|
John’s Blog
10-13-10
Dear Friends,
Retail sales appear to have rebounded
in September with higher sales reported. The fact that
back-to-school sales are up bodes well for the holiday shopping
season which should keep transportation companies busy through year
end.
A survey by Thompson Reuters said that
77% of the retailers surveyed said September sales met or beat
expectations. Apparel is doing very well.
The National Retail Federation is
forecasting a 2.3% improvement in November & December sales over
2009 which is close to the 2.5% average annual growth rate.
The US Labor Department reported that
private payrolls added 64,000 jobs and overall non-farm jobs fell by
95,000 keeping the unemployment rate at 9.6%. The loss of government
jobs drove the loss.
Fifteen months after the technical end
of the recession the US labor market is still slow and the jobless
rate has been above 9% since May 2009 for a new quarter century
record.
On a positive note average hourly
earnings increased $0.01 per hour and the average work week is
unchanged at 34.2 hours in September.
Intermodal traffic continues to be at a
high water mark with the AAR reporting that loadings were up 16.5%
year over year in the week ending October 2nd. When
compared to 2008 traffic the week’s volume is down 1.9%.
Longbow Research reports that truckload
demand continues to rise but it is still below its June peak.
Capacity is “very tight” on the West Coast and “relatively
tight” throughout the West Coast and Mountain regions. Capacity is
also listed as “tight” in the Northeast “loosening up” in the
Southeast and Southwest following the growing season.
Year over year the Longbow truckload
index is up 52.7% and has slipped 34.1% since mid-June.
New orders for heavy trucks (class 8)
increased 21.6% in September from August according to FTR Associates.
Carriers are beginning to replace equipment but many fleets are
waiting to see if the recovery is sustainable before replacing
trucks.
At Wagner we continue to see companies
who had consolidated into company facilities begin to overflow once
again. Our holiday driven business is above last years numbers and
we are seeing an active pipeline of opportunities.
If you are planning to expand your
distribution center network in 2011 we would be pleased to have a
conversation. Wagner specializes in distribution center management,
fulfillment and transportation services with a seasoned team of
professionals helped by world class technology.
What may we do for you?
Have a great week!
John Wagner Jr
|
