The Goods disappears in the UK

[cogloadreturns]

It is a bit grim on the UK freight scene.

Firstly, Deutsche Bahn Cargo (which operates the former WC owned EWS) has made everybody apply for their own jobs with the aim of making 30% of its workforce redundant. The firm lost 100m quid (about $10 after the collapse of the pound) last year. On a turnover of not much more than £350m. Ouch. 

Next comes the G&W owned Freightliner who are also reported to be "struggling ".  A cursory glance at tonnage carried reveals declining  numbers in both bulk and  intermodal traffic with infrastructure issues  (pathing into Felixstowe ) being a bugbear. 

Next we have GBRF, who were a locomotive and wagon start up and now occupy third place in the UK freight scene in terms of traffic. They were bought by Eurotunnel, possibly  with an eye on attempting to revive the moribund cross channel traffic ( affected by French strikes; UK paranoia and asylum seekers) in order to boost revenue and steal a march. However following Brex(S)hit (never ever trust a fake tanned populist) the French have thrown in the towel and sold out to a Swedish private equity group. The MD of GBRF is on the record urging the Freight operators to cooperate in contracts in regards to crewing as a way of reducing cost.

The others are also showing signs of stress. One *** of light maybe several heavy infrastructure projects in the works which can afford an element of recapitalisation from the public purse. However that still leaves too many operators chasing too little volume and undercutting each other. The (virtual) overnight reduction of coal traffic (all UK coal fired ps are slated to shut by 2025) has cost dearly; includjng the infrastructure owner Network Rail who reputedly lost north of £50m in unsold or cancelled paths. 

Lots of passenger trains though.

[samfp1943]

cogloadreturns wrote the following post[inpart]:"...However that still leaves too many operators chasing too little volume and undercutting each other. The (virtual) overnight reduction of coal traffic (all UK coal fired ps are slated to shut by 2025) has cost dearly; includjng the infrastructure owner Network Rail who reputedly lost north of £50m in unsold or cancelled paths..."

         I am reminded of one of Margaret Thatcher's oft- quoted line {In the USA} (paraphrased):"...Socialism works fine as long as one does not run out of another's money..."  

     A brief analysis of cogloadsrerturns in the above Thread's contents seems to at least bear that out(?).  Government regulation and 'medaling' in the economy, never seems to have the intended results...Current Federal [U.S.] Government statistics seem to bear that out; with an economy of 2% [more or less], if one is to believe the Administration's figures (?). 

       We are awash in Regulatons, Social Engineering, and attemps to 'steer' our economy from heavily Industrial to 'Service' as a method of pushing power to the Feds and politicians.  It seems we are caught in a tsunami a Government controls.  The tail, (Government) is now wagging the dog. 

[schlimm]

samfp1943

We are awash in Regulatons, Social Engineering, and attemps to 'steer' our economy from heavily Industrial to 'Service' as a method of pushing power to the Feds and politicians.  It seems we are caught in a tsunami a Government controls. 

You never miss a chance to use this forum for your rightist political comments.  

[Euclid]

samfp1943

cogloadreturns wrote the following post[inpart]:"...However that still leaves too many operators chasing too little volume and undercutting each other. The (virtual) overnight reduction of coal traffic (all UK coal fired ps are slated to shut by 2025) has cost dearly; includjng the infrastructure owner Network Rail who reputedly lost north of £50m in unsold or cancelled paths..."

         I am reminded of one of Margaret Thatcher's oft- quoted line {In the USA} (paraphrased):"...Socialism works fine as long as one does not run out of another's money..."  

     A brief analysis of cogloadsrerturns in the above Thread's contents seems to at least bear that out(?).  Government regulation and 'medaling' in the economy, never seems to have the intended results...Current Federal [U.S.] Government statistics seem to bear that out; with an economy of 2% [more or less], if one is to believe the Administration's figures (?). 

       We are awash in Regulatons, Social Engineering, and attemps to 'steer' our economy from heavily Industrial to 'Service' as a method of pushing power to the Feds and politicians.  It seems we are caught in a tsunami a Government controls.  The tail, (Government) is now wagging the dog. 

 

Our Representative Republic is being rapidly replaced by the Administrative State.

https://ricochet.com/archives/what-is-the-administrative-state/

Instead of representing the will of the people, the Administrative State will decide what is best for us.  Gone will be the separation of power as all three branches cooperate as the Administrative State, and are joined by the Fourth Estate in charge of information.  Gone is the role of the Supreme Court deciding cases on the basis of the Constitution, and replaced by the “Court” being the final authority speaking for the Administrative State.  Gone is the Constitution since there is no longer a need for it. 

