Operating expenses for trucking companies increased in 2023, according to the results of a new study released today.
The American Transportation Research Institute’s 2024 Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking found the overall marginal costs of operating a truck hit $2.270 per mile in 2023, a new record high. While the increase was only 0.8 percent over the previous year, when surcharge-protected fuel costs are excluded, marginal costs rose 6.6 percent to $1.716 per mile, according to the study.
ATRI’s annual report analyzes line-item costs, operating efficiencies, and revenue benchmarks by fleet sector and size.
Overall, 2023 expenses rose moderately across most categories, with average costs across line-items increasing at less than half the rates experienced during 2021 and 2022, according to the study. It found:
Truck and trailer payments grew by 8.8 percent to $0.360 per mile
Driver wages grew by 7.6 percent to $0.779 per mile
Repair and maintenance costs grew by 3.1 percent to $0.202 per mile
Insurance premiums grew by 12.5 percent to $0.099 per mile after two years of negligible change
ATRI said the soft 2023 freight market — which continues in 2024 — posed many challenges for operational efficiency. Deadhead mileage rose to an average of 16.3 percent for all non-tank operations, and driver turnover rose by five percentage points in the truckload sector.
These pressures combined with low freight rates strained profitability across the industry, said ATRI in a statement announcing the release of its study.
Average operating margins were 6 percent or lower in all fleet sizes and sectors other than LTL. The truckload and specialized sectors experienced drops in per-mile or per-truck revenue, and most saw “other costs” – expenses outside of the core marginal line-items – increase as a share of total revenue.
Bill Gates Is Investing “Billions” In The New Wave Of Nuclear Power
It isn’t often Bill “Mr. I Know What’s Best For The Entire World” Gates comes up with an idea that we aren’t immediately skeptical of, but his recent pledge to promote next generation nuclear power sounds to us to be a common sense solution to multiple problems we’ll be facing in coming years.
Gates is pledging billions of dollars to promote nuclear through startup TerraPower LLC, OilPrice.com wrote this week. And it looks like that number could grow.
Gates recently told Bloomberg: “I put in over a billion, and I’ll put in billions more.”
OilPrice.com notes that nuclear power is gaining global traction as a key player in decarbonization strategies. In addition to TerraPower, companies like Sam Altman-led Oklo are also focused on modernizing nuclear with small modular reactors.
Advocates emphasize its immense clean energy potential, proven technology, and existing infrastructure. Although not renewable, nuclear energy emits zero carbon and could help meet global emissions targets.
As we have been noting for months, urgency for clean energy has intensified due to the tech sector, especially Artificial Intelligence, consuming massive amounts of energy. This surge in demand has reversed the trend, with developed countries now experiencing faster energy demand growth than developing nations.
The IT industry currently accounts for about 2% of global CO2 emissions, according to Science Alert in 2023. Gartner predicts the AI sector alone will consume 3.5% of global electricity by 2030 without significant changes.
In response, tech giants are seeking carbon-free energy sources, with many turning to nuclear power. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s TerraPower aims to supply nuclear energy for Microsoft’s AI needs and is developing safer, less controversial reactors using liquid sodium coolant, which reduces water usage and may recycle spent nuclear fuel, addressing hazardous waste concerns.
Recall, at the start of April, we penned a lengthy report for premium subs discussing why artificial intelligence data centers, the electrification of the economy, and onshoring trends will result in a major upgrade of the nation’s power grid. We followed the note up on Monday with a report titled Everyone Is Piling Into The “Next AI Trade.”
In May, Larry Fink jumped on the trade: “I do believe to properly um build out AI. We’re talking about trillions of dollars of investing. So data centers today could be as much as 200 megahertz – and they’re now talking about data centers being one gigawatt. That powers a city.”
Before Cazenovia College in Upstate New York closed in May 2023 because of decreasing enrollment and financial problems, students were given a list of comparable schools in the same region with similar tuition fees, major courses of study, financial aid availability, and athletic programs.
One of the schools on that list, Wells College, shut down one year later for the same reasons—low enrollment (354 students) and financial problems.
“It’s pretty crazy when that happens with two schools in two years,” Carter Matus, who transferred to Elmira College from Cazenovia College, said. Some of his classmates had considered Wells but chose different schools.
“Luckily they didn’t have to go through this again,” he said.
What Mr. Matus went through was a brief but “semi-stressful” episode of finding another small higher learning institution at about the same costs that would accept his credits and allow him to continue playing varsity baseball. He changed his major from art to business and still maintains his custom trade and proprietorship, Art by Carter J. Matus.
“It’s been an OK experience,” he told The Epoch Times on June 25, “but I do miss being closer to a city [Syracuse].
“If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have stayed in Florida.”
These are uncertain times for upstate colleges. Along with Wells, the College of Saint Rose in Albany and St. John’s University Staten Island campus also graduated their final classes in May. Medaille College in Buffalo shut its doors last summer. Clinton County Community College survived only by closing its campus and using space at neighboring SUNY Plattsburgh. And several other schools, private and public, made deep budget cuts.
The decline is not limited to the Empire State.
