December 8, 2008

Dear Friends,

As we move deeper into the holiday season the freight Grinch continues to steal away the seasonal business. 

In order to cope, YRC has reopened the National Master Freight Agreement to renegotiate the wages the Teamsters receive.  A 10% reduction in the hourly wage was received and the benefits were untouched.  In return for these concessions the Teamsters will receive a 15% stake in the company.

ABF, the only other remaining Teamsters LTL carrier in the NMFA has now stepped up and asked for the same reduction in order to maintain their competitive playing field.

While these Teamster carriers are struggling, FedEx has announced a general rate increase of 5.7% to be implemented in January.

Helping all carriers, diesel fuel prices continued to slide last week, with the U.S. average falling 4.9 cents to $2.615 a gallon, according to the Department of Energy.

Not enough of a help to save struggling truckload carrier Continental Express who was acquired by Celadon Group Inc.

At Wagner we are gearing up for a good 2009.  Continued deployment of our Red Prairie DLX suite of warehouse management systems is coming.  Further deployment of systems is also scheduled in our transportation operations.

While Wagner is largely known for its distribution warehousing services, we will have handled almost 30,000 shipments in 2008 through our Transportation Logistics Group.

What can we do for you in 2009?

Have a great week,

John Wagner Jr