Estes | Freight levels and weird stuff we haul

strangedays50

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First off let me say happy New Year to everyone and I really hope you had a good one and by now for a few of you,made bail.i think we have done this in the past with letting everyone know what the freight levels are at your terminal,no need to say what term. your from just if your busy or not,Im a hopeless optimist,so I really believe this economy is going to pick up this year not as thick as years past but a whole hell of a lot better.makes me feel a little better when I read these bigger terminals are slammed and guys are screaming about all the hrs they have to work.And just to make it interesting tell us what the weirdest freakin freight was you delivered.Good luck to all this coming year.
 
A couple weeks ago I saw a snowmobile sitting on the dock at 028. No crate, but just sitting there like someone just hopped off + left it there. The next day there it was, on one of my pups going to 140. I asked a dockman when I got there + he said we move a lot of them like that. Am sure they get a special waiver cause that's an OS+D waiting to happen.
 
Holding our own,on outbound...Most freight on my run comes from the East,and hasn't gotten bad,yet...Usually doesn't go down until around the second week in January..We'll see if the trend continues...
 
Yea, I think it will get real slow soon. I don't think it will get as bad as it was the last 2 years. Economy is showing signs of improving. The parking lots are still full of shoppers everywhere I go.
 
Yea, I think it will get real slow soon. I don't think it will get as bad as it was the last 2 years. Economy is showing signs of improving. The parking lots are still full of shoppers everywhere I go.

I think they are looking for deals,though mildew,like we are..On sale items are up nearly 40% over last year..And it's exspected,due to the economy...Big ticket items($300 and above)are down 20%....
 
I am not tring to be a downer but heard on the tv gas could go to $5.00 a gal. I hope the h*ll not. that will shoot everything in the a**
 
I am not tring to be a downer but heard on the tv gas could go to $5.00 a gal. I hope the h*ll not. that will shoot everything in the a**

I'm trying to stay optimistic. I know about the gas/diesel prices. They say the reason for the gas hike is the increase in demand caused by the economy improving, same reason for the increasing interest rates. The shell ceo said the $5 could be this year or within the next decade. It could go higher than $5 who knows. It kind of shoots itself in the foot because the demand goes down when the prices go up. If we would look for our own oil it would bring the gas price down. Just a rumor we are drilling would help.
 
Heard on the radio this morning.. when Obama took office gas was @ $1.89, 2yrs later we are looking @ $3.50+, and things are getting better , for Who??? like they say "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" just sayin..
 
We just need to buy a $20,000 smart car with duel exhaust and a spoiler on the back to help with the gas hike
 
My barn kept quite a few drivers home this week including half-way meets and Indy turns due to lack of freight. TM says things are not looking good.

Gasoline should be around $4/gal by summer. Keep an eye on the US$ index as all oil bought by ANY country is paid for in US dollars. As the dollar weakens (as it will continue to do), exporters to the US raise their prices to keep up with profits and we all know we import nearly EVERYTHING! Remember, China, Japan and the Federal Reserve hold most of our $13,000,000,000,000 (Trillion) in debt in that order.

To keep up with the debt, the Fed prints more digital dollars out of thin air and lends it to the government which we have to pay the interest on with our Federal taxes to the tune of $500 million per day at present. When more money is "printed" is lessens the value of all the other dollars out there because it is backed by nothing, not even gold or silver anymore. So you can expect prices of everything to go up as we print more money which the fed just did with QE2.

Sad to say, but things will not get better. Think about. We have lost over 64% of our manufacturing capability with off-shoring, NAFTA, and all the other Free Trade Agreements out there! Tools? Nope, China. Textiles? Nope, China and others. Electronics? Nope, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Paper? Nope, imported from China with our timber that we cut and send to China for processing. Engineering Drawings? Nope, done in India. Customer Service for your city or any manufacturer or service that you deal with? Nope, India and the Philippines. I can go on and on, but you get the picture. With 15 million people unemployed, where in God's name are they going to work?

In the past, when we had a recession factories were idled until things got better and everybody gradually went back to work. In the past 20 years, the factories have closed and moved off-shore so the unemployed have no where to go. My rose-colored glasses have been broken and my heart bleeds for what they have done to a once great country.

Moderator: I know this went off topic, so please move it if appropriate.
 
Great post Wild Turkey. You pretty much nailed it in a few short sentences. I was afraid this would happen in January. Don't think we're alone on the slow thing either. Just reading around on some other competitor threads and I'm seeing layoff crap. Here we go again.
 
Don't be depressed Mildew. We have a semi-secure job and if you have seniority you have it made unless they close your barn. On a positive note, someone has to move all that imported freight. Hopefully, there will be people with the money and jobs to buy it.
 
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