According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, college and university enrollment has decreased by about 1.5 million students, or 7.4 percent, in the past decade.
Notable closings in other parts of the country this year include Notre Dame College in Ohio, Birmingham Southern University in Alabama, University of Saint Katherine in California, and Hodges University in Florida.
The main reason is that, with declining birth rates, there won’t be enough students for every school, according to Adam Kissel, visiting fellow in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation.
College and university decision makers across the nation must have known about this population trend 20 years ago, he said, yet too few of those representing private schools had conversations about merging or sharing services to survive.
“Too many colleges have their heads in the sand,” Mr. Kissel said.
Other Contributing Factors
Mr. Kissel added that there are a number of other factors contributing to these enrollment trends and the likelihood of more campus closings.
Americans are increasingly questioning whether a college degree is worth the money at a time when interest is rising in vocational trades and career and technical education programs, which involve smaller commitments of time and money.
“You hear about the massive student debt, and a lot of them [prospective students] are saying, ‘I could go into plumbing or electrical work,’“ Mr. Kissel said. ”Why would I need a bachelor’s for that?”
There are also cultural changes across U.S. campuses. The college culture of drinking and partying isn’t as attractive as it used to be. As students become more serious about their courses of study when they realize the cost of attending colleges and universities, there’s also a growing distaste for progressive ideologies that have become commonplace in higher education, Mr. Kissel said.
In 2022, the Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported that 80 percent of school faculty identified themselves as politically liberal. In September 2023, Inside Higher Education published an opinion piece, “Higher Ed Can’t Afford its Left-Wing Bias Problem.”
“Students ask themselves if they want to be in that environment,” Mr. Kissel said. “Many people no longer trust colleges to educate students well.”
The “final jolt” was the much delayed release of the 2024–2025 federal student aid (FAFSA) application, which affected $1.8 billion in federal student aid and caused some students to not apply for college who otherwise would have. Mr. Kissel said this debacle will cause many more struggling higher learning institutions to close in 2025.
Depending on the state and type of school, the total cost of annual tuition, room and board, and fees across the nation this past academic year ranged from $11,000 to more than $80,000, according to the College Board. However, the net cost that students pay after scholarships and work-study initiatives might be a fraction of that.
National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL) Senior Policy Analyst Andrew Smalley estimates that the number of higher education institutions that closed in the United States this year was as high as “one a week,” though that would include even the smallest of online certificate or degree programs that don’t have a campus.
Mr. Smalley, speaking during NCSL’s June 16 podcast “Making Higher Education Accountable,” said data still support that college graduates earn more than high school graduates, by an average of $30,000 a year.
Mr. Smalley said the pressing concern is that fewer than 20 percent of students who attend an institution that closes will actually finish a degree or certificate program at another school.
“This is a huge derailer for students, and there’s a lot states can consider around financial monitoring, mergers, consolidations, and closure procedures should an institution close,“ he said. ”And states are really considering how to think about those challenges, and what they can do to support students earning their credential or degree from those institutions.”
Much like the students who were displaced by the recent closings of New York state colleges and universities, faculty and staff members also had to become mobile and flexible if they wanted to continue their passion for education.
David Rufo was a childhood education professor at Cazenovia College before the announced closing. He had hoped to obtain tenure and thought he’d finally found the perfect fit in a tight-knit community with plenty of academic freedom following prior jobs at Syracuse University and Fordham University in New York City.
Within a matter of weeks, Mr. Rufo secured a tenure-track teaching position at Utica University. The move increased his commute from two minutes to one hour, but the trade-off is job security in an institution where enrollment is growing and more support staff are there to help him with research and publications.
“Both places seemed to really appreciate innovation,” Mr. Rufo told The Epoch Times on June 25. “Cazenovia was really rewarding, but this has been rewarding so far as well. New challenges can be part of the experience.”
As universities nationwide scale back diversity, equity and inclusion policies, Arizona’s flagship public institution is preparing to implement a new mandate for students — two courses with a DEI emphasis as a graduation requirement.
Through the two courses, students will focus on themes of diversity, power, equity, privilege, oppression and marginalization, learn “how historical and contemporary populations have experienced inequality,” and “theorize how to create a more equitable society,” the university’s website states.
“…Classes with the Diversity & Equity Attribute will focus on issues such as racism, classism, sexism, ableism, imperialism, colonialism, transphobia, xenophobia, and other structured inequities,” the university states.
The DEI mandate is part of a general education curriculum update at the University of Arizona and takes effect in fall 2026. In the meantime, it has prompted criticisms from a high-profile conservative think tank in the state.
Students “will be forced to take courses with academically unserious content that adds nothing to their education,” Timothy Minella, a researcher with the Goldwater Institute, told The College Fix.
Minella authored the institute’s report criticizing the DEI mandate. Published this month, it argues “general education programs were originally intended to help students gain knowledge and skills essential for thoughtful citizenship and successful careers.”
But the new DEI requirements “instead promote politically activist ideologies to a captive audience of students, who must complete the programs in order to receive a degree,” it adds.
