Death of the weak only hope for U.S. truck companies?

[fdmax]

Oil was the truck killer in the first half of 2008
The drop in the price of oil for many truckers was like an inmate on death row getting a temporary stay of execution from the governor
We are now over 27 months into a freight recession
The one thing that has kept many truck companies -- small, medium and large -- from going under has been the drop in diesel prices from record highs last summer
Most publicly traded companies -- especially long-haul operators
Knight Transportation Inc (KNX.N)$13.30, Heartland Express Inc (HTLD.O)$13.80 and Werner Enterprises Inc (WERN.O)$15.15
are expected to weather the storm as they have little debt.
private companies are at the highest risk, all eyes are on the country's struggling No. 1 trucker, LTL carrier YRC Worldwide Inc (YRCW.O)$3.13.
With no more lag effect (from falling oil prices), and, still, we face a bad economy and weak volumes
In the second half of last year, the whole trucking sector benefited from a drop of more than $100 per barrel in the price of oil as the worsening world economy lowered demand for fuel
Death of the weak only hope for U.S. truck companies? | Reuters



The Obama administration is formulating the next phase of the federal government's response to the banking crisis and have expressed a willingness to consider using the remaining $350 million of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP -- and possibly much more -- to buy up bad assets weighing down the banks. Bank of America(bac)$6.78, Citigroup(C)$3.82
'Bad Bank' Plan Has Pitfalls, Analysts Say | Banks | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com

[belpre122]

Most publicly traded companies -- especially long-haul operators
Knight Transportation Inc (KNX.N)$13.30, Heartland Express Inc (HTLD.O)$13.80 and Werner Enterprises Inc (WERN.O)$15.15
are expected to weather the storm as they have little debt.

Heh heh I have no trouble believing that they have little debt..............

They pass all of it on to their drivers. Coolie carriers.

[GMAN]

There are many problems with the stimulus tax. One is that the government has no constitutional right or obligation to bail out mismanaged companies whether it is banking or something else. Second, there has been no accountability on money that has been sent to these financial institutions up to this point. It was a mistake to bail out these banks. They should have been allowed to fail. Essentially that is what has happened anyway. They have failed and the government has stepped in and brought them back to life like the Phoenix. Government and business need to learn to operate efficiently We have had some difficult times in trucking along with many other segments of the economy. Things will continue to be difficult for the immediate future. Government doesn't seem to understand how to operate within their means. They continue to over spend and borrow to support this drunken spending spree they have been on for at least the last 30 or 40 years. It just keeps getting worse. A shake out is occurring in transportation. I believe we will see a true shortage of capacity at some point. Shippers and brokers are definitely taking advantage of the current over capacity situation. The problem will occur when the economy improves and the capacity isn't there. For those who can hang on it will be a boon because rates will rise dramatically. Shippers and brokers will be bidding on carriers and owner operators to haul their freight.

[LightsChromeHorsepower]

"Shippers and brokers will be bidding on carriers and owner operators to haul their freight. "

That will never happen so long as the industry remains deregulated and there is such ease of entry.

[Heavy Duty]

I believe several big carriers will fall, especially the ones that had most of their business from the auto makers. They are all now sucking up the brokered van freight trying to survive. My bet is come march when they have to buy tags some won't have the cash and go ahead and through in the towel.