Trucking News

While the rest of the country is floundering in the midst of the largest economic crisis that has been seen in decades, New York is apparently going to go ahead with a plan to replace the Tappan Zee bridge for tens of billions of dollars.The bridge structure that is there now, cost a great deal of money when it was built, but that was a long time ago, and trying to keep it safe and looking good is getting expensive. With the paranoia about bridge collapses, places like New York have to be careful. So many people use that bridge that a collapse or other serious problem could really hurt or kill a lot of people. However, some question whether this is the right time to start doing work that costs a lot of money, since the economy is so shaky.

Since there isn’t a serious structural problem with the bridge right now, many people think that it would be better to wait and see as opposed to jumping right in. The new bridge will also have a transit system. The existing Tappan Zee bridge has been in use since 1955.

Isn’t everyone? In these tight economic times, who wouldn’t want to get free gasoline? Well, if you’re a California lawmaker, you’re in luck!That’s the only state where the lawmakers get free gasoline. They’re given a charge card that they use to buy their fuel. When the bill comes in, it’s the taxpayers who have to pay it. If they were reimbursed for every mile instead of given free reign, there might be less of an expense for the taxpayers of that state; which is what some other states do. Some of them also require their lawmakers to be accountable for their spending or to use their own money for gasoline.

In the first seven months of 2008, $220,000 went to gasoline expenses for lawmakers. This gasoline is going in vehicles that are issued by the state, as well, so the lawmakers actually have no vehicle expenses at all. It’s something that most other states actually work to avoid.

The stabilization of the economy is becoming a top priority for truckers all over the country. Fuel prices are out of proportion with the amount of money that the truckers are making and everyone is feeling the pinch. That, however, is not the largest problem where the economy is concerned.Credit is also in trouble, and a lot of the trucking companies need credit so that they can finance their vehicles. If they don’t get the credit that they’re used to, they might find themselves floundering. They won’t have enough trucks for their shipments, and the people who rely on them for their goods won’t be getting them. If you figure in the cost of fuel, those end users who do get their goods will be getting them at a price that’s much higher than they are used to. That isn’t good for them or the people who they sell to, and it’s not good for the trucking companies, either.

Pensions and retirement savings are also affected by the financial crisis, and action clearly needs to be taken – the sooner the better.

HR 3997 the House Bailout Vote shoots down the proposed government bailout package.

What does this mean for truckers?  Trucking is a backbone industry in the U.S. economy.  We are likely to experience a slowdown of course, but there is a limit to amount of reduction.

It’s been a tough year for our industry and this is another hit to our bottom line.  Truck drivers nationwide are listening on their satellite radios and wondering how this will affect them.  We’ve been hurt by gas prices.  We’ve been hurt by the economic slowdown.  Now we are looking at a massive failure on Wall Street.  We are sure to take another hit…but we’ll make it through.

Now is the time to streamline your business.  Cut costs and improve efficiencies.  The strong will emerge more successful than ever.  This is the right time to consider optimizing your business operations with a trucking software solution.  Masslogics would like to help, we are all in this together.

It’s unfortunate, but most of the reason that you’re paying more money at the pump is due to oil speculators. They send the oil prices up and up and when they’re coupled with other problems, with the economy, they can make the market very volatile. They can also send the gas prices soaring and the stock market skidding downward.

The House bill regarding oil speculation will help to discourage that. The White House has threatened to veto the bill, so it might not actually become law, but Congress likes the idea of stopping the speculation, both in the oil market and in other commodity markets.

There have also been trading abuses out there and the bill would help to get those stopped. There would be more regulation, regarding the speculation on any commodity, in any market and the thought is that this would help to more easily stabilize the market.