August car sales fall & buying into this business.

I saw this coming on my end 2 mos ago and have already gone into survival mode .
Which means stay out and go anywhere ...and don't spend any money I don't have too.
Goin thru Omaha this weekend and not even stopping at home .

 

I've been running dry van for the past month now and it has actually been decent. Have only seen a few car loads pop up out of my area that I would have touched but they were gone by the time I called on them. Horrible time for car hauling I have a feeling that I will not be renewing my insurance in a few months

 

Not a car hauler, but furniture & copy machines.

Been very busy these past couple months, doesn't seem to me slowing down at all.

 

Excellent post LBZ, very true appraisal of the current market situation. I am one of the fortunate ones, although that all can change at any time, as most of my work is direct from the shipper to me, but I always worry about some price cutter getting in the door.

Another indicator of where the car industry really is, I move a lot of repo units into the auction houses, most of the repo yards I service are busting at the seams. One upstate NY facility had a record month with 259 units shipped to auction, they actually picked up almost 400 but some were redeemed by the debtor. That is one repo company, not even the biggest in the market, out of about a dozen in the greater NY capitol district. Additionally, I am seeing a trend in greater lease returns without a subsequent leased vehicle, more consumers are choosing to turn in their leased unit and buy a vehicle outright, which will affect the volume of units moved by the major auction houses (Manheim and Adesa) in about 24-36 months.

For anyone serious about the car haul industry I highly recommend a free subscription to a publication called Finished Vehicle Logistics, it is published in England and they will send any bona fide transport company a free subscription in both print and an online news letter version. This publication helps keep me informed about global trends, because in reality the US is only a small part of the overall picture in automotive logistics.

 

I parked my truck a couple weeks ago at a friends Repo company. I had some partnership issues and seen it coming so in advance gotten everything ready to be solo again.

. The weeks I have not been on the road I have been doing repos and there is a lot of them. I am sitting at the desk now in the Repo office and really considering just keeping the truck parked.

Last week I picked up 19 cars and spotted 5 more that were blocked in. There is more orders coming in every day that can not be kept up with.

I really like the being home everyday and seeing I've got my first son on the way tomorrow it may not be a bad idea.

I am also sick of dealers being dealers doing there slimy bull ####

 

August Auto Sales A Disaster As Ford Admits "We Think Sales Have Reached A Plateau"