Pickering and Sanders Join St. Louis Fed's Transportation Council

ST. LOUIS — John Pickering, chief operating officer of Cass Information Systems Inc.'s Transportation Services Division, and Donald Sanders Jr., president of Nightline Express Inc., have joined the Transportation Industry Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The St. Louis Fed created four District Industry Councils in 2006. Each council represents a specific industry that is critical to the Federal Reserve's Eighth District and is designed to build a consistent and dependable line of communication regarding economic conditions within those industry sectors throughout the District. The members' observations complement the data and information developed through the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, the St. Louis Fed's Burgundy Books and meetings of the Reserve Bank's boards of directors.

Each council is based in one of four of the Reserve Bank's offices: Memphis (transportation), St. Louis (real estate), Little Rock (agribusiness) and Louisville (health care). The councils meet twice a year.

With branches in Little Rock, Louisville and Memphis, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis serves the Eighth Federal Reserve District, which includes all of Arkansas, eastern Missouri, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. The St. Louis Fed is one of 12 regional Reserve banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., comprise the Federal Reserve System. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates U.S. monetary policy, regulates state-chartered member banks and bank holding companies, provides payment services to financial institutions and the U.S. government, and promotes community development and financial education.

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