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Supply
Chain by the Numbers |
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- Sept. 1, 2022
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Diesel Prices Remain Very High; US PMI Stays Positive for August; FedEx Cancels Delivery Routes of Major Contract Driver; Industrial Robot Sales Jump in Q2 |
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$5.11 |
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That was the average on-the-road cost of diesel fuel in the US last week, surging back over the five dollar level with a jump of 20 cents per gallon last week. That according to the weekly report Monday from the Energy Information Administration. The surprising jump comes after nine-week run of declines that saw the price drop 90.1 cents from its all-time high of $5.810 on June 27. The cost of a gallon had dropped by at least a dime each week from June 27 to Aug. 8. Even with the recent declines, a gallon of diesel now costs $1.776 more than it did at this time in 2021. |
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| That was the level of the US Purchasing Managers Index for August, according to the monthly report this week from the Institute for Supply Management. That was flat with the July level after two months of decline, but all still above the key 50 mark that separates US manufacturing expansion from contraction. It also marks the 27th consecutive month of growth in the overall US economy. In good news for future manufacturing activity, the New Orders Index registered 51.3, 3.3 percentage points higher than the 48.0 level recorded in July, which indicated a slowdown in orders. |
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12,305 |
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That was the number of industrial robots sold in North America in Q2, according to data this week from the Association for Advancing Automation, an industry trade group. That was the third straight quarter of new all-time highs in robots sold, and the figure was 25% more than the number of robots sold in the same period in 2021 and 6% more than sold in the first quarter of 2022. 59% of the robot orders came from the automotive industry, with the remaining orders from non-automotive companies largely in the food and consumer goods industry, sectors which saw a 13% increase in unit orders in Q2. The numbers reflect units sold into both manufacturing and logistics sectors. |
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That is reportedly the number of different FedEx Ground “routes” owned by Spencer Patton, a FedEx contractor based in Brentwood, Tennessee. Why is that noteworthy? Because FedEx announced this week that it was canceling all Patton’s routes, the result of his increasingly critical statements about the company. He recently hosted a conference for FedEx contractors and has posted videos on YouTube calling for contractors to join a trade association he created. He has also called on FedEx to renegotiate agreements with its contractors and threatened to stop delivering packages on Black Friday, the start of the Christmas shopping season. Patton has also said FedEx Ground contractor delivery drivers should look at becoming franchisees instead – and warning many are going to go out business in the face of rising costs and static rates from FedEx. In a court filing, FedEx said Patton has misrepresented the financial hardships of contractors.
