It has been customary for most families to travel and spend the 4th of July in certain places. But this year, it seems that many would be making some changes to their celebration plans. With fuel prices rising beyond reasonable levels, some people may be foregoing that tradition (at least while everything is in chaos in the fuel industry).

Compare to previous years, forecasts on the decline in numbers is expected. This is something expected ever since the fuel prices jacked up and became unreasonable. Add to that the fact that some have chosen to limit the use of their cars, if ever some would travel, it would be through a car pool or perhaps public means of transport.

If some people are willing to go through the uncomfortable situations of spending the occasion, at least they can get some consolation with special discounts to their destination. But first, they should ask themselves if the whole thing is worth the effort.

“Many Americans remain cautious about the outlook for their personal finances and these attitudes are reflected in the slight decline in travel we are forecasting for the upcoming holiday weekend,” said Robert L. Darbelnet, AAA President & CEO. “Those who do vacation this summer will find a plethora of attractive discounts and special offers resulting in some outstanding vacation values. If you can afford to go, this summer is a smart time to travel.”

(Source) Press

Tags: aaa, attitudes, attractive discounts, car pool, celebration plans, chaos, consolation, decline, fuel industry, fuel prices, holiday weekend, personal finances, plethora, president ceo, previous years, smart time, special offers, uncomfortable situations, vacation values

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For Volvo Powertrain, it was either reduce the working hours of their salaried employees or lay them off. And of course we all know that the logical choice is the former. And that was exactly what both the Volvo Powertrain Management and local PTK trade unions agreed to, a result of the continued business decline.

The agreement with the PTK unions in Skövde applies from July 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010. Work hours will be reduced by a maximum of four working days per month and pay reduced by a maximum of 10% during the agreement period.

Moreover, the salary level applicable following this year’s pay review is being reduced by 3% and the amount converted to 12 non-working days. The company guarantees that no new layoff notices will be issued during the agreement period.

The agreement covers 400 salaried employees in Skövde. In the voting carried out among PTK’s members yesterday, a majority of 86 % voted in favor of the proposed agreement.

(Source) Press

Tags: agreement period, company guarantees, decline, layoff notices, logical choice, salaried employees, trade unions, Volvo, volvo powertrain

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U.S. automaker General Motors announced today that worldwide sales of GM vehicles fell 10.8% in 2008, making Toyota Motor Corp. now the world leader in auto sales. GM sold 8.36 million vehicles last year, putting it about 616,000 units behind the 8.97 million reported by Toyota. Before this morning’s sales announcement, GM defined itself on its Web site as “the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years.” Car sales worldwide fell dramatically in the final quarter of 2008 as a financial crisis that forced most automakers to slash production took its toll worldwide. GM’s fourth-quarter sales dropped 26.2 percent.

In the United States, the single-biggest market for Toyota and GM, GM tumbled 22.7 percent last year, while Toyota was down 15.4 percent.  GM currently received federal loan money to keep it from bankruptcy, and has until March to develop a reorganization plan that will lead to profitability again. Meanwhile, the economic crisis that is causing the drop in sales continues to deepen.

Tags: decline, GM, Vehicle Sales

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