Editor’s Note: Make your voice heard in our next survey. How is coronavirus impacting your business? Click here to participate in the survey.
Contractors are seeing deepening impacts as the COVID-19 coronavirus impact spreads throughout the nation, according to an Equipment World survey conducted Mar. 27-Apr. 1.
When asked how their current project backlog has changed due to the coronavirus, 35 percent of contractor respondents told Equipment World that their project backlog had either “decreased” (24 percent) or “decreased significantly” (11 percent). (See chart above.)
On the other hand, another 18 percent of respondents say backlogs had either “increased” (13 percent) or “increased significantly” (9 percent).
“Some jobs have cancelled, other have postponed,” wrote one small excavating contractor respondent. “We have also picked up some new jobs.” Says a roadbuilding contractor: “Prior to the stay-in-place order, the phone was ringing. It has stopped.” And this from another excavating contractor: “Wet conditions are keeping us from working, not the virus.”
(This survey, which had 179 respondents, is the first in a series of surveys that Equipment World and other Randall-Reilly brands are using each week to gauge market sentiment. To participate in the next survey, go here.)
