Time to take action...

[Lawrence]

Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.

The U.S. economy is at a crossroads due to the worldwide credit crisis, and all Americans are feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, U.S. auto sales rely on access to credit, which is all but frozen through traditional channels.

The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research:

• One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers
• Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk
• U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion
• The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion

Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking for your support in this vital effort by contacting your state representatives.

Please take a few minutes to go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com, where we have made it easy for you to contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Just click on the "I'm a Concerned American" link under the "Mobilize Now" section, and enter your name and ZIP code to send a personalized e-mail stating your support for the U.S. automotive industry.

Let me assure you that General Motors has made dramatic improvements over the last 10 years. In fact, we are leading the industry with award-winning vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Pontiac G8, GMC Acadia, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Saturn AURA and more. We offer 18 models with an EPA estimated 30 MPG highway or better — more than Toyota or Honda. GM has 6 hybrids in market and 3 more by mid-2009. GM has closed the quality gap with the imports, and today we are putting our best quality vehicles on the road.

Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site.

Thank you for helping keep our economy viable.

www.gmfactsandfiction.com
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Sincerely,
President Troy Clarke

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[Turtle]

They took t h r e e... s e p a r a t e... p r i v a t e... jets to Washington, D.C.,

to beg for money.

Are you kiddin' me?

 

[Jack_Berry]

what about the number of vehicles getting over 30 mpg city? i bought my jetta tdi for the 37 mpg city the 44 hwy is iced frosting on the kringle.

nardelli in his testimony never looked the dias in the face. he just read from the notes. maybe the ceos could give back some of the money they make to help their companies. 9 million bucks buys a lot of good press.

 

[Lawrence]

Bad PR move - no doubt, I could careless what they drive or fly in...what I care about is the freight.

 

[Turtle]

Flying in on personal jets with tin cup in hand should have gotten them the door at the top of the Capitol Hill steps slammed in their face. The jets are the perfect illustration of just how far away they are from making real, concrete changes to how they do business, and a bailout loan will do nothing more than postpone the inevitable. The Big Two and the Other One are perfect mirrors of Detroit itself, where the road bed is crumbling and instead of ripping it up and laying down a new one, they just keep patching the cracks and holes, then claiming, "Look! It's all better now!"

 

[cheri1122]

Their arrogant, jaw dropping gall is equal to the man who kills his wife, then asks the judge to set him free, so his children don't become orphans!
That a company in such deep financial distress continues to have luxury jets, and pay incompetent CEOs multibillion dollar 'bonuses' says they don't have the sense or self restraint to turn the company around - but we've known that for a long time already, haven't we?

 

[miker]

They took t h r e e... s e p a r a t e... p r i v a t e... jets to Washington, D.C.,

to beg for money.

Are you kiddin' me?

someone should ask them how much did they spend on thier hotel, dinner,etc. Why are they still producing commercials that cost who knows how much. People dont need to see a commercial to realize that a Ford,Chevy or Chrysler is available. The automotive industry is failing because they for too many years either obtained a loan , or had given a loan to almost anyone regardless of their past credit history and plenty of those people failed to pay for their purchase , just as their credit report proved that they would, but they said to themselves dont worry we have the auto as caladeral. Add that up for a number of years and that spells BROKE. And if the CEO's of the company cant manage the business any better than spending who knows how much on their private jet to request a loan when they say they are broke then they dont deserve the money because it will be just thrown away.

 

[cheri1122]

Lawrence, I care about the freight too - but ultimately, I care even more that our free market be allowed to work as designed, and am sick of seeing incompetence rewarded so generously.
In the long run, losing the Big Three will (hopefully) make America a better place, IMO. The "foreign" automakers have shown how it can be done. (Because they weren't too arrogant to listen when Edward Deming showed them how!)

 

[Turtle]

I care about the freight, and I think they should be bailed out. But they should be bailed out with strict conditions. Conditions like contracts will have to be torn up and thrown away.

Contracts with upper management would be torn up and they would be paid something other than just stoopid money. Top executives should be well paid, but not until the company had turned around. Even in the worst of times, running GM, for example, doesn't warrant a higher salary than, say, the President of the United States, and if these guys can't get by on the pauper's wage of the President, they're out the door. Once the company has rebuilt itself and has turned around, then compensation should be adjusted to reflect that.

