TT_021518_AllPages

24 • February 15-28, 2018 Business
b TSI from page 21 b
The TSI increase took place against a background
of strong results for other indicators.
The Federal Reserve Board industrial production
index rose by 0.2 percent in November,
with increases in manufacturing and mining.
Employment rose, personal income grew and
housing starts increased.
The Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing
index declined to 58.2, indicating positive
but decelerating growth.
As for trends, the Freight TSI’s November index
was 4.7 percent above the level of July 2016 of
124.9, which was the highest level prior to 2017.
S
T
A
B
ILITY
November was the second all-time high in
a row, and the sixth in 2017. The seven months
from May to November 2017 were the seven
highest levels the Freight TSI has ever attained.
The Freight TSI was at or above 124.0 in every
month of 2017, a level it reached in only two
months prior to 2017. The November index was
38.1 percent above the April 2009 low during
the most recent recession. For additional historical
data, go to TSI data.
For-hire freight shipments are up 16.6 percent
in the five years from November 2012 and are up
18.3 percent in the 10 years from November 2007.
BTS research has shown a clear relationship
between economic cycles and the freight
and passenger transportation services indexes,
the BTS said. 8
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b Tonnage from page 21 b
gain from the previously reported 2.3 percent
increase.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which
represents the change in tonnage actually
hauled by fleets before any seasonal adjustment,
equaled 141.9 in December, which was
3.4 percent below the previous month’s 146.9.
“Despite the decline in December, last year
was a solid year for truck tonnage, especially
during the second half of 2017,” said ATA
Chief Economist Bob Costello. “I remain optimistic
for 2018 for a host of reasons, including
a pick-up in factory activity, better housing
E
XPERIENCE
thetrucker.com
construction, solid retail sales, and an expected
shot in the arm from the new tax law.”
In other economic news impacting trucking:
• U.S. employers added a robust 200,000
jobs in January, and wages rose at the fastest
pace in more than eight years, evidence of a
consistently healthy job market. The unemployment
rate remained 4.1 percent, the lowest
level since 2000, the Labor Department said
in its monthly jobs report February 2. For-hire
trucking added 2,200 jobs, according to the Labor
Department.
• Privately owned housing starts in December
were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 1,192,000. This is 8.2 percent below the revised
November estimate of 1,299,000 and is
6.0 percent below the December 2016 rate of
1,268,000. Single-family housing starts in December
were at a rate of 836,000; this is 11.8
percent below the revised November figure of
948,000. The December rate for units in buildings
with five units or more was 352,000. An
estimated 1,202,100 housing units were started
in 2017. This is 2.4 percent above the 2016 figure
of 1,173,800.
• President Donald Trump campaigned on a
promise to overturn U.S. trade policy and bring
down the country’s trade deficits.
After a year in the White House, he still has
a lot of work to do.
The Commerce Department reported that
the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rose
12 percent to $566 billion last year, the biggest
since 2008. A record $2.9 trillion in imports
swamped $2.3 trillion in exports last year.
The deficit in the goods trade with China hit a
record $375.2 billion in 2017. The goods gap with
Mexico climbed to $71.1 billion. 8
b Daseke from page 21 b
director at a CFO consulting firm for highgrowth
companies.
Wheeler sits on the advisory board of the College
of Business-Texas A&M University-Commerce,
where he earned his undergraduate degree
and now serves as an adjunct professor of finance.
In 2014, the Commerce, Finance and Economics
Department at Texas A&M College of
Business bestowed upon him the Alumni Ambassador
Award, the highest honor granted to
an alumnus. Wheeler received his M.B.A. from
Southern Methodist University in 1985.
“I knew Don was a leader from the first time
I met him, and I feel fortunate to have worked
alongside him for the last six years,” Wheeler
said. “When Don first approached me about joining
his new company as CFO, I found his philosophy
of finding well-managed companies and
offering them the opportunity and resources to
grow their business to a whole new level to be so
compelling. I look forward to taking on the operational
leadership role that Don has so expertly established
at Daseke, as he and I continue to serve
as mentors to the leaders of Daseke’s growing
number of operating companies.”
Daseke companies operate 5,200 tractors,
more than 11,000 flatbed and specialized trailers,
and a million-plus square feet of industrial
warehousing space.
Daseke is the largest company, yet has only
1 percent market share, of the highly fragmented
$133 billion flatbed and specialized transportation
market. 8