Well, not really no gusto, but at least the gulf coast was not slammed like it was with Katrina! As of the 4th of September, the Class 1 railroads in the area all reported that they did not have significant damage. That can only be a good thing for the economy and the area!

I want to give kudos to all of the emergency and volunteer personnel in the area who gave all of their time to help with the evacuations and making sure that everyone, human and animals, was safe!

Follow up:

And what is it now with the price of oil? If you asked me a few weeks ago if the price of oil would get down to $107 / barrel by early September I would have laughed! That was unthinkable. But now there is even speculation that we could even see $80 / barrel oil between now and the end of the year.

I think a lot of people have thought that oil prices were artificially inflated. And now with the fall of prices it appears that was correct. Hopefully we will see that at the gas pump. I'm not going to hold my breath on that one though.

If oil prices do fall, what will the various transportation providers do with their fuel surcharges? That will likely depend on their fuel purchasing programs. I know that a lot of the larger railroads hedge their fuel purchases. Depending on their actual purchase prices, that may lead to fuel surcharges held out for a longer time after the actual prices go down. Competitive pressure the way it is, they may however lower it earlier due to pressure from other railroads and their own customers.

I hope that the prices do continue to fall. It also appears that the US Dollar is gaining against the Euro at the same time. According to Business Week this is the best explanation of the oil price drop. Regardless, I see this as good for the economy.

Hold on to your hats folks!! The next few months will definitely be a wild ride!