Economic Blast
Two reports out Tuesday pointed to stronger U.S. economic growth. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group, said its gauge of manufacturing rose to 59 in August, buoyed by new orders for goods and increased production. Anything above 50 signals growth. Separately, the Commerce Department said that construction spending surged 1.8 percent in July, the biggest increase in more than 2 years.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had increased in July, improved further in August. The Index now stands at 92.4 (1985=100), up from 90.3 in July. The Present Situation Index increased to 94.6 from 87.9, while the Expectations Index edged down to 90.9 from 91.9 in July.
Quotable
"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."- John Wooden (Basketball Coaching Legend)
Ramp/Dock Report: September 2014
PierPass, Inc. recently announced that its off-peak program has reached a major milestone, diverting its 30 millionth truck trip from daytime to off-peak evening hours! Unlike most other operating port terminals, LA/LGB has for the most part, moved containers reliably and without the major delays caused from over congestion!
Absolute Intermodal, LLC is excited to announce our newest operating entity, All Decks Intermodal, LLC. The All Decks division will be marketing a door-to-door product using the newest intermodal flat deck to help on consistent moves that would normally go over-the-road via truck and flatbed trailer. Available operating locations are currently being formulated and should have pricing and points available by October 2014. Please let us know if you have any interest in this and we can determine the pricing as well as the operating timetable.
Please remember that we will be attending the IANA EXPO in Long Beach from September 20-23 this year. We look forward to meeting and visiting with many of our business partners, customers and friends. We look forward to discussing the All Decks opportunities with you there.
Lessons from the Past
Some may say that NASCAR fans are a breed to themselves.Recently while spending time with a good friend and business associate from Alabama, the topic of NASCAR came up. My friend was surprised to hear that my son and I attended many of what was then called Winston Cup races in the 80's. As a logistics professional, a past company that I had founded was heavily involved in warehousing and distribution. One of our largest accounts was BASF Chemical, who then sponsored a race car in the Winston Cup for their antifreeze brand "Zerex". The racing team was Alan Kulwicki Racing.
In addition to being a huge racing fan, my son Matt was also a fair artist from his youth. To this day, Matt has several art and racing awards including 3 years consecutive winning the SCCA overall championship for his Reno, NV club of over 200 members. In November 1988 while attending the inaugural Checker 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway, Matt and I were enjoying a breakfast with Alan and Benny Parsons at the outdoor patio of the team hotel. Alan's car for the 1988 season was rather plain and consisted largely of Black-White-Deep Red color scheme and the large number 7 also in deep red.
Zerex had just unveiled its new logo and color scheme at Phoenix for the antifreeze bottle. Matt picked-up on the new colors and drew a new paint scheme for Alan with the 1989 Ford Thunderbird and handed it to him at breakfast that morning of the race. Alan really liked the scheme and taped the hand drawn picture to his dash for the current race that afternoon. The then in-car cameras focused on the picture and Bob Jenkins, the broadcast commentator for the race, had the story on ESPN nationally!
The amazing story does not end there, as Alan won his first Winston Cup race that day by a record 18.5 seconds over the next car! On his victory lap around Phoenix International Raceway, Alan reversed directions for what would become known as a "Polish Victory Lap"! The following race season (1989) Alan's car was painted in the exact scheme that Matt had drawn! Forgive me for the 'proud dad tale', but it really was special to remember. Sadly, Alan died April 1, 1993 in a private plane crash in Tennessee after having won the Winston Cup championship in 1982!