This is a bright spot post, and is very heartening!
What is produced there??? Very curious!
I believe the slowdowns are soooooooo regional & sooooooooo specific (mfg vs retail, etc), that it is the aggregate of it all that hurts. I believe the largest drop in the mfg index in years was reported this past week. Granted, it is an aggregate, but it is very foretelling. It must be experienced before it can be reported. And....
... I just have to report on my age-old barometer of Interstate traffic. That barometer sounds a tad silly, but I have been traveling the EXACT same route covering 30 mi (one-way) at exactly the same time every morning for 12 yrs, 6-days per week.
The tractor trailer units moving both ways on I-75 in the latter 90's was almost 'train-like' and, imho, overwhelming for the average small car! Well now... that barometer moved 'down' during the slowdown of 2000 - 2003 & picked up nicely during '03-'04. It was a steady, strong stream of carriers and there were peaks of heavy traffic for weeks. It almost could be graphed like the S&P index graph.
In January of this year, the traffic truly eased up. I attributed it to University semester breaks/weather/small changes in habit. But, when Feb rolled around, traffic was STILL lean even though the University was in session. Moving to the past three weeks, I can get on the interstate with (some mornings) ZERO need to "merge". The interstate was clear. Still the optimist, I originally thought the clear road was a lucky break...
It is clear to me that the civilian traffic is markedly lower and, simultaneously, the motor carrier traffic is significantly down as well. This would be normal in January, but absolutely abnormal in March or April of any given year.
Something different is happening since January. And, every morning, I'm wondering "where's all the traffic?" I-75 goes from one end of the country to the other... I-64 is a nice cross over to the East/West route and (believe it or not), this juncture of interstates is within 3-days rail of 80% of the population of the United States. It is no wonder that Toyota/satellite plants & other industries move in-and-out of this area. This IS the route I travel and the traffic on that route is extremely indicative of goods moving based upon demand for products.
There are no train-like caravans of motor carriers. There is traffic, however they are experiencing the same thing free-wheeling that I am experiencing. There is no need for braking or slowing down.
Hmmmmmmmmm.
AI
