Thoughts on this article about trucking slowdown?

That's because boxes are necessary to ship all the crap people want but don't need...LoL. And they're buying more of it now than ever before because the one thing people really latched onto was the benefits of 'retail therapy'.

 

Well said, Sir.

Another member mentioned 2008 and the housing market collapse. While plenty of folks that bought houses SHOULD have known they couldn't afford the payments, the fact is mortgage companies had zero incentive to sell affordable loans. That's why "liars loans" were created. The lending industry practices were predatory.

Today the mortgage market is relatively sound, after Congress passed laws cracking down on some of the worst practices of the lending industry. BUT there's an even larger risk now in a different market. It's non-banks lending money to businesses that don't qualify for a loan from traditional lending institutions. It's not regulated and the amount of money is much larger than the $ trillion housing bubble.

I wonder what kind of loans that 60 truck company had? Normally a bank is going to want to see financials at least once a year and get collateral on assets. These new lenders apparently aren't doing any of that.

The business loans I am talking about aren't being used to invest in equipment or other business improvements. The majority of that money is being used for management bonuses or stock buy backs. It's propping up failing businesses.

 

I think the transportation portion of the economy has definitely slowed.
The past couple years saw great rates and plentiful freight and alot of companies and operators went all in, buying equipment and hiring drivers.
Overall I think rates and demand for moves has cooled a bit.
Not sure this is a precursor of a recession but the economy has pulled back a bit in most all indicators.
In my sector as gas supplier to nearly all types of industrial manufacturers, tech development, foodstuffs, medical and specialty operations like the government, I would guess we are down 20% from normal for this time of year.
I'd wager that some of the smaller or poorer run operations will not be here in 1 to 2 more years.
An interesting article today.
A 'recession dashboard' from Credit Suisse indicates the economy is nowhere near a recession

 

Good point. There is a local to me 80 trucks company and they finance everything through their factoring company (trucks, trailers, fuel, yard land)

 

LOL! Good eye.

Yeah, English seems to be a second language for a majority of folks...

 

Proves more people have more disposable income than before.

 

When I was working out of Denver a couple years ago. I sat at a counter at a truck stop. This guy sitting there. He very slyly asked me about the trucking industry. 'How much of a slow down I've seen because of the trade war' ....
I take it he was a writer for ???.

 

Not a bad eye there.