North American surface trade climbs 8.3% year-over-year in May

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Trade using surface transportation between Canada, the US and Mexico, was 8.3% higher in May than in May 2011, totalling $83.8 billion (not adjusted for inflation), according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the US Department of Transportation. Adjusted for inflation and exchange rates, the May total was $60.7 billion in 2004 dollars, up 11.7% from May 2011. 

BTS reported that the May value of US surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 13.0% from May 2008, six months into the recession, and 75.0% from May 2009, late in the recession.

The value of US surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in May increased by 72.6% compared to May 2002. Imports in May were up 62.5% since May 2002, while exports were up 85.9%.

In May, 86.5% of US trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved via land, 9.6% moved by vessel, and 3.8% moved by air.

The value of US surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico increased 5.0% in May from April.

US-Canada surface transportation trade in May increased compared to May 2011, reaching $48.1 billion, a 4.0% increase.

In May, Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada, at $6.5 billion, a 2.6% increase from May 2011. Of the top 10 states by value, California had the largest percentage increase over May 2011, at 29.7%.

The top commodity category transported between the US and Canada by surface modes of transportation in May was vehicles, valued at $9.5 billion.

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Haldex's American CEO steps down; will focus on North American market

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The American CEO of Haldex has announced he is stepping down as CEO of the company effective Dec. 1.

Jay Longbottom cited difficulties in managing a publicly-listed company based in Sweden from the US as a reason for his decision. He'll be replaced by Ulf Ahlen, former executive vice-president of Haldex Traction as acting CEO until a permanent replacement is found, Haldex announced.

Longbottom will remain with Haldex as president of North American operations and will also serve as executive vice-president for the Haldex Air Control division.

"My commitment to Haldex will not in any way change," Longbottom said. "From a personal point of view this is the best solution for all parties since it has shown to be very difficult to combine living in the US and leading a global company with its headquarters in Sweden."

"We respect Jay´s decision to step down as CEO of Haldex," says Goran Carlson, chairman of the Board of Haldex AB. "Jay is a well-liked manager who has greatly added to the company's development. We are pleased that Jay will be able to focus more on the North American market and take on the role as head of the important Air Control Division. At the same time we have secured a smooth transition with Ulf Ahlen as acting CEO, who with his Haldex Group background will add valuable experience and competence."

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Volvo's 3Q Earnings Jump; Predicts 20% Growth in North American Sales

Volvo AB’s third-quarter profit jumped 36% and the company said heavy-duty truck sales in North America will rise 20% next year, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Net income rose to $585 million, while sales rose 15% to $11.2 billion, Bloomberg reported. Gothenburg, Sweden-based Volvo reports its earnings in Swedish krona.

Third-quarter truck orders rose 18% as purchases in North and South America helped offset slowing demand in Europe and Asia, Bloomberg reported, citing Volvo.

CEO Olof Persson, who headed Volvo’s construction equipment unit before taking the top post last month, said Volvo is now taking orders for the beginning of next year in North America, Bloomberg reported.

Volvo, the parent company of Mack Trucks and Volvo Trucks North America, is also the parent of Renault trucks in Europe.

Earlier this month, Volvo announced a reorganization of its heavy-duty vehicle truck business to align along geographic regions rather than by brands.

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The Largest Act of Civil Disobedience in American History

ecosalon.com — Protest organizers confirm that 2,100 people from all over the country are coming to Washington D.C. to be arrested over the next two weeks. 5 days ago View in Crawl 4

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One Less American Business; Borders

Growing up in Huntsville for the longest time we only had one bookstore. It is a local chain out of Florence Alabama, Books A Million. They are still my favorite bookstore with Barnes and Noble quickly coming in second. I had never heard of a Borders until I traveled with my husband while trucking one summer. I don’t remember exactly where we were, but it was in the North. He made a point of getting me by a store, as he knew I loved all things books. It was an awesome store. I found out that there were some stores in the south, but they were all in Georgia. I think Atlanta would have been the closest to us while we were still in Bama. 

Now that I have been living above the Mason-Dixon line, I have had opportunities to visit a Borders that is about a 45 minute drive from my home.  

Now, Borders, started by brothers Tom and Louis Borders, and who have been in business for 40 years, is closing shop across the board in Chapter 7 land. In February of this year they filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Now it is complete shut down mode. Around 11,000 people will loose their jobs and a really nice bookstore, in my opinion, will be gone.  The total stores closing are 399, with 10 of those stores all in Georgia. 

They are in liquidation mode right now and although I have not been able to hit the big sales, some family members have and told me it was chaos, but some really good deals were worth pushing through the crowds and the disarray of books that were just stuck anywhere.  

