* New Jersey - Trucking operators tighten belts as US economy grows uncertain
-- When ArcBest announced more than 200 layoffs at subsidiary ABF Freight System this month, it was the latest alarm bell to ring through a trucking industry growing more pessimistic about the flagging U.S. economy... Although the layoffs represented less than 2 percent of ABF’s workforce, the company also cut payroll through attrition. Altogether, ABF Freight reduced its workforce by about 4 percent in January. ABF, the nation’s seventh-largest less-than-truckload operator, isn’t alone... A round of belt tightening has begun at LTL and truckload carriers as U.S. trucking companies start to shift from cautious optimism about the year ahead to outright caution as the U.S. economy slows to a crawl. Although trucking executives generally expect a stronger second half of the year, “uncertain” at best describes their outlook... Those executives are trying to determine whether the marked slowdown in shipments in 2015 had more to do with temporarily high inventories and slow sales or deeper, fundamental economic issues that could push the U.S. into another recession after seven years of slow growth... The Cass Freight Index for December showed freight volumes dropping 4.9 percent from November. The decline was partly attributed to bloated inventories and slower replenishment cycles, as well as the manufacturing slowdown and a drop in freight demand from the energy sector. The warmest December on record in the contiguous U.S. also seemed to suppress retail sales of typical winter items such as heavy coats, gloves, scarves, hats and snow shovels...
(Photo: JOC headquarters chittagong) -- Newark, NJ, USA - JOC, by William B. Cassidy - Feb 14, 2016Labels: trucking industry news USA
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