News Briefs - Jan. 13
The Latest Headlines:
- FedEx Custom Unit Changes Name to Air Expedite
- OPEC Agrees to 6.5% Boost in Output
- War Fears Have Customers Holding Off on Purchases, Volvo Says
- Oshkosh Wins $250 Million U.K. Truck Contract
- Lundberg Says Gasoline Prices Spiked Five Cents in Three Weeks
- OPEC Agrees to 6.5% Boost in Output
FedEx Custom Unit Changes Name to Air Expedite
FedEx Corp. said Monday that its FedEx Custom Critical Inc. division is changing the name of its CharterAir division to Air Expedite.The name change “reflects the expanded portfolio of expedited air services offered by this division,” the company said.
FedEx Custom Critical provides time-specific delivery services in the United States, Canada and within Europe, using its Surface Expedite, Air Expedite and White Glove Services divisions.
(Click here for the full press release.)
OPEC Agrees to 6.5% Boost in Output
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Sunday that it would boost its self-imposed output quota by 6.5%, or 1.5 million barrels per day, Bloomberg reported.The increase in production brings the cartel’s quota to a combined 24.5 million barrels per day, Bloomberg said.
Analysts told Bloomberg that the move by OPEC may not have much of an impact on fuel prices. These observers said that most of OPEC’s members have been outstripping their old quotas, making this increase mostly academic; and Venezuela has been in the throes of a general strike that has all but shut down its oil industry.
Oil prices did fall slightly Monday morning, to $31.45 a barrel in electronic trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Transport Topics
War Fears Have Customers Holding Off on Purchases, Volvo Says
Volvo AB, the second-largest manufacturer of heavy trucks in the world, said its customers have been postponing purchases of trucks because they have been concerned about a potential war in Iraq, the Financial Times reported Monday.The paper cited Chief Executive Officer Leif Johansson, who said the prospect of war has been having a psychological impact on purchasing decisions.
Despite this, the company said that it expects the hard-hit North American market to be “flat to improving” in 2003, with truck deliveries to remain close to last year’s total of 172,000.
North American profitability should improve, Johansson told the Times, because of increasing prices and the closure of a former Renault plant. Volvo has had losses in the last two years, the Times said. Transport Topics
Oshkosh Wins $250 Million U.K. Truck Contract
Oshkosh Truck Corp said Jan. 10 that it has won a $250 million contract from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense for approximately 350 wheeled tankers.The negotiations are expected to conclude during the first of half of 2003, the company said.
The Oshkosh, Wis.-based manufacturer of military and other specialty trucks said that winning the bid would allow it to hire 180 new workers in Wales. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Lundberg Says Gasoline Prices Spiked Five Cents in Three Weeks
The price of gasoline in the United States rose about five cents a gallon in the past three weeks, an industry survey reported Sunday.Gasoline analyst Trilby Lundberg said that on Jan. 10, the average price of gasoline was $1.50 – up from the $1.45 she reported as the average price on Dec. 20.
Lundberg cited the strike in Venezuela that has cut oil exports from that country as the main reason prices have risen in recent weeks.
This weekend’s announcement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that it would boost production may not provided immediate help and U.S. gasoline prices may continue to rise as supplies remain tight, Lundberg said. Transport Topics
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