News Briefs - Jan. 3
- ATA Economist Sees Trucking Rebound in '02
- Job Cuts Fall in December, Challenger Says
- Online Spending Rises in Fourth Quarter
- Package Carriers Adopt Special Surchages
- U.S. Airlines See 14.4% Decline in Cargo Volume
- Truck School Enrollments Seen Growing
- Acid Truck Stolen in Los Angeles
- FMCSA to Enforce Placard Restrictions
- Job Cuts Fall in December, Challenger Says
ATA Economist Sees Trucking Rebound in '02
Robert Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations, said Thursday that things may pick up for the trucking industry in 2002.In an interview with Bloomberg News, Costello called the level of inventory throughout the supply chain a critical indicator because when inventories are high, there is no need to use trucks to bring in more goods.
However, he said he believes there has been a reduction of inventory. For this reason, Costello said he felt that, as the economy begins to pull out of its slump, the trucking industry will see an uptick as businesses begin replenishing their inventories.
Costello also told the business wire that 2001 was a particularly bad year for trucking, with at least 3,000 companies filing for bankruptcy in the first two quarters of the year. The combination of high fuel prices, high insurance premiums, especially after Sept. 11, and reduced freight shipments hurt many motor carriers, Costello said. Transport Topics
Job Cuts Fall in December, Challenger Says
The number of announced job cuts in the U.S. fell to 161,584 in December, raising the possibility that the worst may be over for the battered labor market, an industry report said Thursday.The report, compiled by job-placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., said that the December number amounts to an 11% drop from the figure posted in November - and a third consecutive month of decline.
The total number of announced cuts for 2001 was a record 1.96 million, Bloomberg said, with more than 40% of the cuts coming after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
For the year as a whole, telecommunications and financial services companies had the greatest number of announced cuts.
Announced cuts are not the same as layoffs or firings, because some employees are reassigned, other cuts never actually take place and some are done through early retirement and other means.
Increased cuts and higher unemployment are bad signs for the trucking industry because they can affect industrial production and consumer spending -- which provide business for truckers. Transport Topics
Online Spending Rises in Fourth Quarter
Despite the mostly gloomy holiday season for retailers, online shopping was up, providing a bright spot for some companies, the Wall Street Journal reported.America Online reported that its U.S. members spent 72% more in the fourth quarter than they did in the same period last year, pointing and clicking their way to $11 billion in receipts, the Journal said.
Amazon.com, one of the largest online-only retailers, said that its site received 37.9 million orders between Nov. 9 and Dec. 21, but did not disclose any dollar figures for those orders, the Journal reported.
Online shopping, while a relatively new market, is critical to the trucking industry, and in particular to package carriers. Since so-called 'e-tailers' do not have stores where customers can pick up items, they rely on companies like FedEx and United Parcel Service to deliver them. Transport Topics
Package Carriers Adopt Special Surchages
Package carriers like United Parcel Service, FedEx and Airborne Inc. are beginning 2002 by adding a variety of surcharges to their normal delivery service pricing, the Wall Street Journal reported.The fees are intended to boost revenues because delivery volumes have slumped along with the economy, the Journal said.
Beginning in January, all three of the major package carriers will start adding $1.10 to $1.35 for residential air delivery. UPS and Airborne are also adding a fee, which FedEx already charges, for air shipments to residences they consider out of the way, the Journal said.
The extra charges, which also include fees for not putting an account number on a package slip and hazardous material shipping, can increase the price of shipping something by air by close to 40%, the Journal reported.
The increases in fees will first hit catalog and Internet stores, which will pass the added costs on to customers. Transport Topics
U.S. Airlines See 14.4% Decline in Cargo Volume
U.S. airlines reported a 14.4% decline in cargo volume during November, compared with the year-earlier period, the Air Transport Association said.Volume totaled 1.8 billion ton-miles, and the downturn was blamed on both the worldwide economic slowdown and the impact of the terrorist attacks, the Journal of Commerce said. These figures include all-cargo carriers such as United Parcel Service.
Despite the negative figure, it was a big improvement over the past two months. Volumes were off 24.4% in September and 23.1% in October, compared with 2000. For the year as a whole, volume is off 10.3%.
Much of this cargo is brought to the airport by truck and then transferred to its destination by truck it arrives. Transport Topics
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Truck School Enrollments Seen Growing
More people are enrolling in and graduating from truck driving schools, according to the Dallas Morning News.The paper says that not only enrollment, but also job placements are up at schools like the International School of Professional Driving in Dallas. Placement for graduates has risen 3% since November, the paper reported, while enrollments have jumped 10%.
The increases could indicate a rise in the demand for trucking services. Such an increase would not only be good for the industry, but could indicate that the economy at-large is pulling out of its 9-month funk.
Fluctuations in demand for trucking services often indicate how other sectors of the economy are faring. Transport Topics
Acid Truck Stolen in Los Angeles
Police in the Los Angeles area are searching for a truckload of acid stolen from a chemical distribution company on New Year's Eve, the Associated Press reported.A police spokesman told AP that this appears to be a burglary rather than a terrorist act. The acid was in five 100-pound metal canisters that had been loaded onto a truck in preparation for shipment.
The white Chevrolet truck has a California license plate 5T68532 and the company name "Dacco" painted on one of the doors.
Nitric acid is a highly corrosive liquid that can be mixed with other agents to make fertilizers and explosives, AP said. Transport Topics
FMCSA to Enforce Placard Restrictions
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said on Wednesday, that it is enforcing a requirement prohibiting motor carriers from placing extraneous information on placards.Violators are subject to a penalty of at least $250, the U.S. Department of Transportation said in a statement. These placards are reserved for hazardous materials information.
FMCSA said that extra information detracts from the basic function of placards and reduces the ability of emergency responders to recognize the most important signs on a truck. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
