I know the Economy is about to BLOW up in Obama's Face and there is NO WAY he is going to be able to HIDE it. Why Railroad Year to Year Shipments are DOWN 5% on a Tonnage and Carload and Intermodal Shipment Basis. The last time the AAR said they saw this was in the 70's. Every MEASURE they use to measure Traffic on the Railroads is OFF at least 5% over last year and down 10% from 2007. Then throw in Obama saying he is going to VETO anything that extends the PTC requirement for the Railroads and the Railroads saying they need more time and if they do not GET THAT TIME they will SHUT DOWN rather than be Fined. Word to the Wise about Jan 1 if the Railroads do not get the extra time they need to Get PTC installed LOOK FOR THE RAILROADS TO STOP MOVING FREIGHT. Get ready for one hell set of Gridlock on the roads. Why the Fines for the Railroads are in the order of 10 Million a Day Per Train if they run without Positive Train Control installed by Jan 1 2015.

Obama and his Cronies fails to understand that you can not put in 200K miles of Rail under a Brand New from Scratch System with 40K locomotives and 1 Million cars plus switches and all the other Gear with equipment that was not even INVENTED until 3 years ago put into Production until 2 Years ago and oh yeah the Railroads do not have the MANPOWER needed to do all the installs needed and the FCC until this Year Blocked the Radio Freq needed out west for the PTC to work. Gotta love the Government. This system has cost the Class ones and Regional Railroads that haul Passengers and any kind of Haz Mat over 20 Billion dollars so far and they still have 15 Billion more to go. Even the BNSF with all of Buffets Cash could not make it happen.

No disrespect Ironeagle2006 (and I didn't even know about this issue until you mentioned it) but you blaming Obama is one of the major problems in this country. I'm not an Obama fan, I'm not a Republican nor a Democrat. I'm American. People waste so much time and hatred on a person that doesn't even know their name. All our system has become is sports in suits. Democrats Vs Republicans. And when I looked this issue up here is the first paragraph of the article I read:

A recent confluence of events calling for an extension of the Congressionally-mandated December 31, 2015 Positive Train Control (PTC) deadline saw another development this week, with new legislation introduced by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

So you see it's not the President who implemented this it was Congress. People forget we don't live in a dictatorship. There are I think 535 Congress members (Of course they are playing the sports in suits too game) but nonetheless...

Anyway, thanks for mentioning this and informing us, or those that don't know, about this issue.

Sorry just to mention that you did point out that he was going to Veto it not mandate it. But nonetheless but I think 2/3 of congress can override that veto. And from the little I read it is a bi-partisan bill to extend the deadline.

The Railroads in 2012 told the FRA and the SEC of Transportation and President OBAMA there was NO Way in HADES that they could meet the 2015 Deadline 3 Years ago. Obama Ignored them and this YEAR accused them of Dragging their Feet even though people Like Nancy Pelosi the President of Amtrak all 7 CEO's of the Class 1 Railroads the Head of the AAR the Head of the Chemical Shippers Alliance and multiple OTHER groups told his Administration that there is NO way to meet the Deadline. Then when the Railroads all Started to Announce that they will be Shutting Down Jan 1 to not be running Illegally Obama still did not get the Message and is threatening to VETO ANY Bill that has an Extension.

PTC is the largest project taken on by the Railroads in the US since the Transcon lines where laid over a century ago. They have to Replace 200K miles of Signals Resurvey every inch of their Tracks with GPS more accurate than what an ICBM uses plus equip every locomotive in the fleet with computers and software that can determine with 100 Percent Reliable Certainty where and when they are and operate in an operation that makes OTR trucking look like a Walk in the Park. The Western Railroads alone have to place 15 Thousand New Radio Towers Each system wide get all those new towers to talk to each other and the main computers plus every locomotive in the fleet. Now just when was the Tech made that could do all this the Boxes for the Locomotives where not even on the Drawing Boards in 2008 they where Prototypes in 2010 put into mass Production in 2012. The FCC blocked the Railroads from the Needed Radio Waves until Last Year and was holding up all Tower Permits until THIS YEAR due to EIS and Indian Burial Ground Worries. Then to top it off this is an UNFUNDED MANDATE from the Government and oh yeah every Locomotive Nationwide must be able to use the Same Systems regardless of what Railroads they are on and so forth.

Now the Kicker here is the Fine Structure 100 Grand Per Train Per Day Per Line that is NOT Equipped. All Lines that haul even 1 Load of Haz Mat or 1 passenger train a year are Required to be Equipped with PTC. Since you never know when you might be forced to reroute a train due to a derailment the Railroads are being forced to install it on all their Main Lines and some Secondary lines.

Merrick you may think this is not going to affect you in Florida well it will. Why because most Chlorine that is used to purify Water is shipped via Rail most Fertilizer like AH Ammonia is shipped via Rail into Florida. Additives for Fuels are shipped via Rail Ethanol for Gas is Rail Shipped. The Railroads have all said they will Shut down if they do not get their extension and Obama I bet will not care thinking I can blame this on the Congress.

I agree that this is not the best time to buy a truck. Rates have been soft for much of this year and there is a lot going on in the geopolitical arena. Global confidence is pretty much non existent with Obama at the helm. There is a lot that could push the country over the tipping point. I just read that congress is about to give Obama another $80 billion to blow. I think most people can sense something is not quite right with the country or economy. I am very thankful that I no longer have equipment payments, especially if the economy does falter. Obama can no longer blame Bush for his mistakes. He has had 7 years to prove himself. What he has done is prove himself to be incompetent at all levels. As we have discussed previously, trucking is the first to see a slowdown and first to see a turnaround.

well... it hit me again. this time something simple turned in to a "big" job. my exhaust manifold was leaking.. again.. (time#5..) I brought it to a cat dealer. they went to take everything apart to find that the turbo is missing 2 fins, has massive shaft play, and was hitting the housing. no wonder why lately the truck has felt soft.. $6500 on this one. pay pick it up and lick my wounds. live to fight another day in this rat race business.

I am sorry to hear that you had a problem with your truck. At least you have one less thing to worry about breaking. That seems high for a turbo. The last one I replaced on a CAT cost me about $2,700 for labor and parts. That was several years ago. I guess the difference may be the time spent finding the problem. I stay away from dealer whenever possible. I have a local mechanic that charges about half what KW charges. I can't believe the labor rates dealers charge!!

it was also a new manifold as well. they also fixed the oil line going to the compressor as well. so far seems to be like a different truck. power is so smooth now, pulls amazing and I think I gained .3-.5mpg back.. I don't know because my bunk heater quit 2 weeks ago. I'm happy with the work