Committed to Being the Best	SPRING 2004

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

One thing I have always enjoyed about being in transportation is having a sense of the larger economy through my daily work activities. It was always interesting to be able to relate things getting a little more frantic and pressured with glowing economic reports and high stock prices. The internet has multiplied the measures and statistics that are available to keep economic and transportation information in focus. We can receive daily emails or weekly magazines/ newspapers from the transportation industry, all of which present various statistics. It was interesting, since about February, to watch several months of transportation volume increases without strong evidence that the manufacturing sector was really coming awake. I kept saying to myself that those raw materials tons couldn't be moving without some products being manufactured. The recovery had to start sometime. One new source of information about all modes of transportation is the US Department of Transportation's Transportation Services Index (TSI). The internet link is www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml. The website describes the TSI as "a measure of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, which include railroad, air, truck, and inland waterways transportation, pipeline transportation, and local transit. The TSI is still under development and is considered experimental." Last week the TSI reached the highest level in the 14-year period covered by the index with a 1.0 percent rise in March, and the Freight TSI reached an all-time high with a 1.4 percent increase. The overall TSI rose every month since August 2003 except for a drop in January this year. Another source is the American Trucking Association's Truck Index www.truckline.com/insideata/press/030104_tonnage.html which is based on surveys of all ATA member carriers. According to Transportation Topics magazine, this measure is hovering near all-time highs as manufacturing ramps up and the economy picks up steam. Here are some bullet points from an article I read yesterday: With these tonnage increases, truckload carriers appear finally to be getting a break. While cost pressures haven't let up, the number of tractors and trailers hauling loads hasn't increased enough to keep up with the growth in freight. For example, in April, total searches for trucks on a posting network where 3PLs and brokers are looking for equipment to haul specific loads - were up 129% against the same month last year, while truck postings were down 26%. That means the demand for trucks far outstripped the supply of them. The biggest challenge for carriers will continue to be drivers. The economic slowdown over the past few years masked a fundamental driver shortage. The recent construction boom has drawn away many potential new drivers; and the recent changes to driver hours-of-service regulations limit daily miles driven and, therefore, driver pay, thereby contributing to turnover and further shortages. Two weeks ago the Milwaukee paper also noted strong hiring, showing that even our slow responding manufacturing sector is picking up its tempo. We can hope that all of our member's companies are part of this job momentum. In alignment with our mission to foster ongoing relationships among those engaged in the transportation process, and enhance the transportation environment in the greater Milwaukee area, lets keep an eye on the transportation environment. Let us all focus on the transportation community in Milwaukee with an eye to what we can do to help our fellow TAMI members and enhance the transportation environment. George Murphy