Editorial: Offering Thanks for 2002's Bounty

November 27, 2002 9:00 AM, EST

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s Thanksgiving approaches, it's an excellent time for the trucking industry to take stock of where we've been this year, and where we're headed for the next 12 months.

We certainly need to be thankful for the hopeful signs we're all seeing of an impending rebound in our stagnating national economy. After two lean years, we're all in need of a good, fat business year. Freight levels are inching up and rate increases appear to be sticking.

We need to be thankful that fuel rates are coming back down. We've now had four straight weeks of declining pump prices after 10 straight weeks of increases. Diesel is still 10 cents a gallon above where it was four months ago, and about 15 cents higher than a year before, so prices are still too high. But it's good to see them heading in the right direction, even with world jitters over impending conflict in Iraq.

We are thankful that the fiasco surrounding the introduction of new, more environmentally friendly diesel engines wasn't even more disruptive to the trucking business than it was. While the truck and engine makers have had a rough time, most fleets were able to buy enough power units before the Oct. 1 deadline for the new engines or were able to buy late-model used vehicles to cover their needs for 2003. This, in turn, pushed used truck prices up from their remarkably low levels. This helped in an important way: Used equipment values were so low that many fleets were technically in serious financial straits because the value of their fleets didn't cover the collateral value they owed to lenders.

And we all need to be thankful to Ron Lantz, the Bass Transportation driver who helped end the reign of terror that had gripped the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area by helping law enforcement authorities capture the two sniper suspects. Lantz's actions in locating the suspects' car at a Maryland rest stop, and in blocking off the rest area until police arrived, were truly heroic. They also showed the entire nation that the concept behind ATA's Highway Watch program, of having the nation's professional truck drivers acting as eyes and ears for the law enforcement community, was a sound one — and one worth expanding.

So, even if things aren't perfect, and even knowing the many challenges we will be facing in coming months, we all have a lot for which to be thankful. Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from all of us.

This article appears in the Nov. 25 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

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