They plan to see the liquidation complete by September. The liquidation could generate $252 million to $285 million. This company has not turned a profit since 2006. In 2008 Borders ended their marketing alliance with Amazon.com. Amazon had been acting as Borders’ online component. They owe tens of million dollars to publishers. They owe Penguin  Putnam $41.5 million and debts to 3 other publishers at about $35 million each.  

It is said that Borders also failed to jump in with the new trends in the reading industry. The electronic readers, electronic books and web usage in general, which is today’s hottest methods of reading, got away from them due to being too sluggish in responding. Some analysts have said that Borders focused too much on superstores. When Borders saw their peak in 2003 they had 1,249 stores under the names Borders and Waldenbooks.  

In 1992 Borders was acquired by K-mart, who had also acquired Waldenbooks previously. K-mart’s hope was that the Borders business brains would help save the floundering Waldenbooks. Waldenbooks were mainly found in shopping malls.  

They also made the mistake of hiring 4 CEOs in the past five years who had no book selling experience. That one baffles me. Payoffs, blackmail, politics, or just old fashion stupidity? There has also been a good amount of shuffling on the board for some time.  

Another analyst said Americans are buying lesser books. Sales fell nearly 5% in 2010. I know personally, I have really cut back on the books I actually buy. I use our library. If my local branch doesn’t have what I am looking for, I can request the book and from anywhere in the region, based on availability, they will loan it to me out of my local branch.

You know how on Cheers when Norm walked in the door everyone yelled Norm! When I walk in the library they all say Kimberly! They just do it in a quiet way.  

From what I read it seems Borders made some really lousy business decisions. And unfortunately in this economy there were no takers when Borders was up on the block before the bankruptcy deadline. An actual auction had been arranged but was cancelled according to the Wall Street Journal.  

I blame this economy, but that is just my guessing. I thought if times were better, maybe someone would have seen some potential with Borders, but I think it would take too much money and too much time to get it right. I could be wrong; it could just be that even trying to salvage Borders would be another bad business decision.  

Either way, I think it is a shame we are seeing this company close it’s doors. Not just because it is a bookstore, but also because it is an American company based out of Ann Arbor Michigan. The worse outcome in this situation of course is that many folks are loosing their jobs. That will mean 11,000 more people dealing with the stress of loosing their job and trying to find another job. Even more stressful is the pickings right now in the job market are not very encouraging.  

Take care and stay safe,

KJ

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Enchanted Highway: Follow an American dream

Metal Family - credit Lindsay Godfree

Perhaps you have heard of the Enchanted Highway, or maybe you have seen the signs if you have traveled in the “north country” on Interstate Highway I-94. If you are traveling in search of the biggest and BEST roadside attractions in the World, otherwise known as “Giant Animal Roadside Architecture,” take a summer load assignment that will road trip across  I-94 in North Dakota.

Colossal creatures tower over the plains entertaining the tourists and setting a few World records in the process. These giants of North Dakota serve to create a unique opportunity to get off the beaten path and do something different. If there is time on your load and you can make the detour, it really is worth seeing.

Drive down the road aptly named “The Enchanted Highway,” a 32 mile stretch of highway off Interstate 94 at Exit #72. The huge metal sculptures consist of 7 extremely large; geese, deer, pheasants, grasshoppers, Teddy Roosevelt, even a complete Tin Family with the newest addition being “The Fisherman’s Dream.”

Fishermans Dream - credit Lindsay Godfree

The enchantment takes you into the town of Regent and home of Gary Greff, the artist responsible for these awesome creations. There is a gift shop and a place to turn your truck around to get back on route. The day we stopped in Gary himself was behind the register in the gift shop.

Greff says the idea behind the sculptures was to put people in the town of Regent to work together to creature something that would draw people there and save their failing economy. The small towns of America have to get very creative to keep their towns alive. Gary has plans of adding four more giant sculptures to the highway in the upcoming years. Another amazing part about the art is that it is all created with donations of both time and money, so take time to see this inspirational idea.

If you just don’t have time to take the Enchanted Highway route, from highway I-94 you can see the Giant Geese in Flight (I-94 exit 72) marking the entrance to the Enchanted Highway. It stands 110 feet tall is 154 feet in length, weighing 78.8 tons, all made from scrap metal. The largest of the geese is 19 feet in length with a 30 foot wing span. This sculpture is in the Guinness World Book of Records as THE “World’s Largest Scrap Metal Sculpture”.

Buffalo - credit Lindsay Godfree

The World’s Largest Holstein Cow (I-94 exit 127) is 38 feet high, weighing 12,000 lbs., and made of fiberglass. Perched high on top a hill over looking the city of New Salem, North Dakota, his monstrous cow was built in 1974 as a tribute to the area’s dairy farmers.

