News Briefs - Aprl 16
The Latest Headlines:
- Truckers Protest Port of New Orleans
- Werner Reports Improved First Quarter
- Crude Oil Prices Dips Slightly
- Airborne, DHL Deal Dependent on Rulings
- Wabash Completes Amending of Credit Facilities
- Werner Reports Improved First Quarter
Truckers Protest Port of New Orleans
Nearly 60 unaffiliated truckers protested Monday outside the gates of the Port of New Orleans to demand higher pay and more reimbursement for fuel, the Associated Press said.The truckers are not in any union because they are not employed by any particular company, thus by federal law are barred from negotiating as a group, AP said. They were told earlier in April that they would have to deal with individual companies on a case by case basis.
A spokesman for the truckers said that so far, the shippers have not been willing to meet with them, AP reported. Abraham Venson told AP that the group just wanted to “get paid fairly,” and that they weren’t looking to “get rich.” Transport Topics
Werner Reports Improved First Quarter
Truckload carrier Werner Enterprises Inc. said during the first quarter, it had net income of $11.8 million or 18 cents a share, up from the $10.6 million or 16 cents a share it reported in the same quarter last year.Revenues rose 11% to $347.2 million from $312.6 during the quarter ended March 31, the company said.
The Omaha, Neb.-based carrier said that the quarter was marked by "a lackluster freight environment and record high fuel prices,” but that both areas saw improvement toward the end of the quarter.
Werner is ranked No. 19 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Crude Oil Prices Dips Slightly
The price of crude oil fell a little as traders waited for a signal from the world's leading oil producers about the possibility of a cut in output.In trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of oil for May delivery fell as much as 30 cents to $29.16 a barrel, Bloomberg reported.
Statements by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have indicated that the group might move to cut production at its April 24 meeting in Vienna, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Airborne, DHL Deal Dependent on Rulings
The Department of Transportation and, now by an act of Congress, an administrative law judge will be reviewing the proposed merger of Deutsche Post AG's DHL Worldwide Express and Airborne Inc.’s trucking unit, the Daily Deal, a New York-based business report, said Wednesday.The administrative law judge review provision was included in the war spending bill that President Bush signed Wednesday.
The two examinations would look at the foreign ownership issue involving the purchase and subsequent separation of Airborne’s trucking and air units, the report said.
The two sides had hoped to close the deal by July, but that appears unlikely now, the Daily Deal said. Transport Topics
Wabash Completes Amending of Credit Facilities
Wabash National Corp. said this week that it has completed the process of amending its credit facilities.Those facilities include a revolving line of credit, its senior notes, its receivable facility and its lease facility, the company said.
The amendment revises the company’s obligations, requiring that it pay less of the monthly principal during 2003.
Based in Lafayette, Ind., Wabash National manufacturers trailers under the Wabash and the Fruehauf nameplates. Transport Topics
