Executive Briefing - Aug. 31
- IMF Warns of a Global Recesssion
- Celadon Announces Losses for 4Q, Fiscal Year
- Venezuelan Truckers Disrupt Gasoline Supplies
- EPA Asked to Mandate Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel
- Volkswagen Mulls End to Mexican Investment
- No More Supply Cuts This Year, OPEC Says
- Rail Intermodal Loadings Down 2.9%
- Expect Sobriety Checkpoints This Weekend
- Neb. Drunken Driving Law Starts Saturday
- Celadon Announces Losses for 4Q, Fiscal Year
IMF Warns of a Global Recesssion
Despite its own predictions of growth in the U.S. and world economies, the Interna-tional Monetary Fund is warning of a global economic recession in its latest World Economic Outlook, according to a report in the Financial Times.The Financial Times said it has obtained a leaked draft version of the IMF document. The final version will be published at the end of September.
While the IMF still predicts growth in both the U.S.and world economies, It warns that, if the U.S. goes instead into a recession it could produce a global recession of the sort seen in the 80s and 90s.
The IMF said it is now likely that the Japanese economy is slipping back into recession, the Financial Times reported. Transport Topics
Celadon Announces Losses for 4Q, Fiscal Year
The Celadon Group Inc. (CLDN) reported losses in net income of $300,000 for the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, excluding a charge the company took for the sale of its flatbed division. The loss amounts to 4 cents per share.
The results are down 9 cents per share from a year ago, when the company posted a $400,000 profit. For the fiscal year, the company posted a total loss, including charges associated with the sale of its Cheetah flatbed division, of $5.3 million or 70 cents per share.
The company did however announce a bit of good news, its Truckers B2B Inc. subsidiary posted its first profitable quarter, with $91,000 in operating income.
The company said it was “cautiously optimistic” about a return to profitability in the first quarter of fiscal 2002. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Venezuelan Truckers Disrupt Gasoline Supplies
Venezuelan truck drivers, striking over high gasoline prices, are disrupting supplies of gasoline, Bloomberg reported.The drivers are demanding that the Energy and Mines Ministry comply with an agreement to pay drivers an extra 1,000 bolivars ($1.36 U.S.) per tank load and have blocked access to state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s Bajo Grande distribution center.
Companies are complaining that they can’t break even selling oil at 36 cents U.S. a gallon, despite government subsidies of $1.4 million per day. Transport Topics
EPA Asked to Mandate Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel
The Engine Manufacturers Association Thursday renewed its request that Environmental Protection Agency make the nationwide availability of a single ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel a top priority.The EMA said that spokeswoman Lisa Stegink, speaking at an EPA public workshop on diesel fuel characteristics and emissions, indicated that engine manufacturers need a nationwide diesel fuel sulfur cap of 15 parts-per-million to meet upcoming onroad diesel engine emissions standards. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Volkswagen Mulls End to Mexican Investment
As a strike at its Puebla, Mexico, production plant drags into its second week, German automaker Volkswagen (VOW-FRK) said it may reconsider future investments in the country, the Associated Press reported.
Truckers that deliver Volkswagens to dealers are victims of a prolonged strike, even though they are not party to the negotiations.
The company said it feels like it has been taken hostage by the workers at the plant which produces the traditional “Bug” sedan, the new Beetle, Golfs and Jettas. Since the strike began on Aug. 18 the company said it has lost the production of 15,000 cars and 20,000 engines.
Workers at the plant rejected an offer from VW of a 10.2% wage increase, reportedly by an overwhelming 95% majority.
The workers, despite voting down the company’s offer, showed a willingness to come down off their demand for a 19% wage increase, the AP said. Transport Topics
No More Supply Cuts This Year, OPEC Says
Ali Rodriguez, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told Bloomberg News Friday that the group will keep oil output stable for the rest of this year after the latest production cut takes effect on Saturday.The cartel, which exports nearly 40% of the world's oil supply, will trim daily supply by 1 million barrels in a bid to keep the price around $25 per barrel.
The article said that recent surveys of OPEC’s output have showed a lack of compliance with supply cuts earlier this year. Rodriguez said compliance in August was at a good level, but it must improve or the price will drop regardless of the cut.
However, the Wall Street Journal reported that due to OPEC's cut and shrinking oil inventories in the United States, a few analysts and economists have changed their predictions, and now say that oil prices could rise next year.
That could threaten any global economic recovery, since it would push up the price of gasoline and fuel oil to heat homes. Transport Topics
Rail Intermodal Loadings Down 2.9
Intermodal traffic on U.S. railroads was down 2.9 % for the first 34 weeks of the year, with 5,760,949 trailers and containers compared with 5,932,133 in 2000, the Association of American Railroads reported.Trailer loadings during the first 34 weeks totaled 1,688,938, which was 9.8% below the 1,872,641 reported last year, while container loadings came to 4,072,011 which was 0.3% above the 4,059,492 in the first 34 weeks of 2000.
Intermodal is the segment of the railroad business most competitive with trucking, involving the use of truck trailers and containers on rail flatcars. Trailer loadings are most reflective of domestic trade, which containers are used mainly in global traffic.
For the week ending Aug. 25, the railroads loaded 184,277 trailers and containers, which was 1.3% below the 186,788 loaded last year. The totals included 51,359 trailers, down 7.3% from last year and 132,918 containers, up 1.2% Transport Topics
Expect Sobriety Checkpoints This Weekend
In an effort to keep U.S. roads safer this Labor Day weekend, authorities are setting up about 3,000 sobriety checkpoints across the United States, USA Today reported.Agencies in 37 states and Washington, D.C., are expected to set up these checkpoints along some of their busiest roads. This will likely cause some extra delays for all drivers, but the National Safety Council estimates there will be 474 traffic fatalities this weekend.
The article said that checkpoints vary by state, but police typically set up roadblocks and stop all vehicles or systematically select vehicles to be checked, such as every fifth one.
An estimated 33 million Americans will travel over the holiday weekend, the American Automobile Association predicted. Transport Topics
(Click here for a related press release.)
Neb. Drunken Driving Law Starts Saturday
Amid controversy, Nebraska's drunken driving law lowering the standard for measuring a person's blood-alcohol level from 0.10% to 0.08% goes into effect on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.While many people say the law will save lives, others are angry because they believe it was passed for the wrong reasons and targets the wrong people.
For commercial truck drivers, the point is moot. A driver can lose his license if caught with a BAC of 0.04 or more.
By enacting the law this year, Nebraska receives a $3.5 million bonus in federal highway construction money. Several Nebraska lawmakers said they supported the bill only to avoid losing the funds, the article said.
Opponents argue the law will unfairly target "social drinkers," and they point to studies showing that a 120-pound woman who drinks just two 6-ounce glasses of wine in two hours would reach the new limit.
The average blood-alcohol level among fatally injured drivers who had been drinking is 0.17, according to the Department of Transportation. This is well above the old limit and has some questioning how many lives will actually be saved with the new law. Transport Topics
