Sales Down/Freight Down because....
 

Well, because you can't buy anything. Nothing in stock. This is why the economy has been slowing. Nothing to buy. It used to be, stores were overstocked, this year, even durring the Chrstmas season it seemed everything was sold out. Another thing is that they don't hire anyone anymore, and those they do, don't do thier jobs.

Several times, I walked into stores with credit card and check card in hand to buy something. Every time:

ME: "I would like to purchase this."
CLERK: "Oh, were out of those"
ME: "Well, how about this one?"
CLERK: "Just sold out of those."
ME: "Well, what do you have?"
CLERK: *points to something overpriced and not what I need* "We have these".
ME: "Well, why are you sold out?"
CLERK: "Because we can't get anything in".


So freight has been slower this year compared to other's I have heard. It seems that companies belive that reducing thier labor, and inventory, which is to them overhead, will result in more money.

This is quite backwards thinking from how it used to be. In the 90's and into the 2000's, stores kept overstocked if anything. Now, these two bit middle managment white collar idiots are running the shows, trying to keep thier paychecks up with the slower economy. I couldn't even get an oil filter for my car today at Adv. Auto Parts because they were out, just like they were the other week. It's a SBC, so it's not a rare engine. If I owned a store, and the shelves were empty, even when sales were down, someone would loose thier job. I wonder if these buisnesses know how much money they are loosing due to slack inventory.

Sorry for the rant, but it's just getting redicouls. It is resulting in a reduction of freight, reducing our jobs, reducing how much we spend.... it goes down the line. I'm going to wal-mart, they usually have things in stock. Other companies are calling them an unfair monopoly, but that's because they know how to run things.

Loose is what your pants are if they aren't tight enough. Lose is the word you were going for.

Out of stock
 

I live in Illinois and there is an inventory tax of 6% on everything carried over from one year to the next. I worked in an industrial supply/hardware store at the time the law was passed. We went from "I'll get it for you." to "We can order it." That's not what a jobsite contractor wants to hear.
This has only added to Illinois unhealthy business climate. Factor in high workmans comp, and companies are leaving this state in droves.
Illinois is a good place to be from; it's not a good place to be.

We're a leading indicator. Freight is slow because the economy is slowing.

Our industry is contracting because it is cheaper to produce overseas. It will get worse because the logistics industry is restructuring due to the "NAFTA Highway" and moving freight to domestic points from overseas will be cheaper than ever.