Contracts with the UAW should be torn up and thrown away. The Union doesn't like it, tough, go start your own company. Once the company has rebuilt itself, with the crucial help from the workers, then compensation should be adjusted to reflect that.

The stiffling regulatory contracts with the Federal Government should be torn up and thrown away, or at least implimented as part of the rebuilding, and not as part of the assfault patches.

 

[jaminjim]

Lets see;
Assembly line worker shuts the machine down because it does not function properly.

Step 1. Maintenance guy turns machine on, and agrees that it does not work, turns power off.

Step 2. Electrician puts a lock out tag on the on/off switch.

Step 3. Plumber disconnects the coolant lines.

Step 4. Sheet metal worker remove three bolts on the machine guard, and removes the guard.

Step 5. Electrician returns to disconnect the inline fuse.

Step 6. Plumber returns to further disconnect the coolant lines.

Step 7. Maintenance guy returns to replace the faulty belt.

You can reverse the above steps to get the machine back on line.

Each person will need to fill out a work order for the next "Tradesmen" to show up and do his part.

Unfortunately this is actually how it is done.

 

[highway star]

Geez Lawrence, is this a sticky because your opinion is that important? If one, or all, of the Big Three go milk modules up, cars will still be built by someone. Parts will need to be delivered to those plants. Those plants will still need suppliers. A company making fenders for GM, could easily retool to make a Toyota fender.

I'm really struggling with this. The auto industry is very important, no doubt. But, as a taxpayer I'm not comfortable with my money being used to get them out of the bed they've very clearly made for themselves. Isn't it kind of rewarding irresponsibility?

 

[CharlesD]

I haven't hauled much automotive lately. I've still been hauling things, not as much as this time last year, but there is still freight. Maybe this will force more expedite carriers to start looking at all avenues of freight instead of just sitting around wiating for those lucrative NLM loads.

 

[joebob1_30132]

With al due respect and admiration for your accomplishments Lawerence, Do you endorse this message from GM?
Consider if you were to have 10 employees in your office who were unionized . And you were in the same situation.
Gm has a multilayered problem. But no flexibility to solve it. Remember We the tax payers are loaning this money to the big three.
I want the same accountability and standards Im held too.
I want a return on my money!

 

[Lawrence]

I support American manufacturing.
I support American jobs.
I support American trucking.

This is also a fight for the last, largest vestige of American made, designed and marketed products.

Every major industry (textiles, technology, consumer products, etc, etc, etc) has moved some or all of their manufacturing overseas.

I support expedited trucking.

A prolonged disruption in the reorganization or liquidation of the big 3 will have an immediate and severe impact on expediting.

Does the US auto industry need to change? Duh! Of course it does, it has - and will continue if given the opportunity.

Many have PM'd me and said.."don't worry we will still have cars and trucks available", no kidding Einstein - we always will. Right?

We will always have computers - just not made in California.
Made in Taiwan

We will always have furniture - just not made in North Carolina.
Made in Bangladesh

We will always have carpet - just not made in Georgia.
Made in Pakistan

We will always have leather boots, shoes & jackets - just not made in Massachusetts.
Made in the Philippians

We will always have DVD players, MP3 players and cell phones - just not made in Illinois.
Made in Japan

We will always have clothes - just not made in South Carolina.
Made in China

We will always have tools - just not made in Wisconsin.
Made in China

I can go on.

I recently spoke with a friend who lives in Michigan, he ran for congress and is very well connected politically in Michigan and Washington, DC. He has access to the White House.

In his opinion - they will be most likely be liquidated. Gone. Salvaged will be brand names.... like Cadillac etc.

He said as capitalists and free-marketers we must allow them to crash and burn.

I disagree.

They are on a sinking ship - no doubt about it. But they are on OUR sinking ship dammit! Instead of the public coming to help bail them out -many are turning their backs on them.

There is no outcry last week when the Bank of America took $15 Billion in BAILOUT money and sent $7 Billion to China for a construction project.

Everyone who has ever hauled an expedited load...has benefited from the US auto industry.

If you are reading this post. You have had your pockets lined by cash from them.

You will not get that from Toyota.
You will not get that from Honda.
You will not get that from Hyundai.

