News Briefs - Dec. 26
- Heavy Snows Slow Buffalo, Other Areas
- Security Delays Slow Trucks at U.S.-Canada Ambassador Bridge
- OPEC, Others to Cut Oil Production
- Frozen Food Express Spins Off Subsidiary
- IRS Offers Incentive to Disclose Tax Shelters
- Sharp Turn Flaws Pittsburg, Calif. Bypass
- Planning Begins for La. Intermodal Transport
- Security Delays Slow Trucks at U.S.-Canada Ambassador Bridge
Heavy Snows Slow Buffalo, Other Areas
An unexpected 25.2 inches of snow blanketed Buffalo Monday and Tuesday, along with several neighboring areas, leaving transportation at a virtual halt, the Associated Press reported.By Monday night Buffalo-Niagara International Airport had been forced closed, and remained closed midday Tuesday as crews attempted to dig out.
It was the the third-heaviest 24-hour snowfall in the history of the area.
ruckers will also find snow delays and slippery roads in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and up to 6 inches of accumulation in other areas surrounding the Great Lakes. Transport Topics
Security Delays Slow Trucks at U.S.-Canada Ambassador Bridge
Truckers who use the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Mich., have felt the worst of the Sept. 11 aftermath in unpredictable security delays, the Washington Post reported.n a front-page story Wednesday, the Post called the bridge the busiest border crossing in the U.S.
Current security measures have slowed traffic to a crawl, delaying truckers on both sides and causing major factory delays in two of the biggest automobile manufacturing cities, and still obvious holes in security remain, the Post said.
rivers are now expected to present birth certificates or passports along with their driver's license, more vehicles are being searched and customs agents are asking truckers more questions. At the same time, electronic passes which used to facilitate border-crossing for frequent travelers have been suspended as officials worry that terrorists might already possess them.
Factories waiting for trucks to bring their shipments on either side of the bridge are now forced to hold larger backup inventories, planning ahead for the hold-ups at the border.
The private security measures taken since the Sept. 11 attacks total $50,000 a week, which is making officials search for more high-tech, efficient long-term methods, making the northern border a "smart border" instead of one slowed by manual searches, the Washington Post reported. Transport Topics
OPEC, Others to Cut Oil Production
OPEC plans to cut oil production by 1.5 million barrels a day effective Jan. 1, 2002, now that several non-OPEC countries have agreed to reduce production by another 462,500 barrels, the Associated Press reported.The countries have agreed to reduce production for at least six months in order to support fuel prices. OPEC officials will vote on the production cut this Friday.
Target oil production by OPEC, which is responsible for a third of the world’s oil, is 23.2 million barrels per day.
Crude oil for February delivery rose to $20 a barrel in early morning trading Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg News reported. Transport Topics
Frozen Food Express Spins Off Subsidiary
Frozen Food Express Industries Inc., announced the sale of its subsidiary, W&B Refrigeration Service Co., to W&B Newco, LP. on Wednesday.The purchasing company is a newly formed limited partnership, controlled by the current president of W&B Refrigeration, John Chisolm. The sales price is approximately $15 million, according to the FFEX press release, involving cash, debt, assumption of liabilities and a minority partnership interest.
Stoney M. (Mit) Stubbs, Jr., chairman and CEO of FFEX, said the sale is part of an ongoing program to direct the company's attention and capital to “our core business.”
FFEX will continue to operate the remainder of its non-freight businesses, including AirPro, which is involved in the sales and service of various climate control and refrigeration products.
"One of the reasons we had kept our credit facility at $50 million is to help us handle wide fluctuations in the need for working capital in our non-freight operations. The cash from this divestiture and the related reduction in those seasonal demands permit us to reduce our credit facility to $33.3 million, and save the related commitment fees," Mr. Stubbs said.
Both companies are based in Dallas, Texas. Transport Topics
(Click here for the press release.)
IRS Offers Incentive to Disclose Tax Shelters
The IRS has offered to waive the usual 20% penalty on taxes that were improperly avoided for all big companies who confess their tax avoidance strategies, the New York Times reported.After a survey of corporate income tax audits conducted in October which found 413 tax shelters that involved $16.2 billion of potential taxes, the I.R.S. hopes to uncover more tax shelters by offering the break than it would normally find through audits.
So far this year 95 companies have disclosed their tax avoidance strategies and the tax shelters that helped them, revealing 72 illegal tax shelters, 41% more than were revealed in 2000.
According to the new policy, companies have until April 23 to confess in order to receive the penalty exemption. Transport Topics
Sharp Turn Flaws Pittsburg, Calif. Bypass
A new bypass route to the waterfront industrial area from the Pittsburg/Antioch Highway in California failed to meet high expectations as a sharp turn near Harbor Street may be too much for big rigs, the Contra Costa Times reported.The route is designed for trucks headed to the Pittsburg Marine Terminal that primarily haul petroleum coke, an oil refinery biproduct. It was intended to divert truck traffic that used to reach the waterfront industries only via downtown streets.
The newspaper story said that city officials worry that the city will now be flooded with an increase of trucks as they decide whether to lift a limit of 160 big rigs to the refinery each day or lose the $175,000 they would gain in the deal.
Along with directing big rig traffic around residential neighborhoods, the access route was designed to help build a new power plant near the water and develop the city’s industrial area and port, the story said. Transport Topics
Planning Begins for La. Intermodal Transport
Plans are underway to build an intermodal transportation system between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La., in an effort to boost the area economy and specifically the Millennium Port, the television station WDSU reported on their website.The effort will begin with an international airport at an undetermined site, and will be connected to highway, rail and sea transportation.
As many as 20,000 jobs will be created in the area from the project, WDSU said. Transport Topics
8311
