Executive Briefing - Nov. 19
- Volvo Says Truck Deliveries Down 16% in 2001
- Two Senate Offices Reopen After Anthrax Sweep
- Fed's Parry Sees More Tough Times Ahead
- Bush Signs Airline Security Bill
- U.S., Canada Agree to Cooperate on Border
- Gasoline Price Continues to Fall
- Hiring Activity Seen Dropping
- Technology Aimed at Truck-Terror Threat
- Truck Market Will Rebound, Consultants Say
- VW Workers Vote to Suspend Strike
- Official Tally Confirms Hoffa Election
- States May be Forced to Raise Taxes
- Thanksgiving Highway Safety Campaign Begins
- Two Senate Offices Reopen After Anthrax Sweep
Volvo Says Truck Deliveries Down 16% in 2001
Volvo Global Trucks said Monday that deliveries for the first three quarters of 2001 declined 16%, to 127,661 units from 151,104.Deliveries in North American fell 39%, while they declined 13% in Asia and 7% in Europe.
Volvo Global Trucks comprises Mack Trucks Inc., Renault V.I. and Volvo Trucks.
Tryggve Sthen, president and chief executive officer of Volvo Global Trucks, said called the situation in North America "grave." He also said that although orders in Europe as a whole are slowing, but the southern and eastern areas are still doing relatively well. Transport Topics
Two Senate Offices Reopen After Anthrax Sweep
Two of the three Sentate office buildings closed after discovery of the latest letter suspected of containing the spores were reopened Monday, the Associated Press reported.The Hart Senate building, where an anthrax-tainted letter was opened Oct. 15, remains closed. The Dirksen and Russell buildings were closed Saturday after a suspicious letter mailed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was discovered in a barrel of quarantined mail.
The office buildings were swept for anthrax contamination during the weekend, AP said.
Four people have died from anthrax since the first letter was discovered in early October: two Washington postal workers, a hospital employee in New York City and a newspaper photo editor in Florida. Transport Topics
Fed's Parry Sees More Tough Times Ahead
Rising unemployment and slipping consumer confidence indicates that the U.S. economy will probably contract in the fourth quarter of 2001 and into 2002, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said Monday, according to Bloomberg.Robert Parry, in comments made to the University of California's Real Estate and Economics Symposium, said that the economic falloff is likely to be greater in the fourth quarter than it was in the third.
Parry also said that unemployment will almost certainly rise, Bloomberg reported.
A weak economy and greater unemployment generally cause consumer spending to decrease, hurting demand for trucking services to deliver consumer goods. Transport Topics
Bush Signs Airline Security Bill
As expected, President Bush signed the landmark airline security bill Monday in a ceremony at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., the Associated Press reported.A key provision of the bill is a one-year transition period before the airline passenger screening process becomes federalized, news services reported. Also in the bill is a mandate that all checked bags, which are carried in the bellies of passenger planes, must be screened by the end of next year.
The new measures will cost passengers $2.50 per boarding, up to $5 a trip, the AP said.
AAA reported that air travel for the busy Thanksgiving travel season is down by 27% from last year, with 4.6 million people expected to fly. Transport Topics
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U.S., Canada Agree to Cooperate on Border
The United States and Canada agreed Friday on Cabinet-level cooperation to speed the flow of trade, and to invest in technology and intelligence to prevent terrorists from being able to enter North America, the Associated Press reported.U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin said that talks would take place every few weeks, with both sides working on a list of measures needed to improve the situation, AP said.
Current border proposals include the inspection and certification of trucks before they depart and allowing trucks with pre-clearance to cross without stopping. Transport Topics
Gasoline Price Continues to Fall
The average price of retail gasoline, including all grades and taxes, fell 4.5 cents to about $1.23 per gallon, according to the two-week Lundberg Survey of nearly 8,000 stations nationwide.Weak demand and the plunging cost of crude oil were the major force behind the drop, industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said. The price has now dropped 32.2 cents since Sept. 7 and is the lowest for this time of year since 1998.
Roughly a third of trucking-related freight hauls require gasoline for local pickup and delivery operations, so a gas-price jump has a significant effect on trucking.
