News Briefs - April 4
The Latest Headlines:
- Mexico to Revive Private Toll Road Plan
- Crude Oil Closes Trading Week Lower
- Intermodal Traffic Increased Last Week
- Top Canadian Carriers Generated $1.2 Billion in 4Q
- Congress Passes Funding for War, Airlines, Security
- Crude Oil Closes Trading Week Lower
Mexico to Revive Private Toll Road Plan
Mexico has resumed taking bids from private companies to build and operated $2.1 billion in toll roads, Bloomberg said Friday.These roads would, the government hopes will improve transportation networks in the country, while keeping costs down, Bloomberg said.
President Vicente Fox said that the government would take steps to avoid the problems the country had in 1997 when drivers balked at tolls and left companies holding large debts until the government took over the roads, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
Crude Oil Closes Trading Week Lower
The price of crude oil fell another 37 cents a barrel to $28.60 in trading the on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.Over the past week, the price of crude oil for May delivery shed $2.01 a barrel from the March 28 closing price of $30.61, Bloomberg reported.
The cancellation of a potential strike in Nigeria and the progress of coalition forces in the war on Iraq helped ease supply concerns and push the price of oil down, traders told Bloomberg. Transport Topics
Intermodal Traffic Increased Last Week
The number of intermodal loadings on the nation’s railroads increased by 9.2% in the week ended March 29 from the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.Container loadings surged 12.3% to 142,629 and trailer loadings posted a 1.3% gain, AAR said.
So far, 13 weeks into 2003, intermodal loadings are up 8.7% over last year’s year-to-date total to 2.3 million, AAR said.
Intermodal is the segment of the rail industry that most directly competes with long-haul trucking. Transport Topics
Top Canadian Carriers Generated $1.2 Billion in 4Q
The 82 largest for-hire motor carriers in Canada generated $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter, a Canadian government report said Friday.The government report said that the 82 top carriers had expenses of $11.5 billion during that same period.
On average each carrier had about 2% more revenue during the fourth quarter than they did during the year-ago period, the report said. The increase brought average revenue to about $20 million, the government said. Transport Topics
Congress Passes Funding for War, Airlines, Security
Both the House and Senate passed a supplemental funding bill Thursday that would provide nearly $80 billion for the war in Iraq, but also allocated money to homeland security and the struggling airline industry, the Associated Press reported.The bill earmarked about $3 billion for the airline industry, which has been hit hard by a drop off in travel after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That drop off has only worsened since the war with Iraq began, AP said.
Congress also added $4 billion for homeland security to fund the recent heightened terror alert, AP said.
President Bush praised the efforts of Congress in passing the bill, and it was expected he would sign it once it reached his desk, AP said. Transport Topics
