What a difference a week makes

While digging out from the avalanche of e-mail I received last week, it is hard for me to overlook just how much can happen in short period.

I really do endeavor to make the most of my time off from the “grind,” but at the same time, even mildly glancing at the continual stream of e-mail coming into my inbox served me well (in a twisted way) while wasting the days away in scenic Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

In between trips to the beach and daily Berman family trips to the ice cream parlor, the e-mails kept on coming…and coming.

So, what was in those e-mails? A little bit of everything, really. In fact, more than a little bit, considering there were many that could have been flipped into news stories had I been in the office. But, hey, we news guys need time off, too.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the things that went down while I was eating ice cream…and lobster:
-July retail sales saw their first gains in four months, rising 0.8 percent for the largest monthly gain since February at $330.2 billion, according to the United States Department of Commerce;
-FedEx announced it will offer “voluntary buyout incentives to certain U.S.-based employees in mostly non-operational staff groups”;
-the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach said July volumes were up 5.53 percent and down 8.8 percent, respectively;
-the 250,000 Teamsters members at UPS said that they are ready to negotiate a new labor contract next month even though their current one does not expire until a little less than a year from now.

I could go on for sure, but you get the idea. That is what is truly fascinating about the industries covered by LM and that you likely focus on every day. Regardless of what is happening economically, politically or otherwise, there is really never a dull moment in the transportation and logistics sector.

You know what? I like it that way.