Susan Miller-Cochran, professor of English and executive director of UA’s general education, said the courses are in response to an Arizona Board of Regents policy “to contribute to a society that values ‘equality under the law, diversity, inclusion, and constructive dialogue through civil discourse.’”
She said she strongly disagrees with the institute’s report.
“It’s about reflection and theorization. Understanding theories about diversity and equity, and to cultivate habits of mind that help to meet the requirements that the Arizona Board of Regents gave us in their general education policy,” she told The College Fix in a telephone interview.
The Goldwater report was the result of a wide-ranging public records act request from last fall, and it picks apart several courses that meet the DEI focus after obtaining about 1,000 pages of syllabi.
Among the classes it highlights is one that requires students to “live like a bug” in “ENTO 160D1: Busy Bees and Fancy Fleas: How Insects Shaped Human History.” In one assignment, students will create “tissue paper wings” to understand the experience of “immigrants” or people “from a different social class.”
Minella told The Fix that UA students “could graduate having ‘lived like a bug,’ but without learning about the Constitution, the Civil War, or landmark Supreme Court cases.”
“This isn’t just bad policy. It’s a blatant violation of a clear directive to educate students in American civics from the Arizona Board of Regents, the body that oversees Arizona public universities,” he said via email.
Another DEI class highlighted in the report is an anthropology one called “Race, Ethnicity, and the American Dream.”
“Racism is deeply embedded in US history, society, and institutions. It is systemic,” the syllabus states. “You’ll learn [in] this unit that racism is a system of advantage, and disadvantage, based on race. White people hold unearned privilege while people of color have not had equal access to the ‘American Dream.’”
Another DEI class includes “Constructions of Gender,” where students have the opportunity to participate in a “Safe Zone Training” through the campus LGBTQ center for extra credit.
Minella called the courses “emblematic of the broader academic failings” of the DEI requirement.
Mieczyslaw Zak, a spokesman for the university, said Minella did not discuss the courses with UA scholars and his report misses the mark.
“The goal is absolutely not activism,” he told The Fix. “The goal is understanding, so that students can develop their own perspective and decide how they want to move forward.”
Zak and Miller-Cochran also said they disagree the general education requirement runs afoul of Board of Regents policy. They said the regents acknowledged their curriculum policy does not provide a specific list of courses, and leaves the decision to the state universities.
Asked about the entomology course highlighted in the Goldwater report, Miller-Cochran said “I’m not an entomologist.”
Atrial fibrillation, often referred to as “AFib,” is the most commonly treated type of heart arrhythmia. This condition is now considered the new cardiovascular disease epidemic. In the United States, an estimated 3 to 6 million people have AFib, with projections suggesting that this number could reach 16 million by 2050.
AFib is an irregular, sometimes rapid heart rhythm that occurs when abnormal electrical impulses override the heart’s natural pacemaker. Having AFib puts people at a three-to-five-times greater risk for ischemic stroke from a blood clot traveling from the heart to the brain. One of the primary ways to prevent a clot is to take an anticoagulant or blood-thinning medication.
“AFib contributes to turbulent flow inside the heart. The irregularity of the blood flow allows for a pause in the blood flowing through the heart, allowing the blood to clot. This then can be sent to the brain[,] causing strokes,” Dr. Ken Perry, an emergency physician in Charleston, South Carolina, told The Epoch Times via email.
The 2023 published clinical guideline for anticoagulant therapy to prevent stroke for AFib patients recommends a direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC), specifically the medication Eliquis (apixaban), because it has a lower risk of gastrointestinal bleeding than other DOACs.
Patients taking Eliquis for AFib must continue taking the medication if they’re experiencing an abnormal rhythm or at risk of going back into it. Missing even one dose could significantly increase the risk of having a stroke.
Unfortunately, for many people in the United States with AFib, Eliquis, the most commonly prescribed anticoagulant to prevent blood clots, can cost a patient up to $594 per month, depending on their insurance, Medicare Part D plan, or other type of coverage.
In 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes several provisions to help lower prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries. One of those provisions allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate the prices of some medications with drug manufacturers. In August 2023, CMS selected 10 Medicare Part D drugs for negotiation, and Eliquis was first on the list.
CMS Negotiations
According to a CMS factsheet, about 3.7 million Medicare Part D enrollees used Eliquis from June 2022 to May 2023. The total Part D gross covered prescription cost to Medicare for the same period was $16.5 billion.
A CMS representative told The Epoch Times via email that “The IRA helps people who take anticoagulant medications through Medicare Negotiation. Any negotiated prices agreed to between Medicare and participating drug companies will be announced by September 1, 2024, and become effective beginning in 2026.”
However, many AFib patients and health professionals believe the IRA will have several unintended consequences, including higher prescription costs and limited access to medications. They argue for oversight of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), as these managers have the authority to remove drugs from formularies or switch them to higher-cost tiers while securing larger rebates from more expensive drugs.
Who Are the Pharmacy Benefit Managers?
Pharmacy benefit managers are often overlooked intermediaries between drug and insurance companies. Three major PBMs—CVS Caremark, Optum RX, and Express Scripts—account for approximately 80 percent of medication fulfillment in the United States. They play a central role in pricing drugs for insurers, deciding which drugs will be most accessible to consumers, and determining how much pharmacies are paid for these medications.
