Executive Briefing - Sept. 6
- Companies Announce 4,230 More Job Cuts
- Ford Recalling Another 1.6 Million Vehicles
- Cargo Volumes Up at N.Y.-N.J. Port
- Chicago Area Imports Gasoline From Europe
- Initial Jobless Claims Down Slightly
- Pacer Global Logistics Names New Chairman
- Caterpillar to Meet Emission Standards By Early 2003
- Ford Considers Consolidation, Plant Closures
- U.S. Oil Supply Up, Motor Fuels Down
- Ford Recalling Another 1.6 Million Vehicles
Companies Announce 4,230 More Job Cuts
Adding to the more than one million job cuts this year, several more firms announced plans to trim their work forces, by amounts that totaled 4,230.ob cuts, especially in the manufacturing sector, are a poor sign for trucking companies, which rely on manufactured goods and consumer spending for business.
Motorola Inc. said it would cut another 2,000 jobs, blaming the cuts on low sales from a dismal telecommunications market.
Westvaco Corp. said it would close two plants in the U.S. and layoff about 430 employees. The company said the moves are part of a plan to streamline its consumer packaging division.
Insurance giant American International Group Inc. said it would slash 1,500 positions from its payroll over the next 18 months. The company is in the process of integrating life insurer American General.
Also, American Trans Air announced the beginning of a restructuring plan that would include an unspecified number of job cuts. Transport Topics
Ford Recalling Another 1.6 Million Vehicles
Ford Motor Co. recalled another 1.6 million vehicles on Thursday, including about 777,740 1999-2001 Windstar minivans because of two potential fire hazards, Bloomberg reported.
This is the latest in a series of recent recalls that have also involved pickups and sport utility vehicles, which are used in a wide variety of trucking applications, especially among utility fleets.
Ford said it was recalling about 778,000 minivans after 10 reports of the windshield wiper motor catching fire, and another 525,000 because of a fire potential with the rear seat air conditioning/heating system. Transport Topics
Cargo Volumes Up at N.Y.-N.J. Port
The volume of cargo being handled at the Port of New York and New Jersey is up 11% over last year, the Journal of Commerce reported.The first half of 2001 saw the port handle 9.9 million metric tons of cargo, bolstered by continuing strength in Asian trade.
Port cargo volumes are important to the trucking industry because trucks often carry freight to and from seaports.
General imports rose on the strength of woven apparel, up 31%; stone, up 61% and machinery, up 15% over last year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Exports were pushed up by increases in wood pulp, up 45%; plastics, up 59% and machinery, up 33% over 2000. Transport Topics
Chicago Area Imports Gasoline From Europe
One of the cities most affected by the recent spike in gasoline prices will be importing gasoline from Europe, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.Chicago, which has seen prices for regular unleaded gasoline rise to more than $2 per gallon, will be receiving 10 million gallons of gasoline from BP LLC. The fuel is being shipped up the St. Lawrence Seaway and across the Great Lakes, the Tribune said.
It is unusual, analysts say, for the Midwest to receive imported gasoline. Last year, the only importer of gasoline to the region was Canada, and only at a rate of 3,000 barrels a day, according to the Tribune.
Much of the Chicago spike has been blamed on an Aug. 14 fire at an Illinois refinery, which supplied much of the city’s gasoline. The price of gasoline has risen 34 cents a gallon since the fire.
The shipments are not expected to have much of an impact on the price of gasoline in the area, the paper said. Transport Topics
Initial Jobless Claims Down Slightly
The number of U.S. workers making new unemployment claims fell by 3,000 last week, according to a report by the Department of Labor.Last week’s initial jobless claims fell to 402,00 – it was, however, the third straight week that claims were over 400,000. The four-week moving average for claims, which adjusts for week-to-week volatility and better shows trends in the labor market, rose from 394,000 to 398,000.
Jobless claims and announcements of job cuts are potentially bad news for the trucking industry. When employees are out of work, they tend to make fewer purchases, thus reducing the demand for trucking services. Transport Topics
Pacer Global Logistics Names New Chairman
Pacer International, a leading third-party logistics company, said Thursday that it has named Carl Kooyoomjian as chairman of its retail logistics unit, Pacer Global Logistics.
Kooyoomjian was most recently corporate vice president of the Coca-Cola Company, and also was vice president for acquisition and purchasing at Digital Equipment Corp.
"Because many of our customers are interested in working with a smaller number of logistics providers that can meet all their supply-chain-management needs, we want to ensure that Pacer's current and future offerings will be as unified as customers require, with consistent standards of performance," Kooyoomjian said. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Caterpillar to Meet Emission Standards By Early 2003
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the biggest maker of heavy-duty truck engines, will meet new U.S. emission standards for heavy-duty truck engines by early 2003, Bloomberg reported.
In addition, Chief Executive Glen Barton said the medium-size truck engines will fully comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's October 2002 deadline for meeting new emission standards.
In the case of heavy-duty engines, compliance will come in 2003, and the company will negotiate with the EPA to avoid fines, Bloomberg said.
Previously, the Peoria, Ill.-based company said it wouldn't meet the emissions deadline after changing the type of technology it would use to comply. Transport Topics
Ford Considers Consolidation, Plant Closures
In an effort to maintain profitability, Ford Motor Co. (F) is expected to announce the merger of its North American car and truck engineering divisions and close as many as three production plants in the U.S. and Canada, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The world’s No. 2 automaker anticipates the closure of two plants in Ohio and one in Ontario, according to the Journal.
Plant closures are a poor sign for the trucking industry because they result in fewer customers for truck pickup and delivery services.
Spokesmen for the United Auto Works labor union said they would put up a bitter fight against the closures, the Journal said.
Ford’s Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nasser said that Ford is considering the closures as well as other cost-cutting measures, the Journal reported. Transport Topics
U.S Oil Supply Up, Motor Fuels Down
U.S. crude oil inventories were up 499,000 barrels last week to 304.9 million barrels total according to a report released by the American Petroleum Institute.At the same time, API reported that stocks of gasoline were down 1.88 million barrels to 194.4 million. The report also showed lower reserves of oil distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel. Those inventories were down 1.87 million barrels to 119.5 million.
U.S. refineries were operating at 94% of capacity, down from 95.6% the year before, API said.
The levels of U.S. petroleum reserves are important to the trucking industry because their fluctuations can affect the prices of diesel fuel and gasoline. Transport Topics
