Editorial: Out With the Bad, in With the Better?

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img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>For many of us, 2002 was a year to endure, to get through so that we could enjoy the fruits of times to come. Now that we have made it to the brink of 2003, we can all hope that the new year brings better times.

And as we gather with family and friends, it's a good time to count our blessings, to place our disappointments into perspective and to focus our wishes for tomorrow.

This was a year when the weak and the troubled had to give up the fight. Among the wave of bankruptcies and shutdowns was one of the best-known brands in the trucking industry, Consolidated Freightways.

While CF's demise allowed many less-than-truckload carriers to raise their rates as shippers began to worry about fleet capacity, it was a bittersweet fruit. CF was the largest carrier ever to declare bankruptcy, and its closing meant the loss of jobs for more than 15,000 drivers, mechanics and dockworkers, along with legions of sales and support staff.

Freight levels for most of the year were extremely disappointing, although the economy showed signs of life in the second half.

The truck manufacturing sector had a dismal year, until the federal deadline for lower-emissions engines approached, spurring buying that helped salvage at least part of the year.

Government revenues dived as the economy slowed, leading to toll increases in several areas, including a 300% planned jump in the fees charged to trucks crossing the Delaware River over seven bridges between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

And, as reported in this issue, some key congressional leaders are pursuing a plan that could add 2 cents a gallon to federal fuel taxes each of the next six years, in addition to cost-of-living escalators that could raise the taxes even higher.

But there is still reason to be optimistic about the future. Analysts almost all agree that the economy will improve in 2003, although it's unclear how soon and by how much.

The Department of Transportation is about to issue a new proposal to reform the federal hours-of-service regulations, and we have reason to believe that it will be a major improvement on DOT's last, doomed effort.

Also, the new Congress is likely to be more pro-business, which can only be good for trucking.

All in all, we in trucking have reasonable cause to be optimistic that 2003 will be a good year. Now we just need to make it happen.

Happy Holidays from all of us to all of you.

This article appears in the Dec. 23-30 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.