Mellanie True Hills, a patient advocate and the founder and CEO of the American Foundation for Women’s Health and StopAfib.org, spoke at the CMS Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program Patient-Focused Listening Session in October 2023. She and many others voiced concerns about the impact of the IRA and CMS drug negotiations on the pricing and accessibility of Eliquis.
“There is a misperception by the White House and patients that the problem is the drug companies. What they don’t realize is the pharma companies are over the barrel, just like we are,” Ms. Hills told The Epoch Times.
However, J.C. Scott, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, stated in an op-ed titled “Elevating the Value of the Employer-PBM Relationship” that “Contrary to the narrative that some pharmaceutical companies want policymakers to believe, employers and health plan sponsors hire PBMs because they provide a wide range of pharmacy benefit options that help payers offer high-quality, cost-effective prescription drug benefits.”
Drug pricing in the United States is complex. It begins with the drug companies developing a drug and making a list price. The drug wholesalers make the drugs and transport them to the pharmacies. The patient pays a copay, and the pharmacy sends a bill the insurance company pays. Although the flow sounds simple, it doesn’t account for the PBMs, which add further complexity to the chain.
PBM Rebates
PBMs work on behalf of insurance companies, large employers, and government agencies. One of their main responsibilities is lowering drug costs for these organizations. They achieve this by negotiating rebates with drug manufacturers. The rebates are paid to the PBMs, who retain a portion of the savings and pass the remainder on to the insurance companies or employers.
In exchange for rebates, PBMs include a drug on their formulary, the list of drugs that pharmacies offer. PBMs utilize a tiered system to manage these drugs. Medications with a higher tier typically have a lower patient copay, motivating drug companies to provide higher rebates in exchange for a favorable tier placement. PBMs can remove a drug from the formulary altogether, potentially limiting patient access to that drug.
Theoretically, rebates and formulary placement should lower drug costs for consumers, yet unfortunately, the opposite often occurs. According to an issue brief published by the Commonwealth Fund, PBMs report that 90 percent of rebates are passed on to health plans and payers. However, small payers and employers often report that they don’t receive these savings, and the drug-specific rebates are kept confidential between manufacturers and PBMs, making it difficult for commercial plans to assess the actual cost savings for their members.
In a 2023 Congressional Oversight Committee hearing addressing the role of PBMs in prescription drug pricing, members and witnesses highlighted how PBMs monopolize the drug market to drive up prices. Despite bipartisan agreement that PBMs increase consumer costs and adversely affect patient care, no decisive action was taken against them. In December 2023, a Senate bill with only a few provisions was introduced.
“Congress cannot risk leaving employers to fend for themselves against pharmaceutical giants or restrict flexibility, options and savings that help businesses design benefits that work best for their unique needs, achieve savings that supports [sic] their ability to sponsor, and invest in high-quality benefits and unlock better health outcomes for their employees,” Mr. Scott stated in his op-ed.
PBMs and Drug Access
When PBMs have to pay more for a drug without receiving a substantial rebate from the drug manufacturer, it negatively affects their margins. According to the Alliance for Patient Access, the PBMs will sometimes remove the drug from their formulary, forcing patients to either pay the total price out-of-pocket or switch to a different drug that may be similar but not the one prescribed by their doctor.
Ms. Hills said a similar situation happened in December 2021, when many patients received word that CVS Caremark was dropping Eliquis from its formulary. This allowed patients to either take another anticoagulant—rivaroxaban or warfarin—or pay the total out-of-pocket cost for Eliquis.
The American College of Cardiology and patient advocacy groups pressured CVS Caremark to reverse its decision. In July 2022, CVS Caremark reinstated Eliquis on its formularies, stating that the drug was re-added after securing a lower net cost from the drug manufacturer.
Despite CVS Caremark’s decision to reinstate Eliquis, concerns persist about the potential loss of affordable access to the medication. These concerns are fueled by the possibility that CMS negotiations might force drug companies to lower prices, resulting in inadequate rebates for PBMs and potentially affecting the drug’s formulary status.
Nonmedical Drug Switching Risks
Nonmedical switching, especially with a medication like Eliquis, can be harmful to patients.
“One of the problems is that patients taking Eliquis twice a day, switching to Xarelto (rivaroxaban), which is only taken once a day, could cause confusion and a potential overdose, putting them at risk for bleeding. When a patient is stable, they should be left on that medication,” Ms. Hills said.
An article published in Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis detailed a letter from CVS Caremark to Beth Waldron, a patient advocate for the National Blood Clot Alliance, who also takes Eliquis. The letter informed her that they were removing Eliquis from the formulary.
“The stated approval criteria required that I first take and fail Xarelto or have another clinical indication, which was undefined,” Ms. Waldron wrote. “And if the exemption was approved, it would be at a higher coverage tier, making it subject to coinsurance and deductible. For me, this would mean an additional US$2400 a year.” The failure of Xarelto could also result in developing a potentially deadly blood clot.
