A.M. Executive Briefing - July 18

June U.S. Truck Sales Continue the Slide

Overall, the first six months of the year saw a 4.5% drop in Class 8 sales. The largest sin-gle manufacturer's decline last month was a 23.1% sales reduction posted by the biggest of the original equipment manufacturers, Freightliner in Portland, Ore.

For all of last year, sales of the big rigs totaled more than 260,000, an all-time record. Dan Lang, Transport Topics

Truckload Giant J.B. Hunt Says Fuel Surcharges Covered Most Q2 Cost Jump

The company earned 31 cents per share in the quarter, up from 30 cents a year ago. Revenue grew 5% both in its truck and intermodal business, Hunt said. Transport Topics

Yellow's Second Quarter Earnings Up, Beat Analysts' Estimates

Profit from operations was $.64 per share, exceeding the $.58 estimate from analysts at First Call/Thomson Financial.

The company attributed the increase to high freight demand and a strong national economy. This was the basis for last week's announcement of a 5.9% rate increase effective in August. Yellow executives also said they expect business to continue to be strong through year's end. Transport Topics

Consolidated Freightways Will Raise Rates in August

CF's action follows a nearly identical rate increase announced last week by Yellow Freight System. The Yellow Corp. subsidiary will raise its rates for non-contractual customers 5.9% as of Aug. 1.

Consolidated Freightways has 350 terminals throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and also offers international service to more than 80 countries. Transport Topics

Air Canada Pilots Hold Off on Strike Decision for Minister Meeting

Contract talks broke down Friday, and the two sides are at the edge of what could be a new strike as took place in 1998. If that happened, freight shipments at many Canadian and U.S. airports would be delayed, and many parcels would be diverted to trucks.

The Gazette newspaper in Montreal quoted a freight forwarder saying a strike would mean air freight that does not have to arrive the next day would go by truck. A logistics source told the newspaper that customers have been calling to check on truck availability in case Air Canada cargo space is grounded. Transport Topics

Crown May Face Zoning Battle In Detroit Truck Terminal Project

Officials in Riverview and Trenton, which border the 75-acre property, said in the article that they would prefer to see housing or recreational facilities built on the land, rather than a trucking terminal.

DSC Ltd., the steel company from which Crown bought the property, tried for four years to sell the property to housing developers and also asked officials in both cities about redeveloping the land, according to the article.

Now, Crown must ask Trenton and Riverview planning commissions to change the zoning to accommodate its trucking operations. Officials will then consider the request and hold public hearings before turning the final decision over to both cities' councils. Transport Topics

Postal Service Eyes Job Cuts, Rate Hikes

The rate hikes, the story said, would probably add a cent to the 33-cent cost of mailing a letter next January. The cost of mailing books and magazines would jump as well.

The moves being considered are spurred by higher costs than anticipated for both fuel and labor, factors that are also stressing some trucking companies plus the express letter and parcel companies that compete with the post office. But postal rate hikes also give competitors a chance to grab some market share now held by the postal service. Transport Topics

Trucker New Penn Introduces Money-back Time Guarantee

ew Penn Motor Express, which operates through 23 terminals in the U.S. Northeast plus Quebec, Canada and Puerto Rico, has a fleet of 800 tractors and 1,600 trailers. It is a subsidiary of Arnold Industries. Transport Topics

Alta Lift Truck Services Opens Eighth Michigan Location

The new facility is 15,000-sq. ft. and includes modern paint booths, pressure washers and overhead cranes.

Formerly known as Yale Materials Handling, Alta is the third largest Yale dealer in the country. Alta also offers in-plant and storage equipment, racking and shelving. Transport Topics

BORN Teams Up With FreightWise In New B2B Venture

BORN will assist FreightWise by implementing financial systems software and by helping refine its services. BORN will also provide strategic consulting to FreightWise in the venture.

The FreightWise site (www.freightwise.com) is meant to go beyond current online transportation services by allowing customers to make their transactions online, rather than posting information to bulletin boards. The company is aiming for a summer 2000 launch. Transport Topics