Some regions of the country are seeing dollar-a-gallon gas for the first time in months, Lundberg said. Transport Topics
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Hiring Activity Seen Dropping
Hiring activity in the United States is heading toward all-time lows, the Associated Press reported.Citing a survey by Manpower Inc., the nation's largest staffing company, AP said only 16% of the firms interviewed plan to add jobs in the coming year, while another 16% say they will reduce employment.
The figures are approaching those reported in 1982 and 1991, when hiring levels reached historic lows, Jeffrey Joerres, chairman of Manpower, told AP. Transport Topics
Technology Aimed at Truck-Terror Threat
Law enforcement and transportation groups are seeking to minimize the threat of a stolen truck turning into a bomb, according to an article in Saturday's New York Times.The effort, the Times story said, predates the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In California, the California Highway Patrol is considering implementing a new device that would allow a patrol car to stop a stolen truck with a mere tap from behind, the Times reported. The system, which would activate a truck's airbrakes with a bumper-to-bumper tap, is being tested at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Other variations of the device could be remotely activated by phone or radio signal, the Times said.
CHP Commissioner Dwight Helmick said that the highway patrol is currently spending $350,000 a day on monitoring truck security. Transport Topics
Truck Market Will Rebound, Consultants Say
lthough the U.S. economic slowdown will limit demand for some medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks, the market will rebound within a few years, according to consultant company Frost & Sullivan.
The company said that the truck market generated revenues totaling $10.21 billion in 2000. While that number will likely be lower in 2001, demand for chassis, construction body, off-road and other trucks will increase again.
In addition, trucks that serve the basic needs of municipalities, such as emergency vehicles, will help prevent significant loss of market share during the current slow-down. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
VW Workers Vote to Suspend Strike
Workers at Volkswagen AG's largest factory in Brazil voted to suspend their now week-long strike in order to consider an offer from the German automaker, Bloomberg reported.Workers at the plant said they would go back to work pending a final vote on the package, union officials said. The company has offered to reinstate more than 3,000 workers in exchange for a shorter workweek and a voluntary departure plan, which would trim 700 workers from the factory's payroll of 16,000.
The walkout halted production at VW's Anchieta plant, which is responsible 40% of VW's South American production. VW makes 8% of all its vehicles in Brazil.
Among the models manufactured at the factory include the Gol subcompact, Santana sedan, Kombi van and the Saverio pick-up truck. None of these vehicles is sold commercially in the United States.Transport Topics
Official Tally Confirms Hoffa Election
Teamsters union President James P. Hoffa won his bid for re-election with 64% of the vote, news services reported.The official vote count was completed Saturday, although Hoffa had claimed victory Friday based on preliminary results.
Challenger Tom Leedham, a local officer from Oregon, received 35% of the vote. He was outspent 10-to-1 during the campaign, according to the Associated Press.
This election could bring to an end 12 years of government oversight of the union, which Hoffa says has cost the union $100 million. The AP reported that during his first term, Hoffa has hired former law enforcement officials to root out corruption and to bolster his claim the oversight is no longer necessary.
Other major tasks for Hoffa include negotiating a contract United Parcel Service Inc., which is expected to begin around Jan. 3 and renegotiating the union's master freight agreement with major trucking firms, which expires in 2003. Transport Topics
States May be Forced to Raise Taxes
As states spend more on security and struggle with the sluggish economy, many will likely to be forced to raise taxes, regardless of whether the U.S. Congress passes another stimulus package with tax cuts.The Wall Street Journal reported that most states cannot run deficits; instead they must balance their budgets despite gaps of more than $1 billion. This leaves two options - cut programs or raise taxes.
At the same time, the states worry that increased taxes could cause fewer business investments or reduce spending that could lead to a prolonged downturn.
Some states are so concerned, they will look to the federal government for a bailout as they cope with new expenses created by the terrorist attacks, the Journal said. Transport Topics
Thanksgiving Highway Safety Campaign Begins
Safety advocates said Monday that drivers hitting U.S. highways this week for Thanksgiving should expect more than 10,600 law enforcement agencies in all 50 states to crack down on violations of seat belt and drunk driving laws.Organizers of the Operation ABC Mobilization, said they achieved record participation despite increased demands on law enforcement stemming from the Sept. 11 hijack attacks.
The campaign runs through Sunday, and covers the busiest travel week of the year. The American Automobile Association expects 30 million people to go by motor vehi-cle this holiday. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
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