According to Ms. Hills, when a medication is removed from the formulary and a patient is forced to switch medications, they can ask their doctor to submit a prior authorization to the insurance company stating the patient’s need for one medication over another. However, some patients don’t have time for the prior authorization process.
The American Society for Preventive Cardiology published a 2022 report on the impact of nonmedical switching on patients taking a blood thinner. According to the report, patients forced into nonmedical switching by health insurers indicated that the switch took a toll on their overall health. Specifically, 28 percent reported side effects, 22 percent reported resurfacing of symptoms, 7 percent had a heart attack, and 4 percent had a stroke.
CMS Initiatives and Updates
The Epoch Times emailed CMS and asked if any stipulations would be in place to ensure that PBMs don’t interfere with Eliquis’ accessibility and pricing for Medicare beneficiaries and people with private insurance.
CMS did not answer the question about PBMs. However, it did offer specific details about the IRA price negotiations and the Extra Help program, available for people with incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level. The IRA has expanded eligibility for the program, which can lower premiums and reduce out-of-pocket costs for prescription drug coverage.
Ms. Hills said she recently received encouraging news from CMS. The agency has asked patients for comments about incorporating patient input into revising the negotiation process for the second round of talks with drug companies to ensure patient access to medications under Part D.
“Within that, there are two things they’re asking about,” said Ms. Hills. “No. 1 is considering concerns around patient access disruption under Part D due to the combination Part D redesign would lead to coverage restrictions.”
CMS also wants patient input about reviewing Part D sponsor formularies annually to evaluate and address instances where selected drugs are unfavorably placed on tiers or subjected to more restrictive utilization management than nonselected drugs in the same class. “CMS is actually recognizing that this is a problem, and they’re asking for input on it,” she said. “Apparently, they heard us.”
The pharmaceutical industry is currently engaged in a legal battle with the federal government, attempting to block the negotiations by alleging that the program violates federal law and is unconstitutional. Despite these efforts, negotiations are ongoing and are expected to continue until August 1. The maximum fair price for the first 10 drugs, including Eliquis, will be announced on Sept. 1 and will take effect at the beginning of 2026.
Russia appears to have started to amass a dark fleet of tankers to ship its LNG in vessel ownership transfers similar to the moves that Moscow began after the invasion of Ukraine to create a shadow fleet to export oil and products in the face of Western sanctions.
Russia has already amassed a large shadow fleet of oil tankers, and it’s now working on a similar plan for LNG to circumvent current and future sanctions on its LNG, according to data from shipping database providers cited by Bloomberg.
The analysis by Bloomberg has found that little-known shipping firms operating from Dubai’s free trade zone have assumed ownership of at least eight vessels in the past three months, per data from shipping database Equasis. Of these, four ice-class LNG carriers have already received approval from Russia’s authorities to pass through the Arctic route in Russia this summer. Moscow also appears to have issued a record number of permits for this route, the Northern Sea route. Some of the tankers with new ownership don’t have listed insurers—another sign of a vessel now part of a “dark fleet.”.
“There are several indications pointing to efforts by Russia to create a dark fleet for LNG,” Malte Humpert, founder of the Washington D.C.-based think tank Arctic Institute, told Bloomberg.
The transfer of ownership of vessels to little-known entities in little transparent jurisdictions outside Russia bears a striking resemblance to the Russian moves from two years ago when Moscow started amassing the dark fleet for its oil, Bloomberg notes.
Russia has been seeking a larger share of the global LNG market, but U.S. sanctions have delayed the start-up of the Arctic LNG 2 project, while the EU just this week banned new investments, as well as the provision of goods, technology, and services for the completion of LNG projects under construction, such as Arctic LNG 2 and Murmansk LNG.
The EU is also banning transshipment operations of Russian LNG to third countries in EU territory after a transition period of 9 months. This first EU move against Russia’s LNG could speed up the creation of a shadow Russian LNG fleet.
Miracle Restaurant Group, a 25-unit Arby’s franchisee, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 20, according to court filings.
The company, which has been an Arby’s operator since 2005, has restaurants in Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, Donald Moore, manager and member of Miracle Restaurant Group, said in a court filing.
In addition to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the operator cited inflationary pressures, negative same-store sales, an inability to sell underperforming locationsand the failure of the IRS to timely refund over $3 million to the company as part of Employee Retention Tax Credits as reasons for filing for bankruptcy protections, Moore said.
This isn’t the first time the chain has filed for Chapter 11. In 2010, the company operated over 60 stores, but filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11, leading to closures of a number of stores. Creditors were paid in full under its restructuring plan, Moore said in the court filing.
Economic conditions appear to be more dynamic this time around for the operator. Negative same-store sales compressed profit margins that have not helped cover fixed costs. Price increases also couldn’t adequately compensate for a rise in labor and commodity expenses, resulting in an erosion of its cash position, Moore said.
Restaurants developed over the last three years also have had disappointing store sales.
“The negative same store sales and lower than anticipated sales from newer stores have resulted in certain stores that operate at extremely low or (at times) negative cash flow on a weekly and monthly basis,” Moore said.
