Well the economy appears to be heading off a cliff, banks are not lending, commercial paper is locked up, and companies are having trouble just funding day to day operations. Even companies with good credit ratings are now admitting they have large quantities of debts on their books that basically are worthless and are having issues paying the bills. So this raises the question about just how reliable credit reports or ratings are for any of these companies.

So this got me thinking this morning about the OO's here on this forum and getting paid for pulling a load. In this environment has anyone started to demand payment up front? Even possibly asking for cash just to ensure the check isn't from Goodyear?

Second thought was centered around the rumor that is floating around that the Fed has instructed banks that if the situation does not stabilize soon they "may" have to declare a bank holiday where the banks would be shut down for up to a week. What kind of contingency plans do you guys have for an event like this? Has anyone started to prepare for this type of event?

Longsnowsm

I would not panic. There is no reason to get overly excited. My primary bank has told me that they have plenty of money and are still making loans to those who are qualified. They have always been fairly conservative so they will be doing business as usual. If you have concerns it might be a good idea to put back some money in cash. I don't plan on doing that myself. If the banks shut down for a week this industry will need to shut down with them. All of the fuel cards carriers use are issued by different banks. If the banks shut down the carriers will not have access to their fuel cards. No fuel, no move.

I am careful to whom I give credit. If I feel there might be a problem getting paid then I will either ask for payment up front, cod or not take the load. I don't think it is a good idea to start making major changes in how I do business with people unless there are real reasons that there could be a problem. If we, as a nation, start to panic then we will make the problem much worse. By not keeping a cool head we could create the situation we are hoping to avoid. It is a good idea to reduce our debt during these times. It is also good to remain as liquid as possible. It would probably not be a bad idea to have some cash on hand if you are concerned. The current economic situation currently affects some of the major banks and investment houses, mostly around New York. There may be some trickle down effect, but many communities will not directly be affected. The media has help to feed this problem. Don't get me wrong. We have a very serious situation on our hands and it is worldwide. We will survive this and be stronger because of it.

Let's not go overboard with the paranoia. Banks are NOT going to go under tomorrow and while the economy is bad, depression number 2 is NOT around the corner. Here's the deal concerning banks:

Ask YOUR bank if they issued sub-prime mortgages or bought packaged bundles of mortgages as securities. If your bank says "NO" your bank is NOT in danger. If your bank says "YES" well, I'd be cautious...you may want to switch banks to one that did not issue sub-prime loans or buy these now worthless securities. My bank made it a point to tell it's customers that all's well because my bank never played the sub-prime game. That's the big killer right now - worthless mortgages. That's bringing everything else down with it.

Remember this come election day: Barack Hussein Obama is not only SUPPORTED BY THE VERY GREEDY PEOPLE THAT FOISTED THIS MESS ON US IN THE FIRST PLACE, but he HAD A HAND IN IT AND FINANCIALLY BENEFITTED FROM IT, TOO.

We bank with Wells Fargo and they are not going anywhere... They are so conservative.....

Well...Personally I blame the whole Wachovia mess on my best freind. The day after he took his last $19.25 out of his Wachovia account..they was being sold by the FDIC.Had he left his money sit...they might have lasted another half a day.

One way to tell if your bank is having trouble is to ask them if they charge non bank customers a fee for cashing checks drawn on their bank for non customers. Wachovia was doing this a year or two ago. I suspected they were in trouble then because they would not cash a check drawn on their bank without me having an account with them. If your bank charges non customers to cash one of their checks they are likely on the way down as well. They are in financial difficulty and trying to grab revenue any way they can. Another I would watch is Compass in Alabama. They were doing the same thing. I am sure there are a few others. My bank doesn't do that.