The Recession is Over! Now What?

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Fast forward a few months or a year; however long you believe it will be for the recession to be over. What exactly does that mean to you as an expediter? How do you expect things to be different? What, if anything, will you do different?
 

letzrockexpress

Veteran Expediter
Fast forward a few months or a year; however long you believe it will be for the recession to be over. What exactly does that mean to you as an expediter? How do you expect things to be different?

I won't be able to buy a repo'd expedite truck as cheap as I can today....
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
The recession won't be over until 2011 and by then the landscape may be changed forever or just a little change.

Nevertheless, there is no way anyone can truly prepare for the future.

So because of that fact, I work at this day by day because of the true nature of the business I am in, I have long realized that no one is an expert in expediting or in trucking, no one can predict anything of the future because the nation and the economy is in flux, I understood a while ago that we are not all tied into the trucking industry as many would like us to believe, and we are not all able to leverage things for ourselves that some can do by being independent.

Hey why you guys deleting your posts?
 
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chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
mine was politicial, so i dumped it, wrong forum....:D

but i do agree, it ain't goin to be over for yrs and then it will be a slow recovery...and yes , take care of business today, no one kniws what it will be next week..........
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
The ONLY thing that I am reletively sure of is that I expect to be fighting hyper-inflation. I do not have enough experinece in this industry to understand what that will do to us. All I know is that it is NOT a good thing for ANY business, except loan sharking.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
I don't believe I would rush out and buy a $200,000 reefer unit.
 

moose

Veteran Expediter
I think that the Expedite market will be "in recovery mod" , not do to an upraise in the economy , but rather by ever changing regulation in a far larger scope .
we can see first signs , as Air freight shipments will have to be "Expedite secured" next year .
more trucking Company's are being forced into Expedite ,to serve their own long time shippers .
shippers and freight provider , will demand Expedite used of a truck , to meet up with ever changing regs. & higher quality demand.
i do not expect rates to follow up , as supply of trucks will exceed market demand for a long time .
the way to make money will still be the same .
being able to keep more,
understanding the costs of staying in business,
save on long time operations costs,
& invest wisely .
i think that low rates are the best that ever happened to the O/O.
i will continue to buy one new truck every year , & will be here to provide for others.
 

geo

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
US Navy
sometimes i wonder what is going on drive by malls they are full
drive by fast food and sit down and order they seem full
and the traffic here in hampton roads va is suppose to be down by 10 percent like to know where they went
as doesn't seem to slow down the traffic
it's all back up
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Obama dollars? Are they not printed by the same people that print Monopoly Money? I understand that Parker Brothers orders for Monopoly Money have been put on hold to increase production of Obama Dollars. Parker Brothers is putting IOU's in the games they are shipping. There is also a lot of talk in Obama circles of BANNING the famous mainstay game of Parker Brothers as being an UN-Suitable example of capitalist swill!! Obama has denied this but Parker Brothers, taking no chances, are working on a new game. The details are yet to be released but it will be a "teaching game" to ease the movement of hard working people into the role of becoming wards of the state. Production was set to begin in time for Christmas, BUT, evionmentlists have sued to stop the game in it's paper form, it was going to cause too much old growth forest to be cut down. Parker Brothers is looking at a "greener" on-line version.
 

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
I figure if I can hold on during this bad economy, I'll have nowhere to go but up when it finally does recover.:)
I'm grabbing the bull by the horns and holding on for dear life :cool:
 
C

CaptainCarl

Guest
I expect the US will drift into a quirky inflationary depression, aka the ID. The ID utterance you may remember from the “Forbidden Planet” science fiction movie from the mid 1950’s. Monsters from the ID (also known as politicians from Washington) destroy everyone with claims of prosperity by creating a Great Machine to server all. The Great Machine (aka known as Obama and the Dems) works well for a short time until believers in the Great Machine realize it will, inevitably consume them all.

Hey Phil, spoke with you briefly about equity trading at the Willy truck show. After several months flat, placed short side positions just before the bell today on the SPY and long positions UNG as a partial hedge. Week 1 in August can be tough for the S&P, what’s trending??
Capt Carl :eek:
 

FIS53

Veteran Expediter
I think that this industry will see small spikes in business as the recovery goes forward. This does not mean everyone will get busy but that several markets will see for a week or two more expedite runs from that market so the mfrs can meet delivery deadlines. The trucks in those areas will get the runs making for a good week or few days. In fact we are seeing this right now as we seem to be busy for a couple of weeks and then it slows down again. During the busier weeks there are several days of good runs.

This trend should continue for awhile until the mfrs are back up to speed with personnel and capacity for the increased demand in the marketplace. I don't think it's going to be a steady increase but a bumpy one (up/down/up/down) until about the middle of next year. Overall we should experience an increase in business each time and the down times will not be as bad as we have seen although I would really expect to see more short hauls than longer hauls as customers keep watch on the bottom line.

As customers watch the dollars I believe that transports will take over more of the longer runs leaving shorter hauls for the expediters. Overall this may not decrease our yearly incomes but rather it will increase our maintenance expenses and time loss spent at pickups and deliveries.
Rob
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Hey Phil, spoke with you briefly about equity trading at the Willy truck show. After several months flat, placed short side positions just before the bell today on the SPY and long positions UNG as a partial hedge. Week 1 in August can be tough for the S&P, what’s trending??
Capt Carl :eek:

I remember the chat, CaptainCarl, and it was nice to meet you, as it was so many others.

Readers of my blog know I have spent a fair amount of time in the last several months studying and practicing trading. Open Forum readers will notice that I have not mentioned my trading activities here. I mention it in my blog because those readers follow it for other reasons and trading is something into which I have invested much time. While my blog talks about how I spend time on the road and feel about my trading progress, trading techniques are not discussed or recommended.

Since you brought trading up here, CaptainCarl, I will, speak of it now, only to explain why I have not talked about it in the Open Forum and do not expect to in the future.

Trading is a difficult task in which only a tiny percentage of traders become successful in the long run. Trading is difficult to learn, difficult to do, and an activity in which I have yet to turn a profit. The financial risks are very high and it is possible to lose your entire investment in a matter of minutes. It is also possible to lose more than the amount you invested, in which case you will be obligated to pay that amount to your broker.

Trading is not something I would recommend to anyone. If someone decides to give it a whirl, I want that person to know that I am the very last person to turn to for information or advice on trading (some have contacted me privately for trading advice and received the above answer).

There are hundreds of web sites where trading is discussed, offered and/or taught. Dozens if not hundreds of books are available on the subject. Except for the fact that it is something that can be done in a truck, trading has nothing to do with expediting.

For that reason, traders and trader wannabees are better off going to other web sites and reading books to pursue their trading interests and get information.

Think about it. Do you really want to learn about trading from a truck driver? You would do as well to learn about truck driving from a successful trader. Best, I believe to talk about trading elsewhere and to talk about trucking here.
 
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ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
To answer the question that started this thread, Diane and I have done nothing essentially different during the recession than we did in the good times. Our business plan has not changed. Our goals have not changed. What has changed is the pace at which we move forward and our willingness to spend money on non-essentials.

The goal-oriented, debt-free, reefer-equipped-straight-truck, high-value-freight, live-on-the-road expediting style we have works in good times and bad, just slower in the bad times. When the recession ends, and perhaps before that, we expect freight levels to pick up and to prosper at a rate greater than presently enjoyed.
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Inflationary Depression. Does the term "Stagflation" mean anything to you? The Peanut brought us that one. Round two is starting.
 
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