John’s Blog

4-19-10

Dear Friends,

While volcano ash wrecks havoc on the air cargo and passenger air flights in Europe, let’s look at what’s up in the US. There is plenty of news.

Consumer confidence took a hit falling to its lowest level in five months as reported by the Reuters – University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index. The 69.5 April reading was far below the expected reading of 75 or the previous month’s reading of 73.6.

What makes this a little strange is despite falling consumer confidence, retail sales made their fourth consecutive gain with furniture, apparel, and home goods. The National Retail Federation (who excludes autos, gas stations and restaurants) said retail sales increased 0.9% over February sales and 5.7% year over year. This is further verified in the NRF’s Global Port Tracker saying that February marked the 3^rd straight month of year over year increases in import containers. This is forecast to continue throughout the year.

The Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) as reported by the Conference Board, increased by 1.4% in March which was the most in 10 months. This follows a 0.4% increase in February and higher than forecast by economists who had predicted a 1.1% increase.

The Commerce Department reports that wholesale inventories rose 0.6% in February following a miniscule 0.1% in January. It appears that the new “normal” is for lean inventories as manufacturers and retailers keep inventory levels low.

Railroads saw a gain in freight carloadings but still below their peak year in 2006. Intermodal traffic was up 12.1% in March as the AAR reports that 16 of 18 freight categories showed improvement.

The spot truckload market climbed 259% from March a year ago as truckload capacity tightens according to the TransCore North American Freight Index. This marks the sixth straight month of increased activity.

At Wagner we are seeing companies reach out for help as they are unable to move all of their loads with their core carrier group. Wagner’s Logistics Group is reacting daily to calls seeking help.

If you have any challenges with transportation or distribution center activities please don’t hesitate to give us a call. We have capacity in our distribution center network and would be happy to talk about any client stocking programs you may need help with.

Wagner has the people, technology and facilities to develop a solution.

Have a great week,

John