Written by: Andy watkins
Traffic schools when I was young were in a classroom that was outdated and smelled of old socks. Finally, traffic schools have modernized and now appear on the web. I found out the hard way that they existed by getting a speeding ticket when I was in Texas last summer.
I was given an option to take an online traffic school to avoid getting points on my driving record. The defensive driving course I took was from www.ustrafficschoolonline.com and it took me about 7 hours, but sitting at home wasn't so bad.
My points were waived the traffic course was easy and I do beleive I learned a lot. I'm glad traffic schools like http//:www.ustrafficschoolonline.com exist to help me learn and save money in a way that is practical and smart.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
Who's buying new cars?
Andy Watkins
Editor Business Automotive
Today's question is who is buying the new cars that General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are claiming they are selling? I decided to survey my 225 closest friends on Facebook and the results are in....with in the last year only 1 person bought a new car out of 225, while 112 bought used cars the rest stated they are shopping around, but can't afford one at this time. I'm very concerned that all the automotive companies are showing huge sales increases, but just in my survey I show a different story altogether.
Of course....my survey was very small and wasn't an official measurement of the automotive companies actual sales....so I decided to call on the local dealerships and speak with actual live sales persons. At first I thought they might not tell the whole truth to protect their ego's or companies reputation, so I decided to tell them the truth and let them know why I was asking them for this information.
I spoke with 16 dealerships and 11 of them said sales are down very low for new cars, but very high with the used cars. They stated they can't keep enough used cars on the lot. The other 5 responded with...about the same as a year ago....that of course didn't tell me much....they wanted nothing to do with me after that response anyway. The other 11 did share that it was very hard to get financing for people that were interested in a new car, plus they couldn't get approved for the larger monthly, so most if not all went the used car method.
I then spoke with a train dispatcher from CNC and he claimed that the Automotive industry was booking more cars and shipping more cars from factories to all the States then any other industry. This now made me to think a little more outside the box. I decided to send letters with a survey attached to Trucking, shippers, and other train companies for more details on what is being delivered around the country.
So the truth is still pending and this Automotive detective is on the case....back soon with more information regarding Automotive sales in the U.S.
Editor Business Automotive
Today's question is who is buying the new cars that General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are claiming they are selling? I decided to survey my 225 closest friends on Facebook and the results are in....with in the last year only 1 person bought a new car out of 225, while 112 bought used cars the rest stated they are shopping around, but can't afford one at this time. I'm very concerned that all the automotive companies are showing huge sales increases, but just in my survey I show a different story altogether.
Of course....my survey was very small and wasn't an official measurement of the automotive companies actual sales....so I decided to call on the local dealerships and speak with actual live sales persons. At first I thought they might not tell the whole truth to protect their ego's or companies reputation, so I decided to tell them the truth and let them know why I was asking them for this information.
I spoke with 16 dealerships and 11 of them said sales are down very low for new cars, but very high with the used cars. They stated they can't keep enough used cars on the lot. The other 5 responded with...about the same as a year ago....that of course didn't tell me much....they wanted nothing to do with me after that response anyway. The other 11 did share that it was very hard to get financing for people that were interested in a new car, plus they couldn't get approved for the larger monthly, so most if not all went the used car method.
I then spoke with a train dispatcher from CNC and he claimed that the Automotive industry was booking more cars and shipping more cars from factories to all the States then any other industry. This now made me to think a little more outside the box. I decided to send letters with a survey attached to Trucking, shippers, and other train companies for more details on what is being delivered around the country.
So the truth is still pending and this Automotive detective is on the case....back soon with more information regarding Automotive sales in the U.S.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Obama for change
written by: Andy Watkins
Editor Business Detroit
The first African American President will be sworn into office on Tuesday and the entire world will be watching. I just can't believe it took the most powerful country in the world this long to elect a person of color. Well now that has been accomplished what's next...Obama is going to have the next toughiest hurdle to leap in his first term. Wars in Iraq, Afganistan and now Gaza...will be on his most important international agenda, while the nations economy is still out of control.
So let's get this straight...Obama needs to create peace in the middle east, stomp out the terroist and fix our economy...piece of cake. On a daily basis we receive email's from small business owners in the Detroit market talking about how bad things are in their fields. Well now that we have a new congress and a new President coming to power hopefully we will see a different type of focus regarding our economy and International ideas.
