News Briefs - Dec . 9
The Latest Headlines:
- Wholesale Inventories Increase 1.1% in October
- Survey: Driver Shortage a Critical Issue Facing Industry
- Jobless Claims Rise to 10-Week High
- Report: Some W.Va. Bridges Can't Handle 120,000-Pound Trucks
- Nebraska Program to Encourage People to Become Truckers
- U.S. Xpress Names Fuller CEO
- Import, Export Prices Rise in November
- Survey: Driver Shortage a Critical Issue Facing Industry
Wholesale Inventories Increase 1.1% in October
The Commerce Department said Thusday U.S. wholesale inventories rose 1.1% in October to $323.1 billion as businesses kept more goods on hand to satisfy stronger demand.Commerce also said wholesale sales jumped 1.6% in October, the most since March, after a 0.8% rise.
holesalers account for about one-fourth of all business inventories. Retailers and factories account for the rest. Transport Topics
Survey: Driver Shortage a Critical Issue Facing Industry
First Fleet Corp. said Thursday a recent survey found that 77% of trucking executives polled said the shortage of qualified drivers was among the most critical issues facing the industry.First Fleet said it is a provider of asset management and financial services to the trucking and transportation industry.
Other major areas of concern were the impact of rising fuel prices and the cost of maintenance, the survey found.
First Fleet also said that 93% of the executives surveyed said they would replace nearly 25% of their fleet within the next year, and 72% plan to replace half of their fleet in two or more years. Transport Topics
Jobless Claims Rise to 10-Week High
The number of U.S. workers filing initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 8,000 in the week ended Dec. 4 to a 10-week high of 357,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.Despite the increase, Labor said claims have fallen to a weekly average of 344,102 so far this year from 402,000 for all of 2003.
The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure that smoothes weekly fluctuations, rose to 341,250 from 336,500.
The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits rose to 2.796 million in the week that ended Nov. 27 from 2.705 million the previous week. Transport Topics
Report: Some W.Va. Bridges Can't Handle 120,000-Pound Trucks
An advisory committee in West Virginia said that 125 bridges in the state can't handle the maximum 120,000-pound limit for coal trucks, the Associated Press reported.A 2003 law allowed coal haulers to apply for special permits to carry up to 120,000 pounds on specific roads in 15 coalfield counties. Previously, larger highways in West Virginia had weight limits of 80,000 pounds and smaller roads had limits of 65,000 pounds, AP said.
Over $2 million has been generated for a road maintenance fund from permits, fees and fines, but that's not enough to pay for upgrades for all 125 bridges, the committee said in its report.
With the help of coal companies, five bridges have already been upgraded at a cost of more than $400,000, AP said. Transport Topics
Nebraska Program to Encourage People to Become Truckers
The Nebraska Trucking Association and state government were teaming up to encourage more people to become truck drivers and diesel technicians, the Omaha World-Herald reported Thursday.Although the details of the pilot program were still being finalized, many of the 19,000 people registered with Nebraska Workforce Development as active job seekers would be eligible for tuition funding and pre-training job placement, the article said.
NTA said potential drivers must not have had a moving violations for 10 years, be in good health and be able to pass the commercial drivers license test in English.
Additional information would be available early next year at nebraskaworkforce.com. Transport Topics
U.S. Xpress Names Fuller CEO
U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc. named Max Fuller chief executive officer effective Nov. 22, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission report.Fuller and U.S. Xpress President Pat Quinn had served as company co-chairmen and will continue in those roles, spokes-man Greg Thomson told Transport Topics.
Quinn remains president of the company and Jeffrey Wardeberg, who was named chief operating officer in March, will continue in that role, Thomson said.
The Chattanooga, Tenn., truckload carrier is No. 21 on the Transport Topics 100 list of for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
Import, Export Prices Rise in November
The Labor Department said Thursday the price of goods imported into the United States rose 0.2% in November.Non-petroleum import prices increased 0.7%, marking the largest increase since January's 0.8% gain, Labor said. Imported motor vehicle prices were up 0.2%.
The price of petroleum product imports fell 2.6%, but on an annual basis, petroleum import costs are up 60.4%.
Labor also said export prices were up 0.3% compared with 0.7% in October. Transport Topics
