STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
CHOPPY AIR BUT OVERALL
SMOOTH FLYING
Despite A Myriad of Challenges, Business is Good
8 Railway Track & Structures // December 2023
incident. Moreover, the choppy air of politics in the U.S. has caused division and upset unlike any we’ve seen in a long time. The U.S. economy has been under strain as well, although recent indicators show that things may be improving. Rising inflation has plagued the economy for much of the year. Just ask anyone who shops at the grocery store. However, at this writing at the end of November, inflation seems to be dropping a bit, and after raising interest rates several times in 2023, the Federal Reserve chose not to raise or cut the current rate at its November 1 meeting, with the hope that year-to-date rate increases have sufficiently cooled inflation to point to possible rate reductions in 2024. Nevertheless, inflation has hammered much of the
economy this year, with just over 40% of respondents to our annual survey saying that inflation and rising interest rates have impacted their business significantly, and nearly 15% saying these two factors have impacted their business tremendously. Despite the economic challenges of 2023, nearly 60% of respondents told us that business has been good this year, while just under 20% said this business year was excellent. When asked about their outlook for their businesses in 2024, the percentages were about the same – approximately 60% saying their outlook is good, and approximately 20% said their outlook is excellent. Many economists believe that since 2023 was the first year since 2020 when people were relatively confident that the voracious rtands.com
Photo Credit: David C. Lester
T
his has been a strange year for our nation and our world. The war in Ukraine is entering its second winter, with horror stories of death and suffering coming from the country almost daily. This war has also strained relations between the United States and Russia. In addition, the horrific war between Israel and Hamas, resulting in the near obliteration of the Gaza Strip, has been horrible for both sides of this conflict and has caused internal political strife here at home. U.S. relations with China have been strained for a variety of reasons, including Chinese fighter aircraft challenging U.S. rights to fly in International Air Space over the South Pacific with dangerously close flybys that could cause an international
By David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief