Guages
20 OVERDRIVE OCTOBER 2008 Gauges Numbers that affect and reflect your business OWNER-OPERATOR COSTS $4.16 $4.11 $4.02 $4.02 $4.10 September 8, 2008 11,000 10,500 10,000 9,500 9,000 8,500 $1.30 $1.20 $1.10 $1.00 $.90 $.80 $.70 $.60 $.50 $.40 Quarterly data points represent three-month averages. MILES PER MONTH FUEL COSTS PER MILE TOTAL COSTS PER MILE (ALL SEGMENTS) National average: $4.06 $5.00 $4.00 $3.00 $2.00 $1.00 U .S. Depar tment of Ener gy Sept. 7, 1998 Sept. 8, 2003 Sept. 8, 2008 Owner-operators tend to live in regions where manufacturing and agriculture thrive, according to 's 2008 Owner-Operator Market Behavior Report and ATBS data. BORDER TRADE Surface trade between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico increased 6.6 percent year over year to $74.1 billion in June, accord-ing to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The value of imports carried by trucks increased year over year in June. Total costs per mile for all segments, driven mainly by fuel costs, increased 25 cents during the sec-ond quarter, compared to a year ago, according to financial services firm ATBS. Second-quarter miles also dropped for all segments from a year ago. DRY VAN FLATBED REEFER CONSTRUCTION Home is where the load is Construction spending fell 0.6 percent in July as new housing con-struction fell to its lowest level since March 2001, the Commerce Department announced. Private residential construction fell 2.3 percent, while private non-residential fell 0.7 percent. Public con-struction projects increased 1.4 percent to $310 billion in July while spending for federal, state and local building projects reached all-time highs. $75* $70 $65 $60 $55 *Billions June Dec. June Dec. June 2006 2006 2007 2007 2008 MANUFACTURING Manufacturing remained stagnant in August, but the overall econ-omy grew for the 82nd consecutive month, reports the Institute of Supply Management. Export orders picked up additional momen-tum, and that is important to manufacturers as domestic demand remains soft, said ISM's Norbert Ore. Although diesel fuel prices more than quadrupled in 10 years, the price dropped for eight weeks through Sept. 8. OWNER-OPERATOR HOME BASE U.S. MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT New England Middle Atlantic South Atlantic East North Central West North Central East South Central West South Central Mountain Pacific 2% 11% 17% 21% 13% 8% 12% 8% 8% 5% 11% 16% 23% 7% 8% 10% 5% 15%