Obama and Biden will be working long tough hours over the next 96 months to accomplish what seems to be the impossible. Now he will need help from ever citizen in this great land. Now you ask how can you do your part...well it's seem...stop being so greeding.
If you focus on these areas then we can all get back on track instead of declining out of control.
1. Write your congress person the state and federal levels and ask them to stop with the add-ons to every bill noted.
2. Stop supporting outsourcing of jobs
3. Slow down your spending and save your monies in bonds, mutual funds or real estate.
4. Please pay your bills...if you need to get a 2nd job for a short period do it.
5. Do not ignore the collection calls...pick the calls up and speak with them they won't bite they just want to get paid. If they are rude...tell them to stop and do everything in writing...make arrangements with them that creates a win win situation.
6. Buy American made...not just American named products. Tell the CEO's that you won't buy their products if they are made elsewhere.
7. Invent something...improve something...or just volunteer somewhere...please make a difference. This will make you feel great, it will also help others in the long run.
8. Last but not least....STOP WHINNING....get off your butt and get the job done...NOW....pass these advise on and Obamas agenda might just work.
Editor Business Detroit
The first African American President will be sworn into office on Tuesday and the entire world will be watching. I just can't believe it took the most powerful country in the world this long to elect a person of color. Well now that has been accomplished what's next...Obama is going to have the next toughiest hurdle to leap in his first term. Wars in Iraq, Afganistan and now Gaza...will be on his most important international agenda, while the nations economy is still out of control.
So let's get this straight...Obama needs to create peace in the middle east, stomp out the terroist and fix our economy...piece of cake. On a daily basis we receive email's from small business owners in the Detroit market talking about how bad things are in their fields. Well now that we have a new congress and a new President coming to power hopefully we will see a different type of focus regarding our economy and International ideas.
Obama and Biden will be working long tough hours over the next 96 months to accomplish what seems to be the impossible. Now he will need help from ever citizen in this great land. Now you ask how can you do your part...well it's seem...stop being so greeding.
If you focus on these areas then we can all get back on track instead of declining out of control.
1. Write your congress person the state and federal levels and ask them to stop with the add-ons to every bill noted.
2. Stop supporting outsourcing of jobs
3. Slow down your spending and save your monies in bonds, mutual funds or real estate.
4. Please pay your bills...if you need to get a 2nd job for a short period do it.
5. Do not ignore the collection calls...pick the calls up and speak with them they won't bite they just want to get paid. If they are rude...tell them to stop and do everything in writing...make arrangements with them that creates a win win situation.
6. Buy American made...not just American named products. Tell the CEO's that you won't buy their products if they are made elsewhere.
7. Invent something...improve something...or just volunteer somewhere...please make a difference. This will make you feel great, it will also help others in the long run.
8. Last but not least....STOP WHINNING....get off your butt and get the job done...NOW....pass these advise on and Obamas agenda might just work.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
A New Plan...will it work?
written by:
Andy Watkins
Editor
BusinessDetroit.com
The big three have now presented their business plans for recovery to Congress and will be in front of the Senators and House of Represenatives answering some more detailed questions about their plans. Even though Congress and most of the public view this as a bailout it actually is not a bailout. This request is a bridge loan to cover normal outstanding expenses and without this bridge loan each of these automakers would not be able to operate at the same way and would require major cut backs and layoffs of its employees and product lines.
If the credit markets wouldn't have gone South in recent months then the automakers would have just restructured the debt and refinanced their existing loans through their normal pathways, but due to the downturn and the credit markets being frozen that option was closed. The U.S. Government is the only group large enough to provide the cash they all need to keep operations moving.
Many would argue that the free markets suggest that the strong survive and the weak should fail, well I agree with that concept, except in this situation the credit markets are not acting as normal in the free market, so to use that arguement wouldn't be matching the situation as apples to apples. The automotive companies have been weakened by slower sales and increasing overhead, but they wouldn't be on the verge of closing their doors if the credit markets were still operating at full strength again.
So this local business person supports the Bridge Loan to the automakers as long as the request and plans are real. If the automakers are playing a shell game with our tax dollars and crying wolf then they should fail, but if they are telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth then we need to give them the bridge loan not only to save jobs, but to speed up the recovery of our nations economy.
