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John’s Blog
2-16-09
Dear Friends,
As everyone knows by now the economic stimulus package was passed. Nothing here to help consumers start buying again unless you consider and extra 8 or 9 bucks a week per worker stimulus. One quarter of the bill is for tax reduction and the remainder is spending. The bill totals $787 Billion.
On the campaign trail this was largely sold as infrastructure improvements. The sad fact is that only 17% of the spending portion of the bill will repair our roads and bridges.
Only 11% of all spending will be spent in 2009. I just don’t get it.
Why is the government putting us all deeper in debt to create 3.5 million jobs at a cost of $229,000 per job? Because they feel they have to do something. This exercise in legislation shows what happens when one jams a bill through in record time.
While the government is doing their best flailing away at this problem the transportation industry is rapidly shrinking and losing incredible sums of money.
The Class 1 Railroads continue to make some money even though their ton miles declined 15.1% year over year. A 17.1% decline in carloads and a 13.8% drop in intermodal units.
The United States Post Office lost $384 million its first fiscal quarter. Piece mail volume dropped 5.2 Billion units. This represents a 9.3% decline over 8 straight quarters.
At Wagner we are remaining very aggressive in each of our service and location markets. Should you have a business challenge feel free to contact me. With 60+ years of operation Wagner has weathered many economic downturns and we are happy to put our experience to work for you.
Wagner’s facilities have the capacity to take on more business so please keep us in mind.
Keep a positive attitude and have a great week!
John
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