Executive Briefing - Oct.25
- Wyoming May Raise Fuel Tax
- Border Tunnel for Trucks Planned in Detroit
- House Passes Economic Stimulus Package
- EPA Suggests Cutting Down on Specialty Fuels
- Midwestern Snow Storm Paralyzes Traffic
- MAN Faces Opposition to Job Cuts
- DOT Issues Hazmat Safety Alert
- Border Tunnel for Trucks Planned in Detroit
Wyoming May Raise Fuel Tax
The Wyoming state fuel tax will be raised by up to 5 cents a gallon to cover the costs of a state Supreme Court order to improve school buildings, if a proposal outlined earlier this week by state Treasurer Cynthia Lummis is approved.The Associated Press reported that the tax is currently 14 cents a gallon and is largely paid by truck drivers and tourists from out of state.
The tax would also help raise funds for the state's Department of Transportation that would go toward a 25-year highway improvement plan. Wyoming's Select Committee on Capital Financing and Investment was expected to consider the plan this week. Transport Topics
Border Tunnel for Trucks Planned in Detroit
In an attempt to speed trade at the busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing, a company is hoping to build a truck tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, the Detroit Free Press reported.
If approved, the plan would convert the Detroit River Rail Tunnel, a 100-year-old cargo train tunnel, into a truck tunnel. The two-way truck tunnel could open by 2006, and a new tunnel for trains would be built.
While the funding appears to be in place, state officials said issue where to put Customs officials to minimize delays could be an obstacle. Transport Topics
House Passes Economic Stimulus Package
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a $100 billion economic stimulus package late Wednesday, but it is likely to be changed significantly in the Senate, news services reported.The House bill passed by a 216-214 vote, and it is comprised almost entirely of tax cuts. However, much of the Senate appears to be more in favor of additional spending, rather than cuts in business taxes.
A new round of tax rebates for people who didn't get a check, a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax, enhanced expensing write-offs for business capital assets and the acceleration of the cut in the 27% individual income tax rate are all included in the House bill.
But Senate Democrats are pushing for more aid for the unemployed and up to $20 billion in spending on homeland security and infrastructure items.
The Associated Press reported that the Senate is unlikely to take up its version of a stimulus package before next week at the earliest. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he expects to have a bill to President Bush by Thanksgiving. Transport Topics
EPA Suggests Cutting Down on Specialty Fuels
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday suggested cutting down on the number of specialty fuels designed to meet the nation's many local anti-pollution requirements, the Associated Press reported.The agency said this could help avert gasoline prices spikes during the busy driving season. While over-the-road trucks uses diesel fuel, a significant portion of commercial trucking is conducted in gasoline-burning vehicles.
The EPA also recommended speeding up the transition from winter to summer fuel blends and having fewer data reporting requirements. Specialty blends designed for local needs lead to increases in gasoline prices as refiners switch to producing them each summer and fall, according to AP.
These proposals were made in response to President Bush’s energy plan, unveiled earlier this year. Transport Topics
Midwestern Snow Storm Paralyzes Traffic
A cold front moving across the northern tier of the United States created an early blizzard, blanketing parts of North Dakota and Minnesota with snow drifts as high as two feet.The storm shut down sections of Interstate 29 north of Fargo, N.D., stranding 400 vehicles, the Associated Press reported. In Grand Forks, N.D., the University of North Dakota and government offices were also shut by the storm, which dropped a record 11 inches of snow on the city.
The front also brought severe weather to Wisconsin, Michigan and other state in the Midwest. Severe thunderstorms developed in Michigan and Missouri, dropping hail nearly one-inch in diameter, the AP said. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
MAN Faces Opposition to Job Cuts
MAN AG is facing opposition from its works council to the more than 4,000 job cuts it had planned, a German business newspaper reported.The Financial Times Deutschland said that Germany’s No. 2 truckmaker’s works council will press the company for alternatives to the mass firings. The council is looking at actions like the postponement of raises in an effort to save jobs.
The chief executive of MAN’s truck division is meeting with the council on Thursday, the paper said. Earlier this week, MAN said it hoped to speed job cuts after it reported that truck sales fell 15% so far in 2001. Transport Topics
DOT Issues Hazmat Safety Alert
The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued a safety alert to the hazardous materials transportation industry asking members to take steps to insure the safety of the general public.In the alert, the DOT is asking hazmat haulers to avoid high population areas and to review and strengthen their company's security policy. The trucking industry, particularly the segment that deals with hazardous materials, has been under closer scrutiny since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"In the wrong hands, hazardous materials pose a threat to security," the alert reads. "It doesn't take a high degree of training, technical expertise or sophisticated equipment to attack with devastating results."
The alert stressed that the number of vehicles, the space those vehicles cover and the number of potential targets all add up to make "airport-style" security impossible, so individual companies need to step up their own security. Transport Topics
