Caterpillar

Doubt it, as the issue is more related to export heavy mining equipment.

Maybe, because that is 10,000 more folks who are not buying stuff that is shipped by rail, and 10,000 more folks who will not be considering an Amtrak vacation.  Add them to the announced Qualcomm and HP (I think) layoffs, and you may actually see some shipping decline.

Opinion, of course.  No data . . .

But wait, our fearless leaders are telling us that the economy is doing great and that unemployment is at an all time low

Hello

After the big crash down and slow come back

Many companies sold a lot  machines a discounted loan rates

Those who could bought up what they could and hoped they could make all the payments

Now there is not the big need for  these new machines

People are all so taking better care of the machines ,knowing the EPA is now under the hood of machine and if you go and buy something new.

You get the latest junk to added to taking care of 

Just check how much stuff is for sale,

I bought a New John Deere tractor a few years back ,and in NO WAY would I want one of the newer machines with all the added stuff to take care of.

My  dealer who give me 100 % of what I paid for ,knowing those of us who bought , have machines that will last and not have all the EPA junk added ON

Just look at what the RR are going thru

Seems to me the rail industry will be more effected by the decline in coal traffic as coal burning power plants are shut down or converted to natural gas.

Rusty

Maybe because their Progress Rail Division (EMD) isn't making anything at all.  That's a significant factor in their stock price dropping from 110 to 70 since January. 

Big business hates low unemployment and doesn't mind doing what it can to increase unemployment: it drives down labor costs.  It also drives up underemployment where the most skilled people take lesser lower paying jobs and lower skilled people just end up in the soup kitchen lines.  But at least they will keep paying their dividend.  And that's all that really matters - right?

Whaddya talkin' about?? Last quarter numbers were something like 2 trillion jobs added and economy expanded .002% 

And we still gotta hitch a ride with the Russians to get to the ISS 

The Chinese president just announced this week (in Washington) that is going to change.  He's got a healthcare cost explosion because of coal and a foreign exchange crisis.

And if Caterpillar (management) hasn't figured out that demand for coal mining equipment is going to decline permanently from now on they need to be replaced.

Good evening, the mining industry whether it is metal or non metal is flat and it does not matter on what continent you look at.

Australian Coal market is starting to show some life but what concerns them is the down turn going on in the Chinese economy.

The only real form of mining going on here in the states and it's regional at best is the aggregate market.

With CAT's acquisition of Burcyrus Erie 5 or 6 years ago CAT is strapped for cash like no other time in their long history.

The last thing CAT needed was a down turn in the mining sector. 

There's rotary dumpers located at the ports?

Rusty

Good morning, not to turn this into a political issue but if the Class 1 railroads are so concerned about losing money due to lack of coal movements you would think their lobbyist would be backing the Coal lobbyist in Washington.

Eventually everyone, including the people that read this forum is going to find out how important Coal is to this country.

Unfortunately the damage will already be done !!!!

I'm maxed out of my free NY Times articles allotment for the month, lol, so .... IIRC:

Wyoming is intensely seeking more ports to export coal to Asia.

Governor Mead has been meeting with officials from Oregon and Washington, trying to convince them to open coal terminals on the Puget Sound or Columbia River.

Wyoming is willing to pay for such a facility in their states.

Of course, environmental groups and others oppose building the new terminals.

A lot of Powder River Basin coal already goes that way for export out of the Vancouver ports.

I have been working as a design engineer at Caterpillar for the last 7 years, on engines until 2012 & on cabs for mining equipment since then. I was considering transferring to EMD but Hot Water & some of my senior colleagues advised me against going there at this time.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Keep in mind that they count working 20 hours per week for $9/hr with no benefits as a "job."  I.e., if you were a factory foreman in 2007, got laid off, and now work as a door greeter at Walmart, the politicians in Washington are saying you are now employed and toot their horn about it.   It's a bad joke that is only continuing to get worse.

As for new tractors, I sat in the cab of a new combine at the state fair last month.  Thing had a 45 ft. corn head on it, and the price was $340K.  The lot some people built their house on wouldn't be big enough to park this thing.    However, there's an issue.  All of this new machinery is highly computerized.  The manufacturers are now claiming you own the machine, but not the software that runs it.  Therefore, you can't fix it yourself or have your local combine repairman work on it--it has to go to an authorized dealer.  And, you can't change or modify the software since they own that.

Kent in SD

That has been true for any automobile with a computer controlled engine and other systems for the past couple of decades.  There are federal laws regarding modifying emissions control software.  However, there is nothing they can do if you do your own maintenance or have some third party or do it or any modifications except cancel any warranties and refuse to do any repairs.

I would think Caterpillar, and other large corps. would take a look at the rest of their business.  Stationary power supplies, Over the road power, rubber tired loaders, backhoes, excavators. Service and repair of existing equipment would still be a huge part of any equipment business.  A lot of competition in these markets, including imports.  Huge pieces of equipment that can only fit a large hole in the ground are not all, but maybe the most profitable.  Who makes all that Marcellous Gas drilling equipment, I see moving on I 79 and I 80.  We aren't moving away from the energy market, just shifting gears, IMO. If your going to burn all that Marcellus, Utica, etc., natural gas in power plants, some one has to build that equipment, and a lot of it relatively fast per the change over.  It's a quickly changing world, adaptation has always been a part of it.  Recently talked to a young man who spent most of his life working for Kodak, once a huge employer, Rochester, New York. He now does software/hardware work for a company that builds industrial equipment, Those highly skilled workers will move on, and quickly.   Mike CT

World wide sales are down for a record amount of time, but you still got to wonder, what with Obama's war on coal causing coal demand to fall, which obviously negates the need for tractors and equipment to mine it, how many of the union people getting laid off went to the polls and pulled the lever for Obama once or twice.  Do they realize that their actions actually helped put them in the position they find themselves? 

It's called the business cycle, folks.  Nothing goes up forever and likewise, nothing goes down forever.

This isn't the first time Cat's had hard times and won't be the last.

Rusty

To the best of my knowledge, CAT no longer provides/sells diesel truck engines for any new trucks, only their own CAT 'International' brand - that has to reduce the workforce somewhat...