[Firelock76]

Cogloadreturns doesn't seem to think too much of "Brexit," and being on the scene he's certainly going to be more informed about it than we are, but when it passed I can't say I was too surprised, and here's why.

If what I read is true, when the British Empire dissolved in the years following World War Two the people least concerned about it were the British working class, and why not?  What did they ever get out of the Empire besides taxes to support it and loss of their blood to defend it?  And so with the European Union, what does the working class get out of it?  Obviously not much if they wanted to walk away from it.

And rightist or leftist, the amount of manufacturing leaving this country should give us all sleepless nights. 

[Euclid]

Firelock76

And rightist or leftist, the amount of manufacturing leaving this country should give us all sleepless nights. 

I'll say.  And most of what is not leaving is on hold with new product development because of an atmosphere of uncertainty over medical insurance, new regulations, and the promise of higher taxes. 

[Firelock76]

Euclid, I'm reminded of when this country first started, and the competing visions of what kind of country it was going to be.

There was Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who envisioned an agricultural society of yeoman farmers, the US exporting it's agricultural products in exchange for European manufactured goods.

Then there was Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton who felt that idea was wrong, if not downright insane.  As a Revolutionary War veteran who knew all too well the army's reliance on imported weaponry and how dangerous it was Hamilton believed reliance on imports of manufactured goods was a dagger that would always be pointed at the country's throat, and that we'd better get industry up and running immediately, if not sooner, or that dagger would always be there.

President Washington agreed, and 200-plus years later so do I.  As far as I'm concerned not only is exporting industry a danger to the well-being of the working class in this country, it's a national security issue as well.

[samfp1943]

schlimm

 

 

samfp1943

We are awash in Regulatons, Social Engineering, and attemps to 'steer' our economy from heavily Industrial to 'Service' as a method of pushing power to the Feds and politicians.  It seems we are caught in a tsunami a Government controls. 

 

 

"You {meaning me, samfp1943}never miss a chance to use this forum for your rightist political comments."  

 Quite possibly YOU may be in the minority here(?)  Seems so far the comments tend to be in line with the comments made by myself.  Personally, I felt like I was not making a grossly political statement, but simply laying out the current political environment in this Country.

  We are in an economic malaise that is described by some economists as depressive, and not conducive to economical viable.   As to the current political choices, they were not my first pick, but they defeated all other commers so they could run and have a chance to be elected.

IMHO.  The choices amount to the difference between being stabbed todeath or shot to death, and a potentially unfavorable outcome for either side...Only time will tell.

 

 

 

[schlimm]

samfp1943

We are awash in Regulatons, Social Engineering, and attemps to 'steer' our economy from heavily Industrial to 'Service' as a method of pushing power to the Feds and politicians.  It seems we are caught in a tsunami a Government controls.     

sclimm posted: "You {meaning me, samfp1943}never miss a chance to use this forum for your rightist political comments."

Quite possibly YOU may be in the minority here(?)  Seems so far the comments tend to be in line with the comments made by myself.

No doubt.  People with rightist thinking such as yourself, Euclid and others are likely a majority (on this forum) to such an extent that you can now brazenly deny you are being political!  There remain a few more moderate, mainstream members, though many have drifted away because the forum seems to have become very political and the "moderators" no longer care.   Good luck in your world.

[Kevin C. Smith]

Yes, too much politics-and partisan politics, to boot.

Howza 'bout we just talk about...oh, I dunno...trains?

[wanswheel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOsmGR9C0xc&t=1m10s

[ACY Tom]

What would we do without buzz words? 

"The Administrative State". That's a good one. You don't want anything administered? Good luck with that one. You cite the Constitution. For your information, the Constitution is the basis of all our laws and regulations. Those need to be ADMINISTERED. Don't fall back on the Constitution as if it gave carte blanche to permit any dang thing anybody wants to do. It doesn't. It, as well as the laws and regulations that stem from it, is there to provide reasonable regulation, which people unfortunately need to keep them from doing things that aren't in the best interest of others or the Society as a whole.

It doesn't matter whether Jeffersonian farmers are exporting wheat, or Hamiltonian Minute Men are importing muskets. What matters is that there be reasonable measures to regulate trade, fostering it where appropriate and restricting it where appropriate. It would be nice and convenient if Government could just sit back and let things haopen, but that has never worked in the past. Try it now and it would be irresponsible.

The Robber Barons didn't get that name for nothing.

Tom 

[zugmann]

ACY

The Robber Barons didn't get that name for nothing.

Hey, at least the unemployment rate for 9 year old kids was at a record low.  Can't argue with success.