Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Trucking

- "Truckin' got my chips cashed in, keep truckin' like the do-dah man
   Together, more or less in line, just keep truckin' on..."
- Jerry Garcia and the Grateful dead

Contrary to the many meanings of a word in our American lexicon and culture, the title actually refers to its basic concept, over-the-road haulers. With the election the winner needs to look at the recent declines in long distance trucking and what that forecasts for our economy.
Trucking moves 70% of our goods. This aspect is broadcasted loud and clear on late night television in almost every city and state, seeking students for their driving schools with the promise of a good paying job.
Bad News
According to Act Research big outfits like Werner and Swift are pulling drivers off the road because the expected orders in their forecast has not materialized. In fact, heavy duty truck orders have declined by 46% to 13,900 units. This aspect is revealed in the 9,000 manufacturing jobs that were lost in October. Many in that number were in transportation equipment, a staple for trucking in correlation to manufacturing.
Cummins
The CEO, Thomas Linebarger gave as a reason for his lower guidance when he said, "We're hearing from lots and lots of Fleets that while they're a little nervous on business - They're delaying purchases."
If this large and important segment in our economy has more declines the conclusion is sadly simple. There will be layoffs in retail and when we already know that our malls and shopping centers are under duress, this does not bode well for our future economy.