The refrigerated trucking segment is the only transportation segment that is doing well right now, said Liz Claman, a Fox Business Network anchor. Claman offered her perspective of the economy during the opening session of the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) annual convention in Orlando FL.
She told meeting attendees that with the economic downturn and corresponding decrease in retail sales that leads to less shipping, The Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA) is down 51% over the past 52 weeks.
The DJTA is the most widely recognized gauge of the transportation sector. It is also the oldest index used today, even older than its more famous brother, the Dow Jones Industrials.
Claman said her best assessment, based on a consensus from key business "movers and shakers" she has visited with recently, is that "things will get worse—but this is America, and we will get through it.
"The recovery will take longer than the government tells you," she said, "and unemployment will go higher, probably into double digits."
She believes people need to take what politicians say with a grain of salt because "they are trying to make us feel better."
Unfortunately, Claman said, the economic situation we are currently going through will happen again.
"Bubbles form in a free market," she said. "They just do. The key is to save, prepare, and live and spend wisely—not beyond your means. When you do, you won’t have to get wet when that bubble bursts."
