STUDY * USA - Despite Plunge in Home Prices, Ownership Still Out-of-Reach for Many Professions

Long-haul truck drivers are unable to afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment in approximately one-fourth of the markets

Washington,DC,USA -AllGo, by Noel Brinkerhoffv -May 11, 2009: -- Although housing prices have declined throughout the country, many of those expected to benefit from the federal stimulus still can’t afford to buy a home, according to the Center for Housing Policy, the research wing of the National Housing Conference. In its new study (Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America) the center paid particular attention to those professions helping to build homes—construction managers, carpenters, equipment operators, long-haul truck drivers and construction laborers—and found these workers, except for construction managers, are unable to buy the very houses they’re helping to put up... The news is even worse for some of these trades when it comes to simply renting a home to live. In examining housing costs and wages in 200 metropolitan areas, the center discovered that construction laborers are struggling to pay rents in 75% of cities. Meanwhile, equipment operators and long-haul truck drivers are unable to afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment in approximately one-fourth of the markets...


* Salary cuts deep at USA Truck, Arkansas Best

Fort Smith,AR,USA -The City Wire -11 May 2009: -- Recent federal filings show big drops in operating expenses by two trucking companies based in the Fort Smith region... Responding to the decline in freight tonnage and trying to preserve cash are just two of the many reasons Fort Smith-based Arkansas Best Corp. and Van Buren-based USA Truck Inc. have reduced employment and other operating expenses... USA Truck announced April 16 a first-quarter net income loss of $1.88 million. The loss was an improvement over the $1.94 million lost in the first quarter of 2008. Total revenue in the first quarter was $93.49 million, down 26.5% from the $127.23 million in the same period of 2008.... Arkansas Best announced April 22 it lost $18.2 million in the first quarter, a wide swing from the $8.5 million earned in the same quarter of 2008. Total revenue for the quarter was $339.7 million, down 24% from the 2008 quarter...