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PENSION PROTECTION
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Firms in the truck transportation and warehousing industry provide a link between manufacturers and consumers. Businesses, and occasionally individuals, contract with trucking and warehousing companies to pick up, transport, store, and deliver a variety of goods. The industry includes general freight trucking, specialized freight trucking, and warehousing and storage.
With the average U.S. retail price for a gallon of diesel at $4.79 at the end of May, experts predicted little relief in the coming months. The spread between the cost of oil and the selling price of gasoline is expected to continue to widen. Trucking companies will likely respond by re-evaluating their routes and looking for other ways to cut costs. Other effects of the economic downturn were felt by the refrigerated trucking business, with delivery down for high-end food products, particularly to restaurants. In a somewhat ironic twist, U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman held a hearing in May to examine how the commodity-purchasing practices of institutional investors, including major pension funds, may be adding to the high price of oil. Meanwhile in May, 7,000 employees of DHL Express ratified their first national contract, a 5-year deal with the Teamsters. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama said in May that, if elected, he would consider ending 19 years of federal court oversight of the Teamsters.
-- John Hickerson, Senior Vice President FFE Transportation Services, May 30, 2008
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