News Briefs - Dec. 7
The Latest Headlines:
- Congress Sends Spending Bill to Bush
- Job-Cut Announcements Top 100,000 Again in November
- Authorized Strike by Truckers Could Affect Postal Service
- ArvinMeritor Sells Coil-Coating Subsidiary
- Air Cargo Shipments Increase in October
- Bankruptcy Filings Decline in U.S.
- Job-Cut Announcements Top 100,000 Again in November
Congress Sends Spending Bill to Bush
Congress removed a clause in a $388 billion spending bill on Monday that would have allowed some lawmakers to look at individual tax returns, which cleared the way for President Bush to sign the bill, news services reported.The bill includes $43.9 billion for the Department of Transportation and includes an amendment that blocks the Bush administration's plan to give Mexican trucks a two-year grace period to comply with U.S. safety standards, the Washington Post reported.
Congress must pass 13 spending bills to keep the government running for each fiscal year which begins on Oct. 1. But election-year politics delayed the process for the 2005 fiscal year, meaning that the nine individuals bills that Congress failed to pass in time were bundled into one package, Reuters reported. Transport Topics
Job-Cut Announcements Top 100,000 Again in November
Large U.S. companies announced plans to cut 104,530 jobs in November, a 5.1% increase from the same month a year earlier, according to placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.November was the third straight month that job cuts have exceeded 100,000, the first such stretch since January-April 2002. However, plans for job cuts this year fell 19% through November, compared with 2003.
Job-cut plans aren't the same as firings because many of the reductions will be carried out through attrition or early retirement. Some employees find work elsewhere in their companies, and many announced staff reductions never take place because business improves. Transport Topics
Authorized Strike by Truckers Could Affect Postal Service
About 500 unionized truck drivers who transport mail for the U.S. Postal Service have authorized a strike against its employer, Mail Contractors of America Inc., the Kansas City Star reported.The dispute involves about 500 drivers who work out of terminals in Kansas City, Kan.; Des Moines, Iowa; Greensboro, N.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Memphis, Tenn.
Mail Contractors is the biggest contract hauler of mail for the Postal Service. The company said it hauls about 10% of the total U.S. mail in city-to-city driving, the Kansas City Star reported.
The drivers are members of the American Postal Workers Union, and claimed the company eliminated benefits previously obtained in collective bargaining, the article said. Negotiations between Mail Contractors and the union have been going on for two years in an attempt to reach a new agreement, the Star said. Transport Topics
ArvinMeritor Sells Coil-Coating Subsidiary
Commercial components supplier ArvinMeritor Inc. said it sold subsidiary Roll Coater Inc. to an affiliate of private-equity firm Willis Stein & Partners for $162.5 million.ArvinMeritor said Roll Coater supplied coil-coating services to the transportation, construction and other industries. It coats steel coils up to 30 tons, the company said.
The sale bolsters ArvinMeritor’s ability “to focus on its core competencies in the global automotive and heavy truck markets,” Charles McClure, ArvinMeritor chairman and chief executive officer, said. Transport Topics
Air Cargo Shipments Increase in October
Domestic air cargo shipments for October rose by 1% compared with a year earlier, the Air Transport Association reported.Air cargo shipments always have a trucking component, since air carriers use trucks for the local and regional ground transportation.
Total air cargo shipments for October reached 2.273 million revenue ton-miles, a 7.2% increase over a year earlier, the association said. A revenue ton-mile is the revenue generated carrying one ton of freight one mile.
Freight and express airfreight shipments, excluding mail, rose by 1.2% domestically in October to 1.032 million RTMs, while international freight and express rose by 14.3%, to 1.134 million RTMs, the group said.
Total cargo year-over-year, including domestic and international, was 7.2% higher than last year through October, the group said. Transport Topics
Bankruptcy Filings Decline in U.S.
Bankruptcy filings in the United States declined 2.6% in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which reports figures quarterly, said the number of bankruptcy cases filed during the period totaled 1.62 million, down from 1.66 million a year earlier. The figures include filings for business and personal bankruptcy.
Analysts said the second straight decline in the number of filings was a sign finances were improving as the economy strengthens, the Journal said. Transport Topics
