Trucking Firms Have Value in Tow

A very good article on the financial situation in the trucking industry from Morningstar.

Trucking Firms Have Value in Tow

Trucking news: Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index down 0.5 percent in September - Article from Logistics Management

Trucking news: Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index down 0.5 percent in September - Article from Logistics Management

Unfortunately, it appears my predictions have been right. As the article states, it looks like inventory has "stalled" on the superhighways. Watching trucking is a great way to get to know what is happening in the economy and it clearly is a leading indicator of things to come. Trucking always picks up early and dies fast which tells you what end of the business cycle we are on.

Some of this cannot be just compared to historical norms as intermodal freight has taken market share from trucks. However, trucking still is the predominant way to move freight especially from DC to store; the true measure of what the customer is pulling through consumption.

Keep an eye on December to determine if the holiday sales take off as planned. If they do not, we are in for a long and cold winter.

Blackberry Storm 2, Motorola Cliq: The Critics Weigh In

For those of you who may be thinking about the Storm 2 blackberry for a business phone forget it. The phone is a disaster. Battery life is horrible and the touch screen is a disaster. Further, the system locks up and is very slow. I cannot believe that I can out type a touch screen phone. I have to wait for it to catch up to me.

Forget the phone... it appears it is a "toy" for those who cannot afford either a Droid X or an iPhone. Putting this phone on the market is an insult to all consumers.

Blackberry Storm 2, Motorola Cliq: The Critics Weigh In

Transportation Capacity is Loosening

Pretty clear from a variety of metrics the capacity crunch of the summer for transportation capacity is over.  I have said many times the inbound volumes for logistics in general have been far bigger than the outbound volumes. This translates into a building of inventory which ultimately ends in the problem we see today:  The transportation network will shutdown.

We are starting to see this slowdown and if the Christmas retail season is slow, we will see a full blown shutdown IMHO.