To help offset its declining financial situation, the operator approached its landlords and Arby’s for relief, but the responses were not enough to keep the franchisee from bankruptcy, Moore said.
Miracle also tried to sell some of its Texas and Chicago-land area locations, but has not been able to secure offers. Moore said overall declines in Arby’s systemwide same-store sales and low sales to fixed cost ratios of certain Miracle restaurants contributed to the bankruptcy. Last September, it sold three stores in Indiana and used those proceeds to pay down debt.
As part of its bankruptcy filing, the operator plans to sell seven Texas stores, eight Illinois stores and two Indiana stores and to focus on operating its Louisiana and Mississippi stores leaving it with eight remaining locations, Moore said. Miracle has retained Peak Franchise Capital to advise in marketing the sale of these restaurants.
The company said it has 200 to 999 estimated number of creditors, $1 million to $10 million in assets and $1 million to $10 million in liabilities in a court filing.
Bankruptcies have been on the rise among QSR franchisees. Since the start of 2023, franchisees of Burger King, CKE, McDonald’s, Popeyes, Subway and Wendy’s have sought bankruptcy protection. Operators have been under increased financial pressure due to rising labor and food costs, difficulty raising capital to fund expansions or remodels to help drive sales and falling consumer traffic, among other factors.
When I was a kid in New York, the 96th Street library was a focal point of my life. Even though I was perpetually losing my library card and amassing fines for overdue books I didn’t want my parents to know about, it (as well as the movie theaters on 86th) was my home away from home.
It had also, I was given to understand, served the same function for the young James Baldwin (although Wikipedia cites the 135th Street library in Harlem) and other esteemed writers of the past and had a history of spawning authors, something even then I dreamed of being.
It was also a place for stimulating the mind as only books can.
According to its website, the 96th is currently undergoing a rehab. Simultaneously, I was interested to read, a new library here in my present hometown—six years now—of Nashville is opening.
From Axios Nashville: “Musical performances, a puppet show and appearances from Nashville political leaders marked the long-awaited grand opening of the Donelson library branch Monday.”
But wait, as they say, there’s more: “The new 24,000-square-foot library has three dedicated spaces to host community events, six study rooms, artwork by local artists and a mobile kitchen on wheels sponsored by the Stones River Woman’s Club.”
They also do vehicle registrations. Seriously. No word on a bowling alley.
The local official who has been sponsoring this project for years said: “Libraries are not about just going to check out a book. They’re modern multimedia centers and places for all kinds of community programming.”
I disagree. Libraries should be primarily about the one thing that is among the most sorely missed in contemporary society—books, books, books, and more books.
Now, I have to admit something: Though I am an author now working on his 15th book, I have rarely been in a library in recent years, except to give an occasional talk to promote my work.
This aversion began several years ago when we had a second home in the Seattle area. I watched with interest, even excitement, as a new city library was erected. Designed by highly regarded Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, it was certainly stylistically cutting edge, utilizing all sorts of geometric shapes and colors.
But when I first entered the new edifice shortly after opening, what seemed to dominate the building, beyond the trendy architecture—you could barely see any bookshelves—were computer banks. Seated at those banks were, largely, the homeless. What they had up on their screens wasn’t Dostoevsky.
Not to overly disparage the well-meaning local official quoted above, but the one thing libraries should not be is a “modern multimedia center.” We, especially our children, get enough of that virtually everywhere else. In fact, we can hardly escape it. Nor should libraries be centers of “community programming” that invite their use for ideological or lifestyle purposes that are inherently exclusionist. (These last have become all too common, with librarians too often the culprits.)
Libraries should be what they were always intended to be, what the first ones were—temples of books.
I assume that those who are expanding the concept of a library are doing so, in their minds, to induce people to read books. My guess is they are unwittingly doing the reverse. They are implying that reading a book is not sufficient unto itself, virtually the opposite of the truth.
Reading a book is the point. It is the brain’s best food, no matter the topic, since the days of the Bible and even before. That is the message a library should deliver.
What reading a book does for us as nothing else is create a mind-meld with the author or authors and, especially when it is good, allows us, whether fictionally or non-fictionally, to examine its subject in all its complexities and draw sophisticated conclusions. In short, we grow from the experience.
Largely because of the internet and the ADHD that it so often causes, people are losing the attention span it takes to read a book through. Though I write them myself, I read fewer than I did at 25 when there were no computers or cell phones to distract me. Has this technology rotted my brain? I think, to some degree, yes.
Having noticed this, I am making an effort to put away the phone—the latest from Ukraine can wait—and read some of a book every night. I don’t always succeed, but I’m trying. I recommend this, if you’re not already doing so. You will find it is also an antidote to the stress of these times.
Meanwhile, I wish we could get some help in this by making libraries what they used to be—monuments to books and therefore public inspirations for a lifetime of learning.
Nike Shares Crash Near COVID Lows After Warning Sales Slump Is Worsening
Nike shares are down over 11% after-hours following an ugly earnings picture that saw Q4 revenues disappoint and more notably, a sizable cut in guidance for the first half of this fiscal year.
