Cornerstone Systems
Rock Solid
Intermodal
Truck
Railcar/Consolidation
LTL
On-Site Logistics
Special Projects
Serving:
Canada
U.S.
Mexico |
|
Talk To Us
Is there any information, function, or link that you would like us to add to our website that would be helpful to you?
Your feedback is very important to us.
|
|
Newsletter Archives
Did you miss an issue?
No worries.
It's just a click away.
|
|
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.
Please take time on May 25 to honor and remember the bravery and sacrifice of America's men and woman in uniform.
|
|
Staying Positive In A Negative Economy
Tips To Keep You Moving Forward
When times are great it's easy to be positive. But the current economic situation has affected us all. We are surrounded and bombarded with negative news every single day. Companies are losing revenue or have gone out of business, layoffs are rampant, investments have vanished, and all this and more has caused morale to sink and stress to climb.
First, realize what you can and cannot control and separate the two. We can't control global economic factors, but we can control how we react to our own environment.
Take inventory of all the good things in your life.
Concentrate on the opportunities you still have.
Surround yourself with positive people.
Visualize and believe in your success.
And most importantly...
Never give up. Even the most successful people have experienced setbacks. Have the courage to go on. |
|
Completely useless but fun...
Tongue Twisters To Try:
Mrs. Smith's fish sauce shop.
Sure the ship's shipshape, sir.
Strict strong stingy Stephen Stretch slickly snared six sickly silky snakes.
The butter Betty Botter bought could make her batter bitter, so she thought she'd better buy some better butter.
Share your useless trivia
| |
|
|
Greetings!
Industry updates are important to all of us. If you would like to receive an update on a topic not listed in this issue or receive more information on Cornerstone Systems, please contact us at 800-278-7677 or visit our website at www.cornerstone-systems.com.
We are here to help.
|
|
CS Honored To Make "Who's Who" List Armstrong & Associates Includes CS For 5th Time
 In business since 1980, Armstrong & Associates, Inc. has become a recognized leader in supply chain market research and consulting. Armstrong's "Who's Who" guides are distributed worldwide and are a significant resource for companies selecting third-party logistics providers (3PLs). CS has been chosen every year since 2005 and is proud to once again be included in this years prestigious listing. "Who's Who in Logistics and Supply Chain Management" has become an industry standard for providing detailed information on top domestic 3PLs and trends in the North and Latin American logistics industry.
|
|
|
U.S. and China Will Lead Global Recovery
Economists Issue Report and Predictions
Partly due to pent-up demand from cautious consumers, the United States will be one of the first countries to set the pace when the economy begins to recover in late 2009, according to a new report. The report, issued Tuesday by IHS Global Insight economists Nariman Behravesh and Sara Johnson, suggests that the pace of economic decline experienced since late 2007 is expected to moderate through the summer as the federal government's fiscal stimulus programs take effect, sparking upturns in consumer spending and home building by year-end. "With 23 percent of world gross domestic product and 29 percent of consumer spending, the United States will be pivotal in leading the global economy out of recession. The good news is that it will be one of the first countries to recover," the report said. Stimulus programs will help the U.S. and China set the pace for the rest of the world when GDP growth begins to accelerate in 2010, the report said. On the other hand, Western Europe will suffer through two years of negative growth, while Japan will experience the deepest recession, with a 6.7 percent decline in real GDP this year. The report predicts that U.S. GDP, set to decline by 3.5 percent this year, will rebound into positive growth of 1.4 percent in 2010 and accelerate quickly to 4 percent growth by 2012. The Chinese GDP - the only region of the world in positive territory this year - will grow by 7.7 percent in 2010 and 9.2 percent in 2011. |
|
Transportation Industry News Intermodal Volumes Have Record Drop, U.S. Trade Deficit Rises, Retail Numbers Continue to Fall, Freight Railroads Face Stiff Legislation, NITL Backs Increase In Road Weight
Intermodal volume fell 16.3%, the largest quarterly drop ever recorded by IANA. Lackluster Intermodal performance was widespread across all regions and lanes. Although a small increase in domestic container volume could not offset the plunge in international and trailer volume, it was encouraging to see any improvement. A strong 4.6% increase in 53-foot containers led a 0.1% gain for all domestic containers. A shift to transloading of international business may be responsible for some of the strength, IANA said. Burdened by sinking consumer spending and overstocked inventories, international volume plunged 22.7%.
U.S. exports and imports both declined in March, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The faster pace of decline among exports raised the U.S. deficit in goods and services to $27.6 billion. "In 2009 the trade deficit is slicing $400 billion to $600 billion off GDP, and longer term, it reduces potential annual GDP growth to 3% from 4%, " said Peter Morici, professor at the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business. "Lost growth is cumulative. Thanks to the record trade deficit accumulated over the last 10 years, the U.S. economy is about $1.5 trillion smaller."
April retail and food service sales dropped 10.1% to $337.7 billion, according to the adjusted advance estimate released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. January through April 2009, sales in almost every retail activity declined. The strongest performers in the first quarter were food and beverage stores, whose sales increased by 0.1 percent, and general merchandise stores, which enjoyed a 0.5 percent increase in sales. "A depressed labor market and lack of consumer confidence continues to play a role in what people buy and how much they spend," said Rosalind Wells, chief economist for the National Retail Federation. "Noticeable changes in consumer spending will take some time as the economy continues to rebuild itself through the rest of the year."
Freight railroads are facing their stiffest legislative challenge in three decades, as a bill that would make the first changes to the industry's competitive environment since 1980 is slated for a Senate vote in a matter of weeks. The measure (S. 146) would expose railroads to antitrust laws, trim the power of the Surface Transportation Board (which currently sets rail competition policy) and permit lawsuits in state courts on rail competition policies. There hasn't been a vote on this issue since the Staggers Act of 1980. That act freed the railroads from major rate and service restrictions, allowing the industry to regain profitability that reached record levels over the past five years. Railroads staunchly oppose the measure as it "would cause dual oversight of railroad activities, resulting in overlapping and conflicting regulation," said Tom White, spokesman for the AAR. "Elements of rail labor have also come out strongly against the legislation because it would threaten the ability of the nation's railroad to expand their networks and could threaten the jobs of railroad workers."
The NITL has now taken a stand and is strongly opposing a cap on federal size and weight limits on heavy trucks and will support raising those limits to 97,000 pounds. They will seek to attach legislation lifting federal weight restrictions on the upcoming reauthorization of the federal highway bill. The ATA, which represents large trucking companies, supports increasing weight limits. The OOIDA, representing independent contractor drivers, claims bigger trucks would tear up roads and are not as safe.
How Would You Vote? Click here . Poll is located at the bottom of CS Home Page. |
|
Current Fuel Facts The Energy Information Administration reports U.S. On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices (dollars per gallon) as follows:
5/11/09 Date Released
2.216 Price
(Up) 0.031 Change From Week Ago
(Down) -2.115 Change From Year Ago
The DOE is predicting that diesel fuel will average $2.26 a gallon this year and average $2.48 next year, both well below the $3.80 average of last year. | |
|
|
|
t
io
ns