There is a Chinese company interested in GM....

Maybe there is a brighter day around the corner...but it won't be American.

 

[FIS53]

While I understand your reasoning I have to question the loans. GM got a loan from the ONT government over a year ago to keep some jobs here and what does GM build? Hey the new Camaro! A v8 muscle car! Yeah that's a gas saver alright! Yup that's the future cars we need with the $6.30/imp gal (yes it hit that mark) gas we had this summer!
Hey GM mentions the volt and how they are leading in electric cars. Well what did they do to the EV1? Oh yeah they scrapped it! Crushed all of them and then hid away the technology! Where would they be today if they had kept them and kept advancing them? Yes then GM would probably be the world leaders right now! But now Toyota and Honda are ahead of them as well even BMW is getting ahead. I'm sorry but I'm sort of skeptical of their stories and claims. While the big 3 have access to small fuel efficient technology from their overseas divisions and partnerships it seems that the american buying public are hooked on the big buggies they keep producing here in north america. Even from the early 70s gas crisis americans did not take to the smaller buggies from the US mfrs because they did not equal their rivals from japan and europe.
They need to make a lot of changes, too many for the current structure they have.
Rob

 

[cheri1122]

Lawrence: the original bailout proposal brought a HUGE outcry of protest against the notion of supporting mismanagement & greed with taxpayer money - until people saw their retirement investments going south, and changed their perspective. The Bank of America's action is just another outrage in a system so filled with outrageous behavior that we don't even have time to process the implications, much less protest, before the next one makes the news.
Yes, it is our sinking ship, and continuing to overlook the greed & mismanagement that caused it to sink is not the answer that will return America to the lofty position we once enjoyed, IMO.
Politicians and corporate executives need a reality check, before they drown the entire country with their shortsighted decisions.

 

[highway star]

If you are reading this post. You have had your pockets lined by cash from them.

You will not get that from Toyota.
You will not get that from Honda.
You will not get that from Hyundai.

.

That part is just not true. I've hauled for Honda a lot, quite a bit for Toyota, including several trips to the Georgetown plant right down the road from you. I've done a few for Nissan, none for Hyundai but I know people that have. These companies have made big commitments to this country and continue to grow here. Many Americans are lining their pockets with cash from them.

You make an excellent patriotic argument for bailout. A patriotic argument can also be made for letting "nature" take it's course.

 

[highway star]

Politicians and corporate executives need a reality check, before they drown the entire country with their shortsighted decisions.

Good point aging one. There are those that say the private jet issue is much ado about nothing. These guys are CEO's and that's a standard perk. IMHO, what it is is a small snapshot of the mindset that got them where they are. Like Sen. Dirksen said so many years ago, "a billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you're talking about real money."

 

[piper1]

Lawrence you are right on the money.

While everyone gets all up in arms over the private jet thing and spouts the free market theory think about this,

What if that free market theory ends up with China or some Russian bazillionaire owning GM or most of the large US companies.

Where do the profits go?

Where do the resources go in time of war or other national emergency?

This isn't going to end up being about jets or anything else, when the dust settles it will end up being about national sovereignty. People have to realize the US is not the invincible big kid on the block any more, lots of other countries have a lot of money and a lot of power now (oil, commodities) and they don't always play nice nice and follow the rules (liberty and justice to name 2)

I for one (as a Canadian no less) am really starting to worry about the direction the "big kid next door" is taking. All the free market ideals that got you to number 1 could end up costing you the keys if you aren't careful, I know, we gave the US the keys to Canada a long time ago. It's worked out pretty good but the prospect of someone else having them who might not play fair is scary.

 

[Jefferson3000]

The only expedite carriers that are relying on auto freight these days are guys like Ontime and ASAP. I will refrain from posting my opinions on either of these two WONDERFUL and RESPECTABLE players within the industry.

I really feel as though it's time for the auto industry to reorganize, rather than continue to patch the hemorrhage. As much as I hate what bankruptcy does in America, I find that it has come to us because of the structuring of the credit markets. Restructuring and resignation of all of these losers in charge would greatly benefit the auto industry in the long run. Also, it would cause the UAW to lose its grip on the auto makers as well. I'm really not worried about the freight at this point. We can't afford to artificially prop up the industry any longer.