Building on a slew of reports that suggest pain is finally hitting the consumer’s wallet, Nike’s revenue for Q4 fell 1.7% YoY to $12.61 billion (notably below the $12.86 billion consensus estimate).
Direct Revenue (via the company’s website, app and stores) $5.1 billion, -7.3% y/y, well below the estimate of $5.68 billion
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Poonam Goyal said the underperformance at Nike’s own sales channels “comes by surprise and is a reason for concern, as the activewear giant could be turning its core shoppers away due to lack of newness.”
She added that the performance in wholesale, which beat estimates, is a “positive indicator for its revived and existing wholesale relationships.”
Geographically, Asia was steady while European revenues fell. North America saw the biggest disappointment to expectations:
North America revenue $5.28 billion, -1.4% y/y, weaker than the estimated $5.44 billion
Equipment revenue $578 million, +34% y/y, estimate $446.4 million
But then, during the earnings calls, Nike management said that it sees 1Q revenue down about 10% (dramatically worse than the 3% decline consensus had expected).
This comes after Nike said in March that it expected revenue to fall by a low-single-digit percentage in the first half of its fiscal year.
“A comeback at this scale takes time,” Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend said during the company’s call with analysts.
He added the company is transitioning its product lineup to reignite consumer interest.
NKE shares are trading down almost 12% in the after hours, almost back to COVID lockdown levels…
…almost back to COVID lockdown levels…
Nike Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe is cutting $2 billion in costs and slashing 2% of the workforce, with layoffs recently hitting the company’s European headquarters near Amsterdam and its Boston-based Converse brand.
“We are taking our near-term challenges head-on, while making continued progress in the areas that matter most to NIKE’s future – serving the athlete through performance innovation, moving at the pace of the consumer and growing the complete marketplace,” said John Donahoe, President & CEO, NIKE, Inc.
“I’m confident that our teams are lining up our competitive advantages to create greater impact for our business.”
If Americans can’t afford a new set of sneakers – despite the record number of jobs that Joe Biden has ‘created’, then maybe, just maybe, those jobs weren’t as ‘created’ or ‘well paid’ as some would like you to believe… and maybe, just maybe, the sentiment signals and poll numbers are true about the state of the economy, no matter what all those Nobel laureate economists would prefer that you think.
In 2020 at the onset of the covid pandemic scare and right before the lockdowns I’ll never forget going on a grocery run on a Friday afternoon only to find near empty roads and near empty stores. The few other people shopping had a glassy stare in their eyes, like they were dazed or shell-shocked. For me and those I know that prep, it was just another day; for those that hadn’t prepped it was a nightmare of uncertainty.
In Montana we didn’t pay much heed to the lockdowns after the first month. In three months everything was basically back to normal except for the mask mandates which most people ignored. With more data available on the virus it was clear that the chance of death was greatly exaggerated. What scared us far more was the pervasive talk of vaccine passports in 2021. The proposed state and federal restrictions on people that refused to take the jab were familiar – This was the beginning of full blown tyranny unless we stood firm.
In the meantime there was a public rush to buy up as many necessities as they could afford. And of course, the covid stimulus measures helped to trigger a stagflationary crisis that had already been building in the US for many years.
In the face of so many potential threats, preppers were still well protected. If vaccine passports became the norm and access to public places was blocked then we had food storage to get us through for a long time to come. If the buying panic and inflation led to a supply chain disaster then we were ready, along with the guns and ammo and training needed to keep what we had. If a fight was coming then we had the means to defend ourselves.
I have long been convinced that it was the prepper factor that caused the government to rethink their strategy of perpetual medical lockdowns and give up on vaccine passports. Recent surveys show that over 30% of the adult population of the US is involved in prepping. We’re an unknown element, something they can’t predict, a possible monkey-wrench in the gears of the machine.
With our own supplies we are not dependent on the system to keep us alive, and the harder they push the more we are compelled to organize into an even greater obstacle. Just as NATO sanctions have pushed Russia, China and the BRICS closer together, openly authoritarian policies in the west during covid have pushed liberty movement people together. The establishment backed away because they had to.
That’s why I have to laugh whenever I see some idiot online say: “What’s the point of prepping when nothing ever happens?”
These people must have been living under a rock since 2020.
We just dodged one of the biggest Orwellian bullets in our nation’s history with the defeat of the pandemic mandates. Or, maybe they don’t realize that the pandemic was just the beginning.
If that’s the case then it pains me to remind everyone that nothing has fundamentally changed. Yes, we beat back the mandates but all the same elites are still in power, all the same globalist institutions that exploited covid to create a panic still exist, and the event has acted as a domino in a chain leading to other crises. Here’s just a few reasons why you’re definitely going to need your survival preps in the next few years…
The Stagflation Crisis That Wouldn’t Die
The stagflationary problem is persistent despite all the media claims that it’s under control. Readers familiar with my economic analysis know that I predicted stagflation several years ago as the inevitable outcome of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing and near-zero interest rates (See my article published in 2018 titled ‘Stagflationary Crisis: Understanding The Cause Of America’s Ongoing Collapse’ for reference). I also predicted the Catch-22 problem of rate hikes vs inflation and debt (read my my article from 2021 titled ‘The Fed’s Catch-22 Taper Is A Weapon, Not A Policy Error’). And when I said a couple years ago that the Fed wasn’t going to return to rate cuts for some time, I was right about that too.
