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Concerns about the “fiscal cliff” seem to be spreading into lots of unexpected places, including the heart of the trucking industry.

An index of the U.S. economy’s service sector declined in October, the Institute for Supply Management said Monday.

The “fiscal cliff” lurks as a major potential danger, and not far down the road. The danger is to us all, in the form of higher taxes, spending cuts in vital areas and what a failure to act might mean to the country’s psyche.

The political bickering that has engulfed much of the federal government over the past months and months is apparently weighing heavily on the nation’s economy.

Many carriers, beset by both the weak economy and pricing competition from brokers and third-party logistics providers, are seeking new ways to win, keep and better serve customers. Business lines such as home delivery, warehousing and alternative mail are adding to — or replacing — revenues cut by the economy and the competition.

The U.S. economy grew at a 1.5% annual rate in the second quarter as consumers trimmed spending, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

When I hear the current challenger for the presidency of the United States talk about job creation, I think back to one night in November 2005 when I was on the road and listening to a nationally broadcast radio talk show.