John’s Blog

3-22-10

Dear Friends,

The economy continues to inch ahead with small incremental improvement as evidenced by the 0.1% improvement in the Leading Economic Indicator index released by the Conference Board. This is the smallest gain in a year but marks 11 straight months of improvement.

The Philadelphia Factory Index grew in March at a fast pace to a reading of 18.9 from 17.6 in February according to the Federal Reserve in that district tracking 100 manufacturers. This is the 6^th straight month of growth in this index. Any reading greater than zero indicates growth.

The Consumer Price Index did not move much in February with a 0.1% reading when excluding food and energy. The reason we pay attention to this is it is a broad measure of consumer demand which would indicate a growing logistics need.

The AAR said US intermodal traffic grew 15.1% last week year over year with 203,626 units handled. Container traffic went up 19.4% while trailers dropped 3.8%.

The numbers are in on the LTL industries performance in 2009 showing an overall reduction of $25.2 billion or 24.4% of revenue. Individual carriers ranged from 10% (New England Motor Freight) loss of revenue to 47% (Central Freight Lines). YRC lost 41%.

At Wagner we continue to work with clients to improve service while being as efficient as possible. Wagner’s RedPrairie systems are being implemented in our new Cleveland OH area facility as we gear up to open our doors in Aurora OH.

Wagner is also gaining transportation business as the trucking market continues to tighten up. Should you experience a problem lane reach out to Wagner and let us see if we may help.

All the best,

John