Executive Briefing - June 15
- Oil Refineries Accused of Limiting Production Capacity
- Railroads, Electrical Union Agree
- Trailer Decline Drags Down Intermodal Totals
- Jet Corr Chooses @Track Software
- Fuel Prices Devastate Owner-Operators
- Comair, Striking Pilots Reach Tentative Accord
- Railroads, Electrical Union Agree
Oil Refineries Accused of Limiting Production Capacity
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has obtained documents that show larger oil companies taking actions in the 1990's to cut manufacturing and tighten supplies with the specific intent of driving up prices to increase their profit, the Associated Press reported.One such document was said to propose a request to the government to lift the clean air requirements for an oxygenate in gasoline, which would require more gasoline in each gallon of fuel and therefore tighten supplies.
Another reportedly suggests that major oil companies acted against smaller companies, like a California refinery owned by Powerine Oil Co., keeping them out of business or even forcing them to close.
Companies refuse to comment on or deny knowledge of such documents. Transport Topics
Railroads, Electrical Union Agree
Negotiators for U.S. railroads have reached a tentative, four-year agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Bloomberg News reported.Railroads compete with trucks for as much as 70% of the freight traffic that moves by rail, so anything that affects railroads’ cost structure is of interest to truckers.
The National Railway Labor Conference, which bargains nationally for the major railroads, said the IBEW contract follows the pattern established in previous negotiations with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, the United Transportation Union and the Railroad Yardmasters of America.
However, the BMWE contract is only one so far ratified.
With all, the pact calls for wage increases of 2% to 3% annually. Transport Topics
The total for the week was 2.8% below the corresponding week in 2000. Container loadings, more associated with international trade, dropped by only 13 units, not enough to effect a percentage change.
Railroad intermodal service is the part of the railroad business most directly competitive with trucking. Because they are used in domestic freight hauling, trailers tend to be a more accurate gauge of U.S. business activity than containers, which are used more in international trade.
For the first 23 weeks of the year, trailer loadings dropped from 1,279,673 in 2000 to 1,150,843 in the current year - a decline of 10.1%. Containers were up 0.4%, with loadings of 2,699,760 this year vs. 2,688,342 in 2000.
Total intermodal loadings for the year-to-date were 3,850,603 a 3% drop, compared to 3,968,015 in 2000. Transport Topics
Trailer Decline Drags Down Intermodal Totals
A 9.2% drop in trailer loadings, which reflect the sluggish domestic economy, pulled intermodal loads on U.S. railroads during the week ended June 9 down to 175,387, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Jet Corr Chooses @Track Software
Jet Corr Inc., owner and operator of a private trucking fleet that serves their paper manufacturing and distribution, has just announced that it will use @Track’s Track-Ware as its trailer-tracking device.Jet Corr, based in Conyers, GA, is a division of Pratt Industry, and says it has chosen TrackWare for its efficiency.
@Track’s TrackWare will also offer real-time location and status of the 300 Jet Corr tractors ready for installation. Transport Topics
(Click here for the press release.)
Fuel Prices Devastate Owner-Operators
As the economy continues to struggle with high fuel and energy prices, owner-operators are hit hardest as they are driven out of operation at rates of 10% to even 18% in the last year, the Associated Press reported.In the past 15 months, 200,000 tractors, 10% of the total number nationally, have been repossessed by banks and finance companies. Not all were owned by independent drivers, but a large percentage was.
While larger fleet operations have been adversely affected by the rising prices, they have some advantages in the ability to implement and collect surcharges, to buy fuel in bulk, using hedging techniques and to undertake some cost-reductions, such as choosing to keep existing equipment longer.
Today owner-operators are unable to manage the 50 percent increase in fuel prices over the last 15 months, and are often parking their trucks and joining companies or finding their trucks seized by the bank. Transport Topics
Comair, Striking Pilots Reach Tentative Accord
Comair and its airline pilots reached a tentative contract agreement that could end the 2 ½-month strike.According to the Associated Press, Comair’s 1,350 pilots began the strike, shutting down the Delta subsidiary, on March 26. The union said it was seeking pay increases, benefits and work rules to bring them more in line with larger carriers.
Because nearly 60% of air cargo flies in the bellies of passenger planes, any disruption in air traffic could push more cargo to trucks or force shippers that use an airline to seek alternative carriers.
Details of the agreement, which must be ratified, will not be released for possibly ten more days, until the pilots finish voting.
Elsewhere in the airline industry, disputes continue with Delta, American Airlines and United Air Lines. Transport Topics
