Especially when it comes from industry leaders like Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking Associations.

At ATA’s recent annual meeting, Graves gave this rather grave assessment of the trucking industry’s near-term prospects:

“Things are not going well for our industry, and we face some awfully tough times in the near future. With war and unrest throughout many parts of the world as a backdrop, unimaginable record fuel prices have hit us hard – and the hits may just keep coming. The economic slowdown – highlighted by the housing and automotive industries – has had a devastating impact on our tonnage, and the recent financial meltdown on Wall Street severely impacts the credit markets you rely on for the capital to run your business. I’m not confident anyone knows if we’ve yet bottomed out and how long it will take before anything close to an economic recovery will occur.”

Compare and contrast this simple, straight-forward analysis with the example of fractured English we offered just the other day.

Hey, we know it’s tough out there, and at least Mr. Graves knows to get to the point.

If you have comments to share, send to me at [email protected].

– Jim Smith