News Briefs - June 5
The Latest Headlines:
- Price of Crude Oil Up on Possible Iraq Export Delay
- FedEx Freight to Buy New Tractors With Cummins Engines
- Weekly Jobless Claims Rise to Five-Week High
- Two Lanes of I-70 Reopened
- American Airlines Cargo to Expand Express Service
- FedEx Freight to Buy New Tractors With Cummins Engines
Price of Crude Oil Up on Possible Iraq Export Delay
The price of crude oil rose in New York on Thursday after an Iraqi official said exports could be delayed, Bloomberg reported.Crude oil is distilled down to motor fuels like diesel and gasoline, both of which are used to power the trucking industry.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for July delivery gained 42 cents by Thursday afternoon to $30.47 a barrel after reports that shipments on a pipeline to the port of Ceyhan, Turkey, may not start for two more months because some equipment was stolen, Bloomberg said.
FedEx Freight to Buy New Tractors With Cummins Engines
Less-than-truckload carrier Fedex Freight said Thursday it would purchase a total of 836 new tractors during fiscal year 2004 equipped with Cummins engines.The company said its current fleet consists of about 9,000 tractors and 25,000 trailers. These new vehi-cles would replace older equipment as well as increase the overall size of the fleet, FedEx said.
Fedex Corp. is ranked No. 2 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Weekly Jobless Claims Rise to Five-Week High
The number of American workers filing new claims for jobless benefits climbed to a five-week high in the week ended May 31, the Labor Department said Thursday.New applications for unemployment insurance rose by a seasonally adjusted 16,000 to 442,000, the highest level since the week ending April 26.
This was the 16th straight week new claims have been running above the 400,000 mark — a level associated with a largely stagnant job market, the Associated Press reported.
Some of last week's increase in claims probably reflected seasonal adjustment difficulties related to the Memorial Day holiday, a Labor Department analyst told AP.
The more stable, four-week moving average of new claims, which eliminates week-to-week fluctuations, rose last week by 3,000 to 430,500. Transport Topics
Two Lanes of I-70 Reopened
One lane in each direction of Interstate 70 in Colorado was reopened Wednesday, several days after being closed by a large sinkhole, requiring truckers to take long detours, the Denver Post reported.I-70 is a major east-west route across the country for trucks. While the road was closed, state transportation officials advised truckers to avoid the state completely if possible and take I-80 through Wyoming or I-40 through New Mexico.
The Colorado Department of Transportation said the 24-mile section of I-70 in eastern Colorado was reopened Wednesday morning, but immediately closed again after workers noticed the road was sagging several inches in an area where floodwaters had been diverted.
CDOT hopes to keep the two I-70 lanes open during the two to three weeks necessary to completely repair the highway, the Post said. Transport Topics
American Airlines Cargo to Expand Express Service
American Airlines Cargo said Wednesday its express cargo service, Expeditefs, would be available from all cargo locations in Central America, Mexico, and Venezuela beginning June 9.Trucks are often used to transfer cargo to and from airports.
The Expeditefs product provides a flight-specific, guaranteed service for freight, saving up to a day in international transit.
Customers would also be able to track and trace their shipments on the company Web site. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
