Keep On Trucking, I Hope

Many years ago when I was in Munich Germany, I went to the “old” art museum many times. On the walls of some of the galleries were some huge paintings that seemed like they took up the whole wall. These paintings told a story and within each one there were several smaller stories taking place. Some of these beautiful oils were by Rubens and others, by lesser known artists. These paintings you did not just look at, you studied them. And, if you were lucky enough to visit them again and again, you would see something new each time you stood before them. You could stand to the right or left or in the center, and you could stand close or you could take several steps back as each location on the floor would give you a different perspective of a very large picture.

When we look at the economy in the United States today, it is much like looking at a huge painting or mosaic glass window. Many pieces make up the whole. Each piece when joined with every other piece makes the complete picture. The problem with the economy today is that many of the pieces are not operating the way they should be. Unfortunately, the leadership in Washington has been so busy with themselves, that they have forgotten that they had a job to do for the people they represent besides getting themselves reelected. The wheels of the economy may be ready to come to a halt.

Yesterday on the news, there was a story about the truckers and the price of diesel. A little known fact to me was that 80% of the trucking done in the United States is done by independent truckers. These independent truckers can not make it given the sharp increase in the cost of diesel. In an earlier posting, I stated the everything we wear, eat and use in our daily lives travels to us by truck. This is not an “urban legend”, this is a fact. And, these independent truckers are pulling there trucks off the road because the price of fuel means they are not making any money after they do the arithmetic.

Yesterday there were hearings in Washington and a few oil company executives gave testimony about the price of oil and fuel and how our own policies have kept the production of fuel down. Congress bashed them about their profits and why they did not spend more money on alternative sources of fuel. That did a lot of good. The problem remains. Diesel is the fuel that America runs on and unless something is done to ease the shortage of diesel fuel and bring the price down, this country is looking at an economy that might fall into a serious recession.

Disconnect all the dots that holds this nation together by the trucking industry, and we will all be staying home. Everything moves by truck, and the truckers are saying they can’t make it. Either trucking rates have to go up so that truckers can make a living or nothing is going to move on our highways. The alternative is for the price of diesel to go back down.
Congress, the ball is in your court, you can make an attempt to bring about a lowering of diesel prices or you can change the tax laws as they affect truckers. You have some tools in your tool bag, and you better start using them. Even congress people need to eat. Without this serious problem addressed and addressed soon, inflation will take off at an even greater rate than its been. Inflation will affect more than just food prices, inflation will affect interest rates and now the picture is complete. We are right back to the beginning. The Fed wants to keep interest rates low to help us through the present credit crisis. 2008 is going to be a long year. Stay tuned.