Given this track record, trust me when I say that stagflation is here to stay. Any move to cut rates will automatically trigger an even worse resurgence of inflation and the fed will be forced to hike once again. And, high interest rates will continue to create a national debt crisis as debt payments skyrocket.
In other words, the economic situation is getting exponentially worse with each passing year. The US National debt was $28 trillion in 2021; by the end of 2024 it will be well over $35 trillion. That’s $7 trillion added in four-years time. There is already breakage in the system, but that’s nothing compared to what we face in the next four years. Any preparedness items you buy today should be considered an investment, because there’s no doubt all of those items will be far more expensive or harder to find in the future.
Political Riots Are Assured
Recent campus protests over Gaza (and the riots in France over gains by conservatives in government) have reminded people that they shouldn’t get too comfortable with the fading influence of BLM. The same leftists that rode the wave of racial division back in 2020 are going out and finding new causes to co-opt. They’re looking for any excuse to riot, even if it has nothing to do with them personally.
With the 2024 election incoming we all know civil unrest will be the norm once again no matter who ends up in the White House. With riots follow the threat of looting, property destruction, political violence and even martial law. Then there is the public reaction to those circumstances, including the possibility of civil war. Don’t assume the country will calm down after the election. In fact, assume the opposite.
The War In Ukraine Is About To Become A World War
Again, I have mentioned in multiple articles the danger of western involvement in the war in Ukraine including the danger of a wider world war should NATO directly enter the fray. As I write this, France is pressing for “military advisers” to go to Ukraine to train recruits, which is exactly what the US did in Vietnam right before we officially went to war.
Multiple NATO countries have also given Ukraine the green light to use long range NATO missiles against targets deep in Russia. If you are an avid student of history you know as I do that this only goes one way.
That’s probably why officials in the US and in Europe are suddenly talking about draft procedures and forced conscription laws in order to shore up their ranks. How many people will actually submit to a draft? I don’t know, but I do know this is not the kind of talk that governments engage in when their goal is diplomacy. It’s the kind of talk they engage in when they’re getting ready to antagonize the enemy.
A larger war with Russia comes with a host of difficulties that would take me too many pages to cover here. To summarize, war with Russia means war with China, war with North Korea, war with Iran and most of the Middle East, tragic supply chain disruptions, the end of the dollar’s world reserve status and a good chance of a limited (false flag) or regional nuclear exchange.
I have serious doubts that global nuclear war is on the table because the establishment has nothing to gain and everything to lose from it. However, a war between East and West is more than enough to cause absolute havoc in every nation on the planet.
The War Over Gaza Is Quickly Leading To A War For The Middle East
I’m not going to cheer for either side in this conflict. My concern is America and Americans. That said, it’s clear that actions on both sides are forcing the war to expand well beyond Gaza. Recent Israeli strikes on Syria and scuffles with Egyptian troops are concerning. Lebanon is highly involved and Iran has already traded missiles with Israel. Israel has stated their offensive will continue through at least the end of 2024, and now they may be shifting to all out war on Lebanon.
In terms of how this all affects the US or Europe, the immediate consequence will be a shut down of oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. That’s 30% or more of the world’s oil trade slowed down or eliminated. Energy prices will explode along with prices on everything else. The price of all the goods you buy daily is affected by the price of oil.
Agriculture, for example, relies heavily on fuel and oil based fertilizers. This means high oil prices will trigger high food prices, and food supplies will be key in the next few years.
Prepping Isn’t A Hobby, It’s A Duty
Frankly, preparedness should be a social mainstay – An integral part of American life. It’s not a hobby, it’s a duty. The more prepared people there are the safer every American will be. Most prepared people don’t panic because there’s no need. And people who don’t panic are less likely to harm others out of fear and desperation.
Think of food storage like a big battery. A battery is energy storage for later when you need it. Think about how much time and work and energy goes into growing just one month of food for your family. Isn’t it far better to store all that work in long term foods so that you don’t have to worry about it later during the worst of conditions? Every bucket of stored food is a battery that saves you precious time and labor.
Growing food and living sustainably is great in peacetime or in the middle of a large, well organized community. Growing food at the onset of a national crisis in a place where too many people are unprepared is almost impossible. If a breakdown occurs then your best bet is to hunker down, work with family, friends and neighbors, and live on your preps until there is a large enough community in place to securely restart agriculture again.
There are too many variables right now around the world that can cause catastrophe, and even events on the other side of the globe can cause serious problems for you at home. I see very little chance of the situation improving in the next few years and a very high chance of things spiraling out of control. Take your prepping seriously, even when oblivious naysayers claim “nothing’s going to happen.” Those will be the same people crying for help before long, and you don’t want to share their fate.
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One survival food company, Prepper All-Naturals, has proactively dropped prices to allow Americans to stock up ahead of projected hikes in beef prices. Their 25-year shelf life steaks currently come at a 25% discount with promo code “invest25”.
