Editorial: Ending 2003 on a Happier Note

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his year is certainly ending on a far cheerier note than on which it began. Early in 2003, the U.S. economy was still stagnating after a “false alarm” recovery that proved to be an illusion.

Fuel prices were beginning to rise, eventually setting an all-time record in early spring, even as insurance costs were escalating, taking another chunk out of trucking’s bottom line.

Things began to look a little better when the federal government unveiled its latest iteration of the new hours-of-service rules for truck drivers. While far from ideal, the new plan was a major improvement over what had been proposed earlier.

Bill Graves, who took the reins at American Trucking Associations in January, made peace with Natso over truck-stop legislation and with the nation’s railroads over size-and-weight issues. And the National Tank Truck Carriers rejoined the ATA federation.

The nation’s fleets appeared to come to terms with the new lower-emissions engines that the federal government had mandated. While not glowing in their praise, many fleets reported that the engines were performing satisfactorily, although they reported that fuel economy was suffering.

More fleets began to buy the new engines.

As the difficult economic times pushed a number of fleets out of business, trucking capacity declined. Then, as the economy began to stir, fleets were able to raise rates as shippers scrambled to find carriers to move their goods.

Meanwhile, two giants in the less-than-truckload market, Yellow and Roadway, agreed to merge to form a national powerhouse, even as they retained their separate identities in the marketplace.

Diesel prices moderated around midyear, and are now closer to year-ago levels, relieving some of the strain on fleet profits.

As the economy began to improve, so did the stock market. And several fleets took advantage of the improving conditions to float initial stock offerings, led by Overnite Transportation and Central Freight Lines.

Overnite owner Union Pacific Corp. completed the IPO in December, 17 months after the flagging stock market led the company to pull its original attempt.

By the last quarter of 2003, the economy was unmistakably on a drive, as jobless rates finally began to fall and manufacturing and retailing reported notable gains.

Thanks to all this, we can now turn our sights to 2004, with a lot more bounce in our steps.

This story appeared in the combined Dec. 22 & 29 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

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