Andy Watkins
Editor
BusinessDetroit.com
The big three have now presented their business plans for recovery to Congress and will be in front of the Senators and House of Represenatives answering some more detailed questions about their plans. Even though Congress and most of the public view this as a bailout it actually is not a bailout. This request is a bridge loan to cover normal outstanding expenses and without this bridge loan each of these automakers would not be able to operate at the same way and would require major cut backs and layoffs of its employees and product lines.
If the credit markets wouldn't have gone South in recent months then the automakers would have just restructured the debt and refinanced their existing loans through their normal pathways, but due to the downturn and the credit markets being frozen that option was closed. The U.S. Government is the only group large enough to provide the cash they all need to keep operations moving.
Many would argue that the free markets suggest that the strong survive and the weak should fail, well I agree with that concept, except in this situation the credit markets are not acting as normal in the free market, so to use that arguement wouldn't be matching the situation as apples to apples. The automotive companies have been weakened by slower sales and increasing overhead, but they wouldn't be on the verge of closing their doors if the credit markets were still operating at full strength again.
So this local business person supports the Bridge Loan to the automakers as long as the request and plans are real. If the automakers are playing a shell game with our tax dollars and crying wolf then they should fail, but if they are telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth then we need to give them the bridge loan not only to save jobs, but to speed up the recovery of our nations economy.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Do the Auto's Live of Die?
Written by: Andy Watkins
Editor - BusinessDetroit.com
The big question all over the media world wide is do we help save the automotive industry for a complete meltdown. Many say it worked for Chrysler years ago and that's where I would like to start my debate on this topic. Many years ago the U.S. government decided to give Chrysler a 1.5 billion dollar loan in which it got paid back and it seemed that it saved the company and industry from a huge loss...or did it? What if the U.S. government turned down the loan offer to Chrysler years ago and it closed it's doors. That would mean many indivduals would have lost their jobs, homes, business that were connected to that auto giant. Now that we placed bandaid on the situation back then my belief it has caused an even great problem today. Letting Chysler fail years ago and allowing the free market to work the way it should would have possibly saved the current automotive industry from it's complete failure.
Basically, the free market suggests that if you run your business correctly with a quality product and a fair market price you should be able to keep operating as long as the bad running companies go out of business. Why you ask?...well it's very simple...if the bad companies are saved then the market share for everyone shrinks and the great companies ove time get hurt even though they are doing everything right...they are limited on growth and then they implode due to the lack of new revenues because the bad companies have turned things around slightly and retained partial market share causing pain on the companies that should have taken all the left overs.
So now we (Detroit and Michigan tax payers) are begging congress to re-think the loan idea and save General Motors. Well this writer thinks that is a terrible idea and the free market really needs to work the way it is suppose too. So U.S. Government get out of the way on this one and let the chips fall as they are suppose to fall.
Editor - BusinessDetroit.com
The big question all over the media world wide is do we help save the automotive industry for a complete meltdown. Many say it worked for Chrysler years ago and that's where I would like to start my debate on this topic. Many years ago the U.S. government decided to give Chrysler a 1.5 billion dollar loan in which it got paid back and it seemed that it saved the company and industry from a huge loss...or did it? What if the U.S. government turned down the loan offer to Chrysler years ago and it closed it's doors. That would mean many indivduals would have lost their jobs, homes, business that were connected to that auto giant. Now that we placed bandaid on the situation back then my belief it has caused an even great problem today. Letting Chysler fail years ago and allowing the free market to work the way it should would have possibly saved the current automotive industry from it's complete failure.
Basically, the free market suggests that if you run your business correctly with a quality product and a fair market price you should be able to keep operating as long as the bad running companies go out of business. Why you ask?...well it's very simple...if the bad companies are saved then the market share for everyone shrinks and the great companies ove time get hurt even though they are doing everything right...they are limited on growth and then they implode due to the lack of new revenues because the bad companies have turned things around slightly and retained partial market share causing pain on the companies that should have taken all the left overs.
So now we (Detroit and Michigan tax payers) are begging congress to re-think the loan idea and save General Motors. Well this writer thinks that is a terrible idea and the free market really needs to work the way it is suppose too. So U.S. Government get out of the way on this one and let the chips fall as they are suppose to fall.
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