Truckers can also get close to The World’s Largest Buffalo (exit 258) which dons a hill included in a Wild West town. (We found a place to park the truck before the entrance with a turn around) Also located there through the town, is the Buffalo Museum and the home of a herd of live buffalo including the legendary white buffalo.

Other giant creatures are reported to live on this highway but so far I can’t report if they are accessible to big rigs of those who live there life on the road.

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The American Revolution In Movies and Books

With the Fourth of July right around the corner, it brought to mind movies and books that has our unique American history as the subject.  I have been here long enough that I think you know how much I love movies and books. The American Revolution is a subject I find fascinating.  I enjoy all kinds of history, but our country’s founding fathers are of big interest to me. I have read several books on George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin.

I have also read books about Martha Washington and Abigail Adams. I am particularly interested in the people and their lives, more than I am battle strategies, etc. How our leaders make decisions during war is something I do find interesting, but the further I go back in history, the more I want to read about these people as people and not just historical icons.

I have a book that was written by Mary Higgins Clark titled, Mount Vernon Love Story, A Novel of George and Martha Washington. Just as the title explains the book is about these two people before and after they met. It is not a very large book and when I first purchased it, I read it in one sitting. I have since re-read it several times.

The extra interesting thing about Abigail Adams is she was both a wife of a President and the mother of a President. She herself sacrificed much for our independence and she was a strong support for her husband John Adams. She didn’t just sit on the sidelines, she was involved, educated and a true Patriot.

David McCullough’s book, John Adams was the origin for HBO’s miniseries, also by that title. Paul Giamatti plays Adams and Laura Linney is Abigail. I highly recommend the book and the series. The miniseries aired in 2008 and it is available for rental and purchase. The story of Adams’ entire family is inspirational as well as very human. It takes them from that historical, cardboard, icon and brings them to life.

Tom Wilkinson’s portrayal of Ben Franklin in that miniseries is another high point. You found yourself not liking Ben at times. Ben was such a complex person. I have the impression he would be a great guest for a party. He was also a ladies’ man and was very at home with the French. All of the representations of these historical men, especially Jefferson, diligently work to bring you the real personalities.

Jeff Daniels starred in The Crossing in 2000. This was a made for cable-TV presentation. Jeff Daniels, in my opinion, does a great job portraying Washington. This movie takes you into the problems and all other aspects of the war. Plus it takes you into Washington’s decisions and his determination. But, he was human and there were times Washington was very weary, and you see that as well.

The year 2000 also brought us another favorite of mine, The Patriot.  Mel Gibson is Benjamin Martin, a widower and father to a large brood of children. The oldest, Gabriele is played by Heath Ledger. The story focuses on this particular family and how the revolution pushed them into change regardless of much they fought to keep it at bay.

The flip side of the focus in this movie is the militia.  The militia was your everyday men including farmers, merchants, preachers and very young boys. The movie does take liberty in bringing you the behavior of the British leaders and those who didn’t follow the protocols of war. You also see the type of fighting that frustrates me. One side stands on one side of the field and the other stands directly across. They start firing. If you are in the front row, it didn’t look very good for you. This back and forth of gunfire coming towards each other makes you question intelligence of military leaders. But, it is a different time and world that I cannot completely relate to.

There is a film I have not been able to get a hold of as of yet. Revolution is a film released in 1984 with Al Pacino and Donald Southerland.  Al Pacino is a New York trapper, Tom Dobb, who becomes an unwilling participant in the American Revolution after his son Ned is drafted into the Army by the villainous Sergeant Major Peasy. Tom attempts to find his son, and eventually becomes convinced that he must take a stand and fight for the freedom of the Colonies. I have heard many good opinions of this film and I hope to get a chance some day to actually see it.

I have a small copy of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. The first time I read Common Sense, I felt like I had to work myself through. It was not a sit back and relaxing kind of read. The writing style for one was difficult for me to get familiar with. Mr. Paine’s sentence structure runs on and is dense. However my second try at reading this book did go easier. This book was published in 1776 and it focused on two things; independence from England and creating a democratic republic.  Mr. Paine also used many verses from the bible to make a point and he wrote in the every day voice of that time period.

If you have never read Common Sense, you might want to check it out. It explains the whole concept of the revolution. He also helps you see the Crown as abusive and why we needed to sever our ties with the Crown. I think this book boosted the cause of the patriots. This book was a best seller when it was released.You can find the entire book on many web sites.

Here is a link to one that is easy to navigate through. http://www.bartleby.com/133/index.html

So there are just few things that came to my mind concerning our Fourth of July holiday. As always I would love to know the reaction of our founding fathers if they could see us today. There are many, many books on this subject, some I still have on my must read list. I tell my kids I will live for a long time because God would never make me leave without reading all the books I want to read!

You all take care and stay safe,

KJ

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