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John’s Blog
November 17th, 2008
Dear Friends,
If misery loves company the US should feel good. Europe is in recession and China is lagging at the lowest levels they have seen in seven years.
The worldwide economic “brain trust” is trying to figure it all out as the G-20 talks resulted in a warning that more regulation is coming.
Economists are saying we are in the worse part of the recession. More than 2,500 carriers have gone out of business this year and as a result, there is a lot of transportation capacity that has left the market. In addition you have used equipment piling up and prices for equipment have fallen to the lowest levels I have seen.
The American Association of Railroads reported that intermodal traffic for the week fell 6.3%, led by an 11.2% drop in trailer traffic to 48,658 units. Containers fell 4.9% to 179,974 units.
Overall rail traffic fell 8.4% to 314,433 carloads, and AAR estimated total volume at 33.5 billion ton-miles, down 7.2% from the same week last year.
This is a direct reflection of the drop in retail sales. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell 2.8% which is the largest drop on record. This drop exceeded the previous 2.65% drop in November 2001, in the aftermath of 9/11.
At Wagner we are feeling the economic downturn as our clients are affected with reduced sales numbers. Using technology, Wagner is improving labor utilization and taking a hard line on cost control.
We remain committed to helping our valued clients weather the storm so let’s talk about your company’s weak spots and perhaps Wagner can develop a solution.
Have a great week and keep smiling!
John Wagner Jr.
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John's Blog 
