By John Blodgett, MacKay & Company
As we enter into a new year (2018 for those of you keeping track) most firms have, or maybe a little belatedly, are now determining what their goals are for the year. This is the same for the heavy-duty aftermarket as it is for any industry.
We are currently (as of January) in the 103rd-consecutive month of economic expansion for the U.S. economy since the end of the recession in June 2009. Obviously, all those months were not easy going, many portions of the economic recovery and expansion were very weak and for some sectors, such as fracking and oil drilling, there have been some high highs and some low lows.
The economy during this expansion has dealt with exchange rate issues, burdensome government regulations, a slowing economy in China, economic slowdowns in Europe, outright recession in Brazil and other factors. Not that everything is peachy keen (good) across the world; there is still Dennis Rodman’s friend in North Korea, but globally on whole, things are good.
As of Dec. 8, 2017, unemployment was at 4.1 percent, a 17-year-low in the U.S. People that had fallen off all records for unemployment are coming back to work and many of those working are seeing their incomes increased, which bodes well for consumer spending.
Trucking payrolls grew by 1,800 in November, imports are up — which means good activity at the nation’s ports — and consumer and business confidence are at record high levels.
