Kenworth Truck Co remains bullish on the overall construction market, the company said at the annual World of Concrete show in Las Vegas NV recently.
“The construction market's the best thing going right now. It has direction; it's still sizzling,” said Brian Lindgren, Kenworth's vocational market sales director.
Lindgren said the United States Commerce Department reported a 1.2% jump in December 2002 over the prior month in all construction projects — the biggest gain in 10 months. That followed on the heels of a 0.9% gain in November 2002.
Housing starts are continuing strong and interest rates are at a historic low with no end in sight. “When you consider that residential housing represents half of the construction market, that's tremendous news,” Lindgren said. “Another plus is that general road, bridge, and infrastructure spending is expected to be off only slightly from the record high of $45 billion spent in transportation public works in 2002.