News Briefs - Dec. 16
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The Latest Headlines:
- Consumer Prices Fall 0.2% in November
- UPS Pension Aid Could Be Debated in Congress
- American Water Star Hires C.H. Robinson
- Sen. Breaux to Retire Next Year
- Terex Breaks With Caterpillar on Sale of Unit
- UPS Pension Aid Could Be Debated in Congress
Consumer Prices Fall 0.2% in November
The consumer price index fell 0.2% in November, reflecting cheaper energy costs, followed no change in October, the Labor Department said Tuesday.The core index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, fell 0.1% percent, the biggest decline since 0.2% in November 1982, the Associated Press reported.
Energy prices retreated by 3% in November, led by a 5% drop in gasoline prices. Prices for clothing and airline fares also declined, while food and medical costs increased.
For the first 11 months of this year, consumer prices have risen at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.8%, slower than the 2.4% rise for all of 2002. Core prices have advanced at a rate of 1.1%, compared with a 1.9% increase last year. Transport Topics
UPS Pension Aid Could Be Debated in Congress
Congress is expected to consider a proposal that would shift responsibility for billions of dollars in future pension promises to the federal government from United Parcel Service, the New York Times reported Tuesday.The package-delivery company is upset it has to cover retirees of other companies through its participation in multiemployer plans, in which many employers pool the cost of providing pensions for union members, the Times said.
UPS is the largest company in the pension plans of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with potential responsibility for billions of dollars of obligations to its retirees.
The Times said that UPS is willing to pay for the obligations it has assumed from other companies, but wants to make each company solely responsible for its own workers' benefits in the future. If a company does default, the obligations would then go to the federal government.
UPS declined to specify how much debt is involved in those plans, the Times said, but the biggest one, the Central States pension fund, owed $31 billion to about 460,000 workers and retirees at the end of 2002 while
aving just $18.5 billion in assets. Transport Topics
American Water Star Hires C.H. Robinson
American Water Star Inc. said late Monday it had contracted C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. to deliver orders of Hawaiian Tropic beverages to a new grocery store account in the southwestern United States.American Water said in a release its beverage products are sold by the truckload to distributors, who then sell to retail stores and other outlets.
The initial order covers 87 locations, the release said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Logistics provider C.H. Robinson delivers through truck, rail, ocean and air transportation routes. Transport Topics
Sen. Breaux to Retire Next Year
Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) said Monday he would retire next year rather than seek re-election, the Associated Press reported.Breaux, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, becomes the fifth southern Democrat to step down in 2004.
Republicans currently hold a 51-48 majority in the Senate, with one Democrat-leaning independent.
Republicans have never won a Louisiana Senate seat since Reconstruction, AP said. Transport Topics
Terex Breaks With Caterpillar on Sale of Unit
Terex Corp., a maker of construction equipment, said it had halted talks to sell its mining-truck business to Caterpillar Inc. and buy technology from Caterpillar because the companies could not agree on a price.“We were unable to conclude this deal because of a difference in value,” Terex Chief Executive Officer Ronald DeFeo said in a release.
Terex had agreed in July to sell the business and purchase mining-shovel technology from Caterpillar, Bloomberg reported.
Caterpillar did not immediately return a call seeking comment, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
