Executive Briefing - May 7
- Taylor Named Deputy Chief of Staff at DOT
- Labbe Expects Demand to Pick Up
- Traffic Congestion Worsening, Study Finds
- White House Says Can’t Help Gas Spike
- Carbon-Monoxide Detectors Ignored, Report Says
- Cummins Unveils Lower-Emission Engines
- FedEx Warns Earnings Will Be Lower
- Mack Losses Slow Renault Sales Gain
- LeaseTrading Offers New Liquidity
Taylor Named Deputy Chief of Staff at DOT
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said Monday that Vincent T. Taylor has been named the new Deputy Chief of Staff at the Department of Transportation.In his new role, Taylor will provide executive direction on a variety of transportation policy matters, Mineta said.
Most recently, Taylor was the Program Manager for Counter-Narcotics, Law Enforcement and Terrorism in the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of State. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Labbe Expects Demand to Pick Up
BOSTON – Economist Martin Labbe said a recession is not likely, and that trucking should begin to see an upsurge in demand later this year.“We’re bouncing off the bottom now,” Labbe said in a presentation to the National Tank Truck Carriers on Monday.
Labbe, who heads an economic consulting firm, said he expects consumer spending to pick up in response to interest rate reductions and tax cuts, leading to a slow recovery in freight volume during the second half of the year. Unemployment remains low by historical standards, he said.
Carriers will continue to face problems with high fuel costs and increases in health insurance averaging 20% a year for the next three years, Labbe said.
A glut of used trucks also remains a big issue because falling values on equipment make it more difficult for carriers to borrow money or to buy new equipment. Labbe said used truck prices will improve, but won’t reach levels posted in 1997 and 1998 until 2004. Dan Bearth
Traffic Congestion Worsening, Study Finds
A new report by the Texas Transportation Institute found that the average person spends 36 hours per year sitting in traffic, the Associated Press reported.In 1982, that same person spent 11 hours in traffic annually.
Congestion costs an estimated $78 billion a year in wasted time and burned gasoline, the institute estimate.
The most congested highways in the country were found in Los Angeles, where residents in 1999 averaged 56 hours a year in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
One of the study's authors said new highways, buses and trains are not keeping up with new housing and new businesses. Transport Topics
(Click here for a related press release.)
White House Says Can’t Help Gas Spike
The White House said Monday that President Bush can’t stop gasoline prices from rising this summer, even if the price tops $3 per gallon, wire services reported.Spokesman Ari Fleischer said lifting the federal tax on gasoline as a way to cut the rising costs that consumers face was not an option.
He also said that Bush doesn’t support short-term solutions. Instead, Bush is focusing on his energy policy, doe to be released later this month, which will deal with long-term solutions to supply shortages.
Previously, Bush has emphasized increased domestic production over conservation as a way to make America more energy independent.
The Lundberg Survey, released early Monday, found that U.S. gasoline prices leaped by 8.58 cents per gallon in the past two weeks to an all-time unadjusted high of $1.76 per gallon (See story, May 7). Transport Topics
Carbon-Monoxide Detectors Ignored, Report Says
Despite a study that found most accidental deaths from exhaust could be prevented with a device costing $11.39, it never even became an option in vehicles, the San Jose Mercury News reported.The 1991 study found that most of the estimated 2,800 accidental deaths and suicides a year from exhaust could be prevented if vehicles were equipped with carbon-monoxide detectors. Many others are injured each year by falling asleep in their vehicle while it is still running.
Although the researchers suggested the U.S. Department of Transportation should look into making carbon monoxide detectors standard in all vehicles, it did not act on the report.
Currently, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is considering a petition to require vehicle makers to put detectors in all new cars by 2004. However, it is expected to turn down the request. Transport Topics
Cummins Unveils Lower-Emission Engines
Cummins (CUM) presented its electronically controlled, lower-emission diesel and natural gas engines, representing an investment of more than $1.7 billion in new technology and equipment, at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston on Monday.
Mark Levett, vice president and general manager, said the engines are more fuel-efficient and are designed to meet current and future emissions standards.
The Columbus, Ind.-based company also has formed an Oil and Gas Distributor Council, comprised of representatives from each of its worldwide distributors.
Cummins is the world’s largest producer of commercial diesel engines above 50 horsepower.
(Click here for the full press release.)
FedEx Warns Earnings Will Be Lower
FedEx (FDX) said Monday that earnings for the fourth quarter ending May 31 will be in the range of 50-60 cents per share, compared to 85 cents last year.
Chief Financial Officer Alan Graf said that the slowing economy and declines in industries such as high-tech have affected shipment volumes.
In April, U.S. domestic average daily volume at FedEx Express declined 9% compared to last year.
Graf also said he expects the economic softness to continue into fiscal 2002, which begins June 1.
FedEx is ranked number No. 2 in the Transport Topics 100 list of U.S. trucking companies, based on 1999 data. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Mack Losses Slow Renault Sales Gain
Sales by Renault VI, the French commercial truck maker acquired by Volvo (VOLVY) last year, were up 5% in the first quarter but would have been higher if not for the downward pull of a drop in sales by Renault’s Mack Truck division in the United States.
According to Bloomberg, Renault sold 17,181 trucks during the first three months of 2001.
However, it would have been up 6.7% if the figures had not included those of Mack, which were down 31.3% as a result of a U.S. market downturn.
Within France, sales for the truck maker rose 10.3%. Transport Topics
LeaseTrading Offers New Liquidity
A new company formed to facilitate the transfer of commercial vehicle and equipment leases was unveiled at the North American Trucking Show in Boston on Friday.LeaseTrading Inc. is designed to manage all aspects of a transfer process from the initial listing of the assets to exchange notification and contact with credit institutions, as well as logistics arrangements and asset delivery.
The company said its one-stop solution provides existing lessees with greater term flexibility and offers an alternative to defaults and expensive penalties. Transport Topics
(Click here for the press release.)
