Executive Briefing - Oct. 8
- US&T Sells Air Dispatch Unit
- Mack Strike Talks Continue
- Menlo Finalizes Contracts With New Customers
- Economic Chief Sees Turnaround in 2002
- Freightliner Workers Agree to Pay Cut, Paper Reports
- Daimler to Sell Mitsubishi Canter Trucks in Europe
- Wyoming Upgrades Road Information Access
- Military Strikes Could Help U.S. Economy, Analysts Say
- Oil Price Rises as Attacks Begin
- Mack Strike Talks Continue
US&T Sells Air Dispatch Unit
United Shipping & Technology Inc. on Monday announced the sale of its air division, Air Courier Dispatch Inc.
The unit was sold to an investment group led by John Ovens. Ovens has more than 20 years in the field of international and domestic air couriers.
"The sale of the air courier division is part of US&T's continuing strategy to streamline operations and focus on our core business; customized same day delivery,” said chief executive officer of United Shipping & Technology, Jeff Parell. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Mack Strike Talks Continue
The United Auto Workers and Volvo AB’s Mack Trucks Inc. unit remained in contract negotiations after a union-imposed Sunday night walkout deadline passed, Bloomberg reported.
There was no work stoppage.
The Allentown, Pa.-based company received a proposal Friday from the union, which had walked out of talks in September after Volvo, parent company to Mack, announced the closing of a Mack plant in Winnsboro, S.C. The closing would affect 700 jobs.
Talks resumed last week with representatives of six UAW locals.
Mack has manufacturing plants in Maryland, Pennsylvania and South Carolina as well as in Australia, Canada and Mexico. Transport Topics
Menlo Finalizes Contracts With New Customers
Menlo Logistics, a subsidiary of CNF Inc., said Monday it has recently finalized contracts with six new customers, totaling more than $100 million annually.
The company said the customers are Dr Pepper/Seven Up, HALO Branded Solutions, Nortel Networks, Ricoh Family Group, Takata, and one other that wishes to remain unnamed at this time. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Economic Chief Sees Turnaround in 2002
Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, said that he sees no reason why consumer and business confidence wouldn't be robust by the middle of 2002, even if we the U.S. economy is currently in a recession.Hubbard told USA Today that it is too soon to tell if the nation is in recession, but the third and fourth quarters will be negatively affected by the shock of the attacks.
Prior to the attacks, Hubbard said he was forecasting modest growth in the third and fourth quarters. Transport Topics
Freightliner Workers Agree to Pay Cut, Paper Reports
Employees of DaimlerChrysler AG's Freightliner (DCX) unit have agreed to a pay cut in order to avoid more job cuts and plant closures, according to German newspaper Handelsblatt.Bloomberg News said managers of the Portland, Ore.-based truck maker will meet in Germany on Tuesday to work out the reorganization plan. The largest heavy-duty truck maker in the United States is facing a possible $1 billion loss, the German business daily reported.
The company has already announced cuts of 1,120 jobs this year and has laid off 2,000 employees since October 2000. It was reported last week that Freightliner is trying to renegotiate agreements that guaranteed the prices at which it would buy back its trucks. Transport Topics
Daimler to Sell Mitsubishi Canter Trucks in Europe
DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX), the world's largest truck maker, announced it will be assuming the sales and servicing of Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s Canter line of light trucks in Europe, Bloomberg said.
In a statement, the company said its Mercedes-Benz unit will take over sales and servicing of Canter trucks weighing between 3.5 and 7.5 tons in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Sweden and Poland, Bloomberg reported. The Canter nameplate will remain separate.
Daimler owns 37% of Mitsubishi (MMO-BER), Japan's No. 4 automaker. Transport Topics
Wyoming Upgrades Road Information Access
The Wyoming Department of Transportation has upgraded its ability to disseminate information about road closures and weather in the state.Last winter, the state’s Road Report was inundated with 96,000 calls a day and as many as 14,000 calls an hour during storms, state officials told the Associated Press.
The upgrades include a doubling of the state’s available telephone lines and an increase in the system’s processing power. On the Internet, Web cam technology has been employed to show current highway conditions, and the state expects to add more cameras to the system.
The Road Report can be accessed at (888) WYO-ROAD [996-7623], on wireless phones at ROAD [7623] and online at wydotweb.state.wy.us. Transport Topics
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Military Strikes Could Help U.S. Economy, Analysts Say
The launch of a military offensive against Afghanistan on Sunday may provide a boost to the U.S. economy, Reuters reported.Analysts said that if the strikes are clear and visible successes, it could help consumers, which have been concerned about the future, become more confident. This could then spark more spending.
This is important to trucking because an increase in spending could create more demand for trucking services to deliver new factory goods to stores.
However, this likely will take some time to happen. Reuters also reported that the stock market is expected to move lower on Monday, ahead of what could be the worst corporate earnings season in 10 years, due to the anxiety related to Sunday's strikes. Transport Topics
Oil Price Rises as Attacks Begin
The secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said the cartel will not cut production, as it assesses the impact on prices of military strikes by the United States and Great Britain on Afghanistan, Bloomberg reported.The strikes were the impetus for a 2.2% rise in crude oil prices in Monday trading on the International Petroleum Exchange, according to Bloomberg. The price of OPEC's "basket" index of oil prices slipped to $20.09 per barrel, still below the $22 a barrel floor the cartel has said it would defend.
Ali Rodriguez, secretary-general of OPEC, made his comments as the price of oil stayed out of the $22 to $28 a barrel for a 10th straight day. An OPEC agreement stipulates that the cartel's members consider reducing production by 500,000 barrels a day to prop up prices, Bloomberg said.
The price of crude oil is critical to the trucking industry because of its impact on the price of diesel and gasoline.
Rodriguez called the current tense situation in the Middle East "very special circumstances," Bloomberg said, and that it was unclear when the groups would decide if a production rate is necessary. Transport Topics
