. So is 2018 going to be the peak of success for dealerships around the country? An article from Equipment World seems to think so!

The piece evaluates a Wells Fargo Equipment Finance Forecast in great detail to see how both distributors and contractors are feeling about the year ahead. For the Wells Fargo’s survey, they gauged the attitude of 312 construction industry executives within 44 states that have been in the industry for five years or more.

Here are some key highlights from the survey:

• Contractors and equipment distributors anticipate increases for BOTH residential and nonresidential construction activity for the latter half of 2018
• Executives are more optimistic about nonresidential construction activity than they have been since the 21st Century
• 61% of respondents expect an increase in profitability
• Based on what rental business executives reported, there’s going to be an increase in the size of the rental fleets as they continue to rent more to contractors
• 73% of contractors said that the most likely scenario in the next two years is expansion, while those who said that the current level of activity will remain static increased to 19%

Here are some charts that wrap up both contractors and distributors feelings about the industry:

Takeaways

So what are the key takeaways from this survey?

Net Profits: The industry as a whole feels more positive about net profits. In fact, 92% of respondents said their net profits will either remain the same or increase compared to 2017.

Equipment Sales: Distributors, in particular, feel optimistic about the market and anticipate seeing increases in both new and used equipment sales.

Equipment Rentals: Distributors, rental companies, and end users all agree that 2018 will be a solid year for equipment rentals.

Labor: Even though there is high optimism, executives still acknowledge that labor is the number one concern among the industry not only for the year ahead, but future years as well.