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Family Feature
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Don't Forget To Celebrate
June 21
Father's Day!
Summer Begins!
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Completely useless but fun...
Swimming This Summer?
Who Can You Thank For Inventing Swim Fins?
Ben Franklin loved the water. Growing up in Boston, he was drawn to the sea and often dreamed of becoming a sailor. Ben learned to swim and became an expert swimmer. Wanting to increase his speed in the water, Franklin devised fins that he wore on his hands. The fins were shaped like lily pads or an artist's paint pallet and helped him attain greater speed with each stroke.
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Port Tracker Volume Projections For 2009
Import Cargo Volume Trend Signals Weak Peak Season
Port Tracker, a monthly report released by the National Retail Federation and IHS Global INsight, is projecting that the back-to-school shopping season this summer, traditionally the second busiest period on retailers' calendars, will be disappointing. Prospects for the holiday shopping season that follow look equally bleak. These developments are reflected directly in the cargo volumes moving through the eight major U.S. container gateways covered by Port Tracker (Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle/Tacoma, New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Houston). "Retailers are still being cautious with their inventory levels in anticipation of slow sales this summer into the fall," said Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation.
June is forecast at 1.06 million TEUs, down 19% from last year; July is forecast at 1.1 million TEUs, down 16%; August at 1.14 million TEUs, down 17%; and September at 1.12 million TEUs, down 18%. October, traditionally the peak of the annual shipping cycle as holiday merchandise flows into stores, is forecast at 1.15 million TEUs, down 16%. The first half of 2009 is now forecast at 5.9 million TEUs, down 21% from the 7.5 million TEUs seen in the first half of 2008. "Monthly cargo volumes are starting to creep up but the magnitude of the recessionary decline is clear when you compare this year's numbers with last year's," IHS Global Insight Economist Paul Bingham said. "Import container traffic is projected to continue to be weak because of the underlying reduction in demand for goods during the recession."
The good news is that logistically, the U.S. port and intermodal transportation networks are operating efficiently and without any disruptions. Ports are congestion-free from vessel to gate. Rail service levels are good and the harbor trucking industry is operating with excess capacity. On the other hand, all of these transportation industries are struggling with weak revenues and over-capacity. |
Economists Predicting Recession End Nation's Biggest Banks Expect Official End in 3 Months
The worst recession since the Great Depression will officially end sometime in the next three months, according to economists at the nation's biggest banks. The Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association -- aka the chief economists for JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and most other major banks -- announced recently that they expect that nation's GDP to grow in the third quarter of 2009. But most Americans will still feel as though they are living through a recession well into 2010. "The economy will return to growth but not to health," said Bruce Kasman, chief economist for JPMorgan Chase in a statement. "Growth in the coming quarters is likely to gather momentum but will not prove sufficiently robust to undo much of the severe damage to our labor markets and public finances." The committee is also projecting an end to the three-year downturn in the housing market, with housing starts rising later this year and home values moving up modestly in 2010. However, credit will remain tight and bank economists said jobs will continue to be lost. Unemployment is expected to peak at 10 percent nationally and remain at or above 9.5 percent through 2010.
Others are echoing the expectations of hope on the horizon such as FedEx's company chief Fred Smith. After what Smith called the "most difficult economic conditions in our company's history", he believes the economy likely appears to have reached the bottom. "We believe the worst of the recession is likely behind us," Smith told a conference call on FedEx's report on its 2009 fiscal year. "We do see signs of stability." Those include stabilizing declines in express traffic and broader reports on the economy that suggest companies will begin restocking depleted inventories even if the economy remains weak. |
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Transportation Industry News Mexico's Emerging Market, Port of Long Beach Issues Mandatory Furlough's
Mexico's potential as an economic power has both shippers and fleet executives taking advantage of the emerging market there. Mexico, currently the United States' third-largest trading partner, sends billions of dollars in freight across the border each day, much of it by truck. Executives are stating that freight, once primarily disposable & cheaply made goods, now consist largely of high-value items such as televisions, electronic equipment and cell phones - the result of a concerted effort by the Mexican government to attract more sophisticated industries. A spokesman for the trade office of the Mexican Embassy in Washington, Francisco Sandoval, said the government has been implementing programs to bolster the industrial base in the information technology, auto parts and aerospace sectors. Fleet executives stationed on both sides of the border have noticed the efforts of the Mexican government.
The Port of Long Beach is reporting that all employees (including top executives) will be taking off five days of work without pay by the end of the port's fiscal year on Sept. 30. The furloughs will reduce operational costs due to declining cargo volume. Long Beach has seen its container traffic fall 28.8 percent in the first four months of 2009, including a 28.9 percent drop in loaded imports and a 30.8 percent decline in loaded exported containers. Long Beach will stagger employee furloughs so that the port offices remain open for normal business hours. So does the Port of Los Angeles have a similar plan? They too intend to reduce their costs but are still considering their options.
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Current Fuel Facts The Energy Information Administration reports U.S. On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices (dollars per gallon) as follows:
6/15/09 Date Released
2.572 Price
(Up) 0.074 Change From Week Ago
(Down) -2.120 Change From Year Ago
Diesel has risen 38.7 cents in the past six weeks, and Monday's increase left the price at its highest level since Dec. 1, according to DOE records. The all-time record of $4.764 a gallon, was set last July 14. | |
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