Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/358493
BUSINESS August 2014 | Overdrive | 23 CNN Money recently talked with Bill Eigen of JPMorgan Asset Management about how he knew in 2007 that an economic crash was coming and what he's forecasting now. It also happens that Boston-based Eigen owns an auto- and truck-repair shop. While it's managed by others, Eigen, a capable mechanic himself, spends time at the shop on Saturdays. This yields perspective on the econ- omy you can't get sitting behind a desk, wrote CNN Money's Matt Egan. Talking to truckers in 2007, Eigen heard tales of "slashed loads, canceled routes and delayed maintenance," wrote Egan, just as the Federal Reserve Bank was assuring U.S. law- makers the "storm" wasn't coming. What operators are telling Eigen today, combined with his maintenance shop's business performance, lead him to an optimistic view. "We saw business fall off a cliff in 2007," he told Egan. "You have the complete opposite now. We're booked solid." Conditions are such that he's predict- ing the shop's best year since 2003. As for a contrarian view, an under- current of skepticism remains in many corners, such as a report from GobyTruckNews.com, "If Wages Are So High, Why Are Spirits So Low." It cites a variety of factors such as dray- age and other short-haul segments that appear to be lagging, as well as the strain of increasing regulations. Shop talk: Outlook strong PARTNERS IN BUSINESS TIP: RECORDING EXPENSES THAT HAVE NO RECEIPT Use a notebook to record those expenses for which you cannot obtain a receipt, such as business use of your car or pickup, so you can deduct the expenses at tax time. Record the date, location, amount and reason for each expense in order to meet IRS regulations. Forward this information to your business services provider with your other receipts. The Partners in Business program is produced by Overdrive and the consultants at ATBS, the nation's largest owner-operator business ser- vices firm. It is sponsored by Ryder and Goodyear. The next Partners in Business seminars will be Aug. 22 and Aug. 23 at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas. PILOT FLYING J entered into an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve the criminal investigation into the company's fraudu- lent fuel rebate withholding scheme, agreeing to pay a $92 million fine and full restitution to companies victimized in the scam. The penalty is in addi- tion to the $85 million civil settlement the company agreed to in November. LOVE'S FINANCIAL, a factoring service, was introduced by the Love's truck stop chain. The factoring can be done remotely or at any Love's location that offers Transflo Express. Love's says it pays drivers within 24 hours. HOTELS4TRUCKERS.COM removed its membership fee of $9.95. The website offers hotel discounts to drivers and lists hotels with truck parking. E-ZPASS ELECTRONIC toll collection system users are being urged not to click on links in an email that claims to be an attempt to collect unpaid tolls. The fraudulent email is a phishing attempt to gain access to user informa- tion, E-ZPass says. FOR-HIRE TRUCKING added 3,300 jobs in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That segment now has 1.4 million payroll jobs, 48,400 jobs (3.3 percent) below January 2007's peak. LAWSUITS FILED OVER ACERT More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against Caterpillar over its 2007- 10 year model Acert C13 and C15 engines. Carriers claim the engines had defects that Caterpillar concealed from buyers. The cases have been consolidated and transferred to a fed- eral civil court in New Jersey, according to court documents. In a legal filing, Caterpillar denies all the allegations brought against it. The company no longer builds engines for Class 8 trucks.