John’s Blog

9-22-08

Dear Friends,

As the financial markets continue their restructuring, we are seeing the leading economic indicators falling.  If we are not in a recession then it would appear that we are heading that way.

Congress is acting very quickly in response to the request of the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to free up $700 Billion to purchase the mortgage backed assets from troubled lenders.  A fight will happen this week as many in Congress want relief for Main Street in addition to those on Wall Street. The total bill could be a Trillion Dollars of new spending.

The cry is coming from the Fed that this relief is needed immediately to make sure that Money Market, 401K and Pension funds remain solvent.  The problem is so deep that there is little time for congressional debate so it will be interesting this week to see if a clean bill can make its way through the House and Senate without too many attachments.

If we can believe what we are being told, failure to act could turn our economy into another great depression.  Let’s pray our leadership in Congress can set aside their partisanship and do what is needed to get this done.

International Freight is slowing as the economy weakens around the globe.  Container and rail loadings continue to lag.

Domestically we are seeing a continuing slowdown in freight affecting the truckload carriers who are helped by the lower cost of diesel fuel but offset by a softening in the available freight to haul.

Are you looking at restructuring your supply chain in 2009? At Wagner we have the organizational and distribution center capacity to meet your needs.   We are also looking to add to our network of distribution centers by partnering with customers interested in working with us to enter new markets or expand in current locations.

Have a great week,

John Wagner Jr.