Biz Brief’s 2016 Predictions for the Truckstop Industry

It is time, once again, for the Nostradamus of nozzles to take some scintillating stabs at what 2016 and beyond might hold for our travel center industry. (For a walk down memory lane, see what the cystal ball held in 2015 and 2014.) First, the easy ones. States will keep up the steady drumbeat of tolling as they search for ways to fund infrastructure projects absent an increase in federal gasoline taxes. And speaking of taxes, many states will follow the lead of a dozen or more of their fellow taxing authorities in 2015 and raise motor fuel taxes in 2016. Little chance of that happening on a federal level, however.
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It is time, once again, for the Nostradamus of nozzles to take some scintillating stabs at what 2016 and beyond might hold for our travel center industry. (For a walk down memory lane, see what the cystal ball held in 2015 and 2014.)

First, the easy ones. States will keep up the steady drumbeat of tolling as they search for ways to fund infrastructure projects absent an increase in federal gasoline taxes.  And speaking of taxes, many states will follow the lead of a dozen or more of their fellow taxing authorities in 2015 and raise motor fuel taxes in 2016. Little chance of that happening on a federal level, however.  

Expect another major credit card security breach at one or more chain retailers as the transition continues to the new EMV card technology. As retailers now shoulder more of the liability for the breach if they are not compliant with the rules, these incidents will mean a speedup in the process.

Customer satisfaction, in general, will decline as more retailers push for greater productivity and increasing uses of technology.  

Plan on petroleum demand climbing slightly and exploration and production investments to fall.  Nevertheless, global oil prices will remain muted into 2017 as a result of continuing oversupply.  

Freight shifts will continue in coming years with port traffic moving from the West Coast to the East Coast and market share moving from rail to truck.   

Home construction and automobile sales will continue to increase, driving freight traffic.  

Average driver pay will reach $60K, an all-time high.

On a political note, plan on significantly more national dollars being spent on state legislative races as a means of influencing the congressional redistricting process.  Also, look for millennials to overtake baby boomers as the biggest voting block in the nation.

And, finally, two guaranteed predictions.  First, leaders and companies in the truckstop and travel plaza industry will continue with their exceptional history of philanthropy in 2016.  Additionally, Biz Brief, taking a stretch here, expects to see congressional gridlock in the coming year.

Happy 2016!

 

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