The trucking industry's Achilles heel is the cost of fuel. Check out how the high cost of gasoline, plus the recession's effect on freight delivieries, is delivering a crushing blow to trucking revenues:
Long-haul truckers that have trouble consolidating deliveries will continue to struggle. One trucking firm I like to follow, Landstar System (LSTR), was not immune from this revenue plunge. LSTR's revenue plunged 24% in 2009, in line with the industry total mentioned in the article. The good news is that LSTR's retained earnings continued to grow in 2009. I like that. I'll have to take a closer look at LSTR next week.
Nota bene: Anthony J. Alfidi has no position in LSTR at the time this post was published.
The less-than-truckload industry shrank 24.4 percent in 2009, as total U.S. LTL revenue plunged from $33.3 billion to $25.2 billion, according to an industry study.
The recession triggered by the 2008 global financial crisis spurred the worst decline in freight revenue in several years, the study by SJ Consulting Group revealed.
Long-haul truckers that have trouble consolidating deliveries will continue to struggle. One trucking firm I like to follow, Landstar System (LSTR), was not immune from this revenue plunge. LSTR's revenue plunged 24% in 2009, in line with the industry total mentioned in the article. The good news is that LSTR's retained earnings continued to grow in 2009. I like that. I'll have to take a closer look at LSTR next week.
Nota bene: Anthony J. Alfidi has no position in LSTR at the time this post was published.
