News Briefs - April 11
The Latest Headlines:
- Maine Senate Passes Fuel Tax Inflation Plan
- White House Official Joins ATA
- Terrorism Is Not Only Reason for Insurance Hikes
- Crude Oil Price Falls on Mideast Hopes
- Jobless Claims Down 55,000; Import Prices Up
- Daimler, Mitsubishi Close to Engine Deal
- MAN Says Truck Unit Will Break Even in 2002
- Exide Likely to Seek Bankruptcy Protection
- Cargo Volumes Up at Port of New York in 2001
- White House Official Joins ATA
Maine Senate Passes Fuel Tax Inflation Plan
The Maine state Senate passed a proposal linking gasoline and diesel tax increases to inflation late Tuesday and sent it to Gov. Angus King, the Associated Press reported.The state's Transportation Department said the tax would cost the average motorist an estimated $15 per year. Without this money, officials said transportation project planners cannot include highway reconstruction in the next two-year plan.
If the plan is enacted, scheduled increases in the fuel tax would be subject to periodic votes by the Legislature, but there would be no tax increase this year.
White House Official Joins ATA
The American Trucking Associations said Wednesday that Traci Campbell, associate director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, will be joining the ATA on April 15.Campbell will be taking the position of director of strategic initiatives and intergovernmental affairs. She previously worked for ATA in 1995.
ATA said Campbell will focus on its intergovernmental practice and relations with the national organizations representing elected officials.
“Having worked with Traci for over a decade, I am thrilled that she will be returning to ATA from the White House bringing her extraordinary intergovernmental skills, experience and talent,” ATA President and Chief Executive Officer William Canary said. “She will contribute greatly to our aggressive strategic agenda.” Transport Topics
Terrorism Is Not Only Reason for Insurance Hikes
Businesses all over the country have seen insurance premiums skyrocket since the Sept. 11 attacks, but there is more to the increases than just the cost of terrorism, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.Trucking and shipping companies are among the firms that have been hit the hardest by rising insurance premiums.
The Journal said the attacks have played a role in higher premiums, but a decade of risk-taking and price wars among insurance companies proved costly once the U.S. economy slowed.
Now, many of these insurance companies are taking large charges for restructuring, and passing these costs to businesses. Transport Topics
Crude Oil Price Falls on Mideast Hopes
The price of crude oil fell 1.6%, or 41 cents a barrel, to $25.60 in trading Thursday in London on the hope that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell can broker a settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians, Bloomberg reported.Crude oil is distilled down to gasoline and diesel fuel, making its price very important to trucking.
Adding to the downward price pressure, a monthly report by the International Energy Agency showed that Saudi Arabia’s oil exports were 100,000 barrels a day higher than its quota of 7.05 million.
This evidence of Saudi cheating increases the incentive of other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase their production as well, Bloomberg reported.
At least one OPEC country, Venezuela, will likely not be increasing oil exports any time soon. A strike at the country’s state oil company is continuing, stalling the country’s 2.5 million-barrel daily oil production. Venezuela is the second-biggest supplier of oil to the United States, Bloomberg said.
Meanwhile, White House aides said President Bush is not seriously considering taken drastic action such as gasoline tax cuts or the use of oil reserves to respond to recent price increases, the Associated Press reported. Transport Topics
Jobless Claims Down 55,000; Import Prices Up
The Labor Department said Thursday the number of workers filing initial jobless claims fell 55,000 last week to 438,000.If more people are working, they are more likely to spend money, which can increase the demand for trucking services.
Claims rose by 103,000 in the previous two weeks after passage of a law allowing unemployed to apply for additional assistance after 26 weeks, Bloomberg said. But even as the extensions inflate the statistics, claims have fallen from a 9 1/2-year high of 527,000 at the end of September, a sign the job market may be improving.
The four-week moving average for claims, which smoothes out volatility in the weekly numbers, rose slightly to 433,750 from 424,000.
Labor also said Thursday that U.S. import prices rose 1.1% in March, reflecting a gain in petroleum prices. Excluding petroleum, import prices were unchanged, while U.S. export prices edged up 0.3%.
Analysts told Bloomberg that although this means consumers will be paying higher energy prices, it will not alone derail a potential economic recovery. Transport Topics
Daimler, Mitsubishi Close to Engine Deal
DaimlerChrysler AG and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. may supply diesel engines to each other in an effort to trim development costs.Citing the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai, Bloomberg reported the companies are in the final stages of talks on a deal that would have them trading engines by 2005.
Under the agreement, Mitsubishi would supply the world’s largest automaker with 2- and 3-liter engines, while Daimler will give Mitsubishi 20- to 26-liter heavy-duty truck engines, Bloomberg said.
DaimlerChrysler owns 37% of Mitsubishi, Japan’s No. 4 automaker. Transport Topics
MAN Says Truck Unit Will Break Even in 2002
German truck maker MAN AG said it expects 2002 profits to rise as it cuts costs and the global economy improves, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The company reported a net income of $133 million in 2001.MAN also said its truck division will break even for the full fiscal year as it continues to cut costs. Germany’s No. 3 truck maker posted a loss last year and reduced jobs as sales slowed.
The company said the truck unit will report a first-quarter loss. The truck division’s revenue and vehicle sales are both expected to decline between 10% and 12% for the full year, Bloomberg said.
MAN noted it is still in talks with rivals such as Scania AB about possible joint ventures that could improve earnings. Transport Topics
Exide Likely to Seek Bankruptcy Protection
Exide Technologies, the world’s largest maker of vehicle batteries, will likely seek bankruptcy protection next week as a way to fend off creditors, Reuters reported Wednesday.Sources told the news service this would allow the Princeton, N.J.-based company to continue operating while delaying payments on its $2.5 billion in liabilities. Exide's stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 11.
Volkswagen, DaimlerChrysler and Kmart are among Exide's largest customers.
An Exide spokesman had no comment on the company's plans, Reuters said. Transport Topics
Cargo Volumes Up at Port of New York in 2001
The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 19.8 million metric tons of cargo in 2001, up 5.6% over 2000, the Journal of Commerce reported Wednesday.Cargo is often carried to and from ports on trucks, so increased cargo volumes can push demand for trucking services higher.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that a total of 5,302 cargo ships called at the port in 2001, up 3.1% from the previous year.
A spokesman for the Port Authority told the JoC that cargo volumes of “all sorts” grew during the year. Transport Topics
