News Briefs - Jan. 14
The Latest Headlines:
- Canary Shows Support for Bush Plan
- New Jersey Considers Lowering Truck Speeds, Paper Reports
- Volvo Sells Euro Bonds After Borrowing Costs Dip
- North Sea Shutdown Forces Oil Prices Higher
- Graves Leaves Governor's Office in Kansas
- GE Strike Impacts Manufacturing Nationwide
- Kmart Corp. to Close More Than 300 Stores
- New Jersey Considers Lowering Truck Speeds, Paper Reports
Canary Shows Support for Bush Plan
American Trucking Associations President William J. Canary wrote a letter, dated Jan. 10, to the White House expressing support for President Bush’s plan to stimulate the economy (Click here for the full text of the letter.)."ATA believes that by giving households permanent tax relief, a family's willingness to consume will also increase," said Canary. "With increase consumption, businesses like trucking, manufacturing and retailers will witness higher rates of growth. This will also serve to increase capital expenditures, which in turn will further increase truck freight volumes."
In addition to a series of proposed tax cuts, the plan would allow businesses to write-off equipment purchases more quickly, a provision that ATA said will be beneficial to the trucking industry, particularly small carriers.
New Jersey Considers Lowering Truck Speeds, Paper Reports
Officials in New Jersey are considering lowering the speed limits for trucks in the Garden State, the Courier News of Bridgewater, N.J. said Tuesday.Citing state Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere, the paper said that the Department of Transportation plans to announce a highway safety initiative in February.
The Courier News said that New Jersey will study the effect that lowering truck speeds has had in 10 other states.
In December, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign asked the state to explore dropping truck speeds from 65 miles per hour to 55 mph, the paper said. Transport Topics
Volvo Sells Euro Bonds After Borrowing Costs Dip
Truck maker Volvo AB sold 250 million Euros of floating-rate bonds, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The company said it was making the sale to take advantage of borrowing costs that had sunk to six-month lows, Bloomberg reported.
The company had said earlier this month that they were planning to make this sale to raise capital (Click here for related coverage.). Transport Topics
North Sea Shutdown Forces Oil Prices Higher
Unplanned repairs on some oil fields in North Sea further worked to restrict supplies, forcing oil prices higher in trading Tuesday morning, Bloomberg reported.In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil prices rose 19 cents a barrel to $32.45, Bloomberg said.
Norway’s largest oil company, Staloil, said that it found a crack in its platform in the North Sea, and was reducing output while repairs are made, Bloomberg reported.
The news comes at a time when oil supplies from the Middle East are threatened by a potential war and cut off from Venezuela by a general strike. Transport Topics
Graves Leaves Governor's Office in Kansas
Gov. Bill Graves, the incoming president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations, left the governor's office Monday, as he saw Kathleen Sebelius sworn in as the new top official in Kansas, the Associated Press said.Graves leaves state office after eight years, and is scheduled to take office this week at ATA.
Sebelius, a 54-year-old Democrat, is the second woman to be elected governor in Kansas, AP said. Transport Topics
GE Strike Impacts Manufacturing Nationwide
Employees of General Electric Co. picketed plants across the country to protest an increase in health care co-payments, the Associated Press reported.A spokesman for GE said that the strike was affecting operations across the country. Despite this, GE said it was still meeting the needs of its customers, AP reported.
Officials at the International Union of Electronic Workers/Communications Workers of America and United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America said that about 20,000 of their members are participating in the first day of a planned two-day walkout.
AP reported that a striker was struck and killed by police car early in the morning while picketing a GE plant in Louisville, Ky. Transport Topics
Kmart Corp. to Close More Than 300 Stores
Bankrupt discount retailer Kmart Corp. said Tuesday it plans on closing 326 stores and firing more than 25,000 jobs, news services reported.Reuters reported that the Troy, Mich.-based company began notifying affected employees Tuesday morning.
If Kmart carries out its plan, the Associated Press said it would be the largest cost-cutting initiative undertaken by the company since it declared bankruptcy last year. Transport Topics
