John’s Blog

6-21-10

Dear Friends,

In the news last week the index of leading economic indicators went up 0.4% in May compared to no change in April. The Conference Board reported that this was the 13^th increase from the last 14 months showing that business activity continues its slow crawl in the right direction.

Manufacturing levels seem to be expanding as well in two regions. Philadelphia and New York reported gains according to the Federal Reserve. The Fed also reported that Industrial production overall rose 1.2% in May for the biggest gain in nine months.

May industrial capacity used went up to 74.7% from 73.7% in April so it looks like the capacity crunch in truckload should continue. Manufacturing makes up 1/8^th of the US economy so it is a large user of trucks.

Contributing to the fear of a jobless recovery, initial jobless claims rose 12,000 last week according to the Labor Department. Bloomberg reported that economists had predicted claims to drop to 450,000 versus the actual number of 472,000 claims filed.

The Labor Department said that the prices paid to US producers decreased 0.3% in May which includes prices paid to manufacturers, farmers, and other producers. It was the third decrease in the last four months.

Housing starts dropped 10% in May after the home sales tax credit expired.

YRC Worldwide said they would have positive EBITDA in the second quarter so they are limping back from the brink. They still need to get back some of the freight they have lost and deal with their pension issues with the Teamsters before they are officially out of he woods.

TransCore reported the spot market freight available increased 216% over same period in 2009. The May reading was the highest in 10 years.

Intermodal loadings are up as well so it would appear that restocking activities continued in May.

At Wagner we are working on new initiatives to better understand customer needs so we may understand how to better structure our service products. If you have a project in the planning stages don’t hesitate to call. We would love to work with you on any distribution, fulfillment, or transportation projects that add value to your supply chain.

Have a great week!

John Wagner Jr