News Briefs - Jan. 22
The Latest Headlines:
- Overnite Reports Close of Best Year since ’94
- Snow’s Confirmation Hearing Set for Jan. 28
- Heartland Express Increases 4Q Revenues 25%
- Roadway More Than Doubles 4Q Net Income
- ArvinMeritor Posts 1Q Profit on Increased Truck Demand
- Crude Oil Price Relaxes After Venezuelan Group Votes to End Strike
- Amtrak May Seek $2 Billion From U.S.
- Pilot Air Consolidates Ownership
- Snow’s Confirmation Hearing Set for Jan. 28
Overnite Reports Close of Best Year since ’94
Overnite Holding Inc., the less-than-truckload arm of the Union Pacific Corp. said Wednesday it has a 16.2% increase in net income to $55.1 million in 2002, its greatest improvement since 1994.The company reported revenues of $1.33 billion in 2002, up from the $1.27 billion it generated in 2001.
For the final three months of 2002, the company said its operating income increased 19% to $16.8 million on revenue of $346.3 million.
Overnite Holding is the parent company of Overnite Transportation Co., which is ranked No. 20 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Snow’s Confirmation Hearing Set for Jan. 28
The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing for President Bush’s Treasury secretary nominee, John W. Snow, for Jan. 28, news services said Wednesday.The hearing on Snow’s confirmation is scheduled to take place on the same day as Bush’s State of the Union address.
Snow, the chairman and president of rail giant CSX Corp., would be a key member of President Bush’s economic team if the Senate confirms him. The Treasury secretary is the administration’s main spokesman on tax policy and in economic talks with foreign countries.
Major newspapers also reported that in his responses to a pre-hearing questionnaire from the Senate Finance Committee, Snow disclosed that he had been charged in 1982 with driving under the influence, but that the charge was later dropped, and had been sued in 1988 by his former wife for allegedly failing to pay child support. Transport Topics
Heartland Express Increases 4Q Revenues 25%
Heartland Express Inc. said Wednesday, that it posted stronger financial results in the fourth quarter of 2002 – showing improvements in revenue and net income.The company had a net income of $11.2 million or 22 cents per share, up 13.4% from the $9.9 million or 20 cents per share the company earned in the final three months of 2001. The Coralville, Iowa-based company’s revenue grew 25.1% to $92 million from the $73.5 million it generated in the same period last year.
For the full year, Heartland claimed increase of 13.7% in net income and 15.7% in revenues.
Heartland Express is ranked No. 55 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Roadway More Than Doubles 4Q Net Income
Roadway Corp. said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter net income more than doubled as it grew its business after the demise of Consolidated Freightways Corp.The Akron, Ohio-based company said that its net income rose to $28.1 million or $1.48 per share, from the $13.7 million or 73 cents a share the company reported in the same quarter during 2001.
A less-than-truckload carrier, Roadway said it had sales of $1.07 billion – a 26% increase from the $854.6 million the company claimed in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2001.
Roadway, along with other less-than-truckload carriers, said it is currently negotiating with the Teamsters union on a renewal of the National Master Freight Agreement (Click here for related coverage.). Roadway said in its earnings release that it would not provide guidance for 2003 until those talks concluded.
Roadway is ranked No. 7 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
ArvinMeritor Posts 1Q Profit on Increased Truck Demand
Parts manufacturer ArvinMeritor Inc. said Tuesday that it posted a profit in the fiscal first quarter of 2003 as demand for heavy trucks in North America increased.The company said that its net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2002 was $32 million or 47 cents per share, up from the $31 million loss – equivalent to a loss of 47 cents per share – the company posted in same quarter for the 2002 fiscal year.
ArvinMeritor is the largest manufacturer of heavy-duty truck axles, and truck parts account for about a third of the Troy, Mich.-based company’s sales. The company’s commercial vehicle systems unit had sales of $572 million in the quarter, 18% higher than the same quarter last year.
“Higher North American Class 8 truck production was the major factor behind the sales increase,” the company said in a release.
The company also announced that it would close a plant in Tennessee that manufacturers car window parts and sunroofs. The closure will necessitate the elimination of 575 jobs, the company said. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Crude Oil Price Relaxes After Venezuelan Group Votes to End Strike
The price of crude oil fell in early trading Wednesday after more than a third of Venezuela’s oil tanker pilots agreed to return to work, Bloomberg reported. The news prompted speculation that the overall general strike may be close to ending.The remaining pilots will vote Wednesday on a cash offer from the government to work, Bloomberg reported. Sixteen pilots, who guide oil tankers to the country’s biggest oil port, will return to work, Bloomberg said, but by themselves will not be able to restore the country’s oil production.
The strikes by workers in Venezuela, along with rising tensions in the Middle East, have pushed oil prices higher in recent weeks.
In the United States, oil prices fell 14 cents to $33.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Amtrak May Seek $2 Billion From U.S.
The nation’s passenger railroad, Amtrak, said Tuesday that it plans to seek between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in funding from the United States government this year, a 67% increase from last year, Bloomberg reported.Amtrak derives some revenue from hauling mail and other time-sensitive freight on its passenger trains.
The funding would be for fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, Bloomberg said. If the railroad’s board of directors approves the request, it will be sent to Congress for final authorization in February.
Amtrak lost $1.2 billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2001 and its debt has ballooned to $4.4 billion in the past five years, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Pilot Air Consolidates Ownership
Pilot Air Freight said Monday that Richard G. Phillips, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, had acquired all outstanding stock of the privately owned company.The transportation and freight forwarding company, based in Lima, Pa., said in a statement that Phillips had been a 50% owner of Pilot Air Freight. He became chairman in 1994.
The company had sales of $217 million in 2002 and moved 374.4 million pounds of freight, a 3% increase from the year-earlier period, the release said. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
