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John’s Blog
11-8-10
Dear Friends,
With the mid-term elections behind us
there will be changes in the leadership of Congress with James
Oberstar (D-MN) ousted. Rep. Oberstar was the chairman of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a powerful guy in
Washington in control of billions of federal dollars for highway
projects.
Now that the dust has settled it
appears he will be replaced by John Mica (R-FL) who will be
responsible for the reauthorization effort for highway & transit
among other priorities. The $500 billion spending bill will expire
soon so expect the committee to move fast.
The Labor
Department made a couple of announcements last Thursday saying that
US worker productivity improved 1.9% in the third quarter with labor
costs falling at 0.1% rate. The Labor Department also reported that
initial jobless claims increased by 200,000 for the week ending
October 30th for total claims of 457,000. Continuing
claims for the previous week ended Oct. 23 dropped by 42,000 from a
week earlier, to 4.34 million. The US economy added 151,000 jobs in
October as private-sector hiring picked up, but the unemployment rate
remains at 9.6%.
The Institute of Supply Management
reported that the service sector expanded at a faster pace in
October. The monthly services index reached a reading of 54.3 up
from 53.2 in September. The services index measures all
non-manufacturing including transportation. Readings above 50 show
expansion.
In a positive sign for transportation
equipment, more than 18,000 trucks were ordered in October throughout
North America according to FTR Associates. This is the third
straight month over month increase (22%).
UPS has announced a 4.9% increase for
all domestic ground package and air express shipments. This matches
the same increase taken by FedEx.
The United States Postal Service
responded with an increase 3.6% for all shipping services after
having lost an estimated $600 billion in its 2010 fiscal year. The
Postal Regulatory Commission must first approve the USPS increase.
The Cass Freight
Index measuring US shipments decreased 5.2% in October. This would
indicate that the seasonal shipping peak for trucking was in
September. The separate index measuring freight expenditures
decreased 2.7% in October.
At Wagner we are
preparing for the New Year by planning for some increased business
from several existing and new clients. If you have a need for
integrated services Wagner offers transportation, distribution
warehousing, and e-commerce fulfillment. Secondary packaging is also
performed.
Let me know if
we may help with a supply chain challenges as you prepare for the
coming year.
Have a great week!
John Wagner Jr
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