News Briefs - Feb. 8
- Mild Winter, Low Demand May Foil OPEC
- Stonier Launches Intermodal Growth Plan
- FedEx Signs Deal with Mexican Carrier
- Russia Ponders Continued Oil Output Cuts
- Raba Sees 7% Drop in 4Q Profits
- Goodyear Reports Full-Year Loss, Plans New Job Cuts
- Truck Sales Resilient, Volvo AB Says
- Rail Intermodal Down 4.1% in First Five Weeks
- American Freightways, Viking Freight to Become FedEx Freight
- Southern Calif. Gasoline Price Rises for Fifth Week
- Stonier Launches Intermodal Growth Plan
Mild Winter, Low Demand May Foil OPEC
Attempts by the oil cartel to pump up crude prices by manipulating supply may be foiled by soft demand and a mild winter in the major oil markets, the Associated Press said Friday.Citing a survey by the International Energy Agency, AP said prices may fall still more before an economic recovery picks up during the second half of the year.
IEA statistics suggest that Russia, the world’s second-biggest oil producer isn’t cooperating with the strategy of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to squeeze crude supplies and might publicly decide to increase output after March. (Click here for a related story.)
Global demand for oil fell to 76.3 million barrels a day during the last quarter of 2001, the IEA said, noting that average demand growth was the lowest since 1985. Transport Topics
Stonier Launches Intermodal Growth Plan
Stonier Transportation Group announced Friday that is going forward with Stonier Rail Connection, which it called a major part of a growth plan for its intermodal division.Stonier said, in a press release, that it will partner with major class I railroads across the U.S., to offer a single-source service that includes railhead drayage at origin, premium rail equipment for the long-haul move and railhead drayage at destination. The service will use a single Stonier bill of lading at an all-inclusive rate.
tonier will also offer shipment tracking and tracing.
Initially, the Stonier Rail Connection will focus on four sets of high-density traffic lanes, the release said.
tonier Transportation Group is a leading freight forwarder and transportation management provider. It is based in Jacksonville, Fla. Transport Topics
FedEx Signs Deal with Mexican Carrier
FedEx announced late Thursday that its Mexican division has entered into an agreement with Servicios Nacionales Mupa, S.A. de C.V, a leading Mexican express transportation company, the Journal of Commerce reported.Previously, FedEx used several different companies for Mexican deliveries, but now will use exclusively Multipack.
As a result of the deal, FedEx Express will be able to offer services in 330 locations in Mexico. The deal began going into effect on Jan. 10, but was not announced widely. It should be fully implemented by mid-2002, the JoC said. Transport Topics
Russia Ponders Continued Oil Output Cuts
Russia is still undecided on whether to extend into the second quarter the oil export cuts it has undertaken at the behest of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.The prices of diesel fuel and gasoline are directly connected to the price of crude oil, making supply issues important to the trucking industry.
Russia's energy minister, Igor Yusufov said at a briefing that the decision would be made in March, after a projected visit by OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez.
Yusufov said the second-largest exporter of crude oil will not act to the detriment of its own interests. In December, Russia pledged to cut exports by 150,000 barrels a day to help OPEC prop up oil prices.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that OPEC member Nigeria has ordered the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and other companies to halt the production of more than 200,000 barrels a day of oil condensate, produced by mixing oil with gas that turns to liquid form above ground.
The order affects two U.S. companies, Exxon Mobil Corp. and ChevronTexaco Corp. Transport Topics
Raba Sees 7% Drop in 4Q Profits
Raba Rt., the Hungarian truck and axle manufacturer, said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profits fell 7% from the same quarter of 2000, Bloomberg reported.The company's net income fell to $2.2 million from $2.4 million in the previous year, the company said.
Raba blamed the decline in profits on weaker markets in the United States and Western Europe for heavy trucks. The company said its sales fell 9% to $59.3 million in the quarter. Transport Topics
Goodyear Reports Full-Year Loss, Plans New Job Cuts
After reporting its first annual loss since 1992 Friday, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced it will cut 3,500 more jobs this year, the Associated Press said.The company, which manufactures tires for personal and commercial vehicles, said it lost $203.6 million, or $1.27 per share in 2001 compared with earnings of $40.3 million, or 25 cents per share in 2000.
For the fourth quarter, Goodyear reported a loss of $174 million, or $1.07 per share, which included special charges of $126.9 million, or 78 cents per share. In the fourth quarter of 2000, the company posted a loss of $102 million, or 65 cents per share, which included $93.7 million in special charges.
The planned job cuts, the AP said, represent about 3.6% of Goodyear’s work force and follow the reduction of 10,000 positions in 2001. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release on Goodyear's earnings.)
Truck Sales Resilient, Volvo AB Says
Volvo AB, the Swedish heavy vehicle maker, reported a wider than expected loss in 2001, but called truck sales resilient, Reuters reported Friday.Volvo, which is the second-biggest truck manufacturer in the world, reported net income of $138.5 million, compared with $444.6 million in 2000.
Group sales were $17.10 billion in 2001, up from $11.37 billion in 2000. The latter figure reflects Volvo's acquisition of the truck business of Renault SA, which included the Renault brand in France and the Mack brand in the U.S.
The company, which sold its automobile business to Ford in 1999, with the result that trucks now account for 70% of its business, said poor results in its bus and construction equipment units were overshadowed by better-than-expected truck sales, Reuters reported.
Although profits in the truck division declined, an analyst told Reuters that the decline was less than was expected. Transport Topics
(">Click here for the press release.)
Rail Intermodal Down 4.1% in First Five Weeks
Intermodal loadings on the nation's railroads in the 5 weeks ending on Feb. 2 totaled 784,649 trailers and containers, which was 4.1% below the 818,326 loaded in the comparable period of 2001, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday.Rail intermodal is the segment of the railroad business most directly competitive with long-haul trucking, although intermodal provides business for truckers engaged in pickup and delivery services.
While loadings of both trailers and containers lagged behind the previous year, container loadings were down 1.6% while trailer loadings dropped by 10.1%
For the single week ended Feb. 2, trailer loadings were down 14% from the corresponding week in 2001 and container loadings were down 8.4%. Total loadings for the week were 164,804, compared with 183,270 in 2001. Transport Topics
American Freightways, Viking Freight to Become FedEx Freight
In a move aimed at boosting sales in the less-than-truckload market, FedEx Corp. said Thursday that it will re-brand two of its operating companies, American Freightways and Viking Freight, as FedEx Freight.FedEx said these LTL carriers deliver shipments weighing more than 150 pounds, and they are moved entirely by truck with day-definite delivery requirements.
Although the companies will maintain separate operations, they will work closely with the other FedEx companies, the Memphis, Tenn.-based company said in a press release.
FedEx is ranked No. 2 in the 2000-2001 Transport Topics 100 list. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Southern Calif. Gasoline Price Rises for Fifth Week
The price of gasoline increased in Southern California for the fifth straight week, reaching $1.281 per gallon, a regional automobile club reported.Although diesel fuel is usually associated with trucking, a large segment of commercial trucking is carried out in gasoline-burning vehicles.
The Automobile Club of Southern California, which compiles a Weekend Gas Watch by monitoring the prices at popular destinations for motoring trips, said prices have continued to increase moderately in the state, while remaining level in most of the nation.
An Auto Club spokesman said California prices are reflecting a reduction of output because some state refineries have closed some operations for maintenance and to prepare for the annual switch to summer grade gasoline. Transport Topics
(Click here for the press release.)
