Warning signs and Peak thoughts

The first half of 2010 brought us several positive economic indicators that were more than welcome.

These indicators were to be expected to a certain degree, due to a beyond challenging 2009. But now, in a two-week span or so, the warning signs of a bad economy, or……a double-dip recession appear to be rearing their ugly heads.

To name a few, in the past 10 days we have seen declines in retail sales, consumer confidence, wholesale inventory sales, as well as a few others. The freight side has seen some sequential declines in trucking and railroad volumes while intermodal continues to appear as a current ‘sweet spot’ for many shippers (this is occurring on an anecdotal basis and a real basis, too).

In any event, we all know the economy is not exactly on terra firma, but we were, I mean are, still optimistic about the future, right? I like to think we are, but it sure would be nice to see the positive momentum again when perusing analyst reports and the business sections of daily newspapers.

So, here we are in mid-July and what happens next is truly anyone’s guess. And with Peak Season creeping up, now would be a great time for increased demand and freight volumes to get moving again.

But for that to happen, we need to see those warning signs turn to ones of optimism as we get deeper into the second half of 2010.

As I said in a recent posting, Peak Season has not truly happened in a few years, but all reports indicate that there will be one in 2010. If it does happen, it means things are going in the right direction, so here’s to wishing for a busy Peak Season.

One more thing: I am beginning work on a Peak Season story for LM print and online. If you have anything to share or comment on, please post to this blog and/or drop me a line at [email protected].