News Briefs June 7
The Latest Headlines:
- Nottingham Named to FHWA Post
- Strike Continues at Ontario Navistar Plant
- Trucks Restricted to One Lane on I-75 South of Detroit
- House Votes to Make Estate Tax Repeal Permanent
- Plan for Truck Speed Limit Criticized
- High Productivity Helps Economy, Fed Official Says
- Concern Mounting About Possible Port Strike
- Crude Oil Prices Continue to Fall
- Intermodal Loadings Up 9.4% from 2001
- NPTC Endorses ATA Action Plan
- Strike Continues at Ontario Navistar Plant
Nottingham Named to FHWA Post
Charles D. Nottingham was appointed Friday to be associate administrator for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.He will serve as principal adviser to Administrator Mary Peters on policy, legislation and congressional affairs, especially reauthorization of the six-year surface transportation program.
Nottingham comes to FHWA from the House Committee on Government Reform, where he was counsel. He has also served as transportation commissioner in the state of Virginia. Transport Topics
Strike Continues at Ontario Navistar Plant
There is no sign that talks between truck maker Navistar International Corp. and the Canadian Auto Workers union will resume any time soon, Bloomberg reported Friday.Workers at the Chatham, Ontario plant walked out June 3 after their contract with Navistar expired and an agreement could not be reached on a new one. They remain on strike and the plant remains idle.
Navistar is seeking $14 million in cost cuts at the plant, a company spokesman said. The CAW told the company that it will not resume negotiations with the company until Navistar drops demands for wage and other concessions, Bloomberg reported.
Bloomberg said that Navistar has leverage in the strike because they have ramped up heavy truck production at their Escobedo, Mexico plant. Workers in Mexico make only $4 an hour while workers at the Chatham plant earn $32 an hour and make $42 an hour at Navistar's plant in Springfield, Ohio. Transport Topics
(Click here for related coverage.)
Trucks Restricted to One Lane on I-75 South of Detroit
A five-month closure of parts of I-75 will allow only commercial vehicles on the road in Detroit's southern suburbs, and even they will be restricted to one lane along the route to the Ambassador Bridge, the Associated Press reported Thursday.The Michigan Department of Transportation is closing the northbound lanes of I-75 in a 6.2-mile stretch at 12:01 AM Saturday, the story said, which will cause major headaches for trucks using the main route from Detroit into Canada.
Passenger vehicles will be diverted to Telegraph, east on I-94 to eastbound I-96 and then back onto northbound I-75, the AP said. Trucks can expect delays at these points and through the 6.2-mile stretch as construction proceeds.
Other projects in the area are to be expected as part of the $82-million reconstruction of that portion of I-75 and repair work on 20 bridges, the AP said. Transport Topics
House Votes to Make Estate Tax Repeal Permanent
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 256 to 171 Thursday to make the repeal of the estate tax permanent, the New York Times reported.A repeal of the estate tax would benefit many family-owned trucking outfits that are often passed from one generation to the next.
The Times said that the move by the Republican-led House is expected to put pressure on the Senate, controlled by Democrats, to do the same in this election year.
The repeal of the estate tax was part of last year's massive package of tax cuts, under which the estate tax will be reduced each year before completely disappearing in 2010, the Times reported.
However, in 2011, the tax would revert to 2001 levels. Transport Topics
Plan for Truck Speed Limit Criticized
The Texas Motor Transportation Association Thursday criticized a plan to implement a 55-mile-per-hour speed limit for commercial trucks in the state, but postpone it for automobiles and light trucks.The TMTA issued a press release calling the plan a recipe for disaster and a sign that the "politics of clean air" have taken precedence over highway safety.
TMTA President Bill Webb said the association does not support any increase in speed limits for trucks.
He did say, however, the association does strongly oppose any measure that provides for a differential in speed limits between cars and trucks. Transport Topics
(Click here for the press release.)
High Productivity Helps Economy, Fed Official Says
Rising productivity levels, coupled with low inflation levels, have helped keep the U.S. recession shallow, Donald Kohn, a senior Federal Reserve staff official, said Thursday.Speaking to the New York Money Marketeers, who gave him an achievement award, Kohn said the U.S. is close to a zone of price stability, Bloomberg reported.
Economic indicators like inflation levels and productivity are watched closely by the trucking industry.
Kohn was appointed by President Bush last month to fill an empty space on the Fed's Board of Governors. The Senate has not yet considered the nomination. Transport Topics
Concern Mounting About Possible Port Strike
U.S. retailers are concerned that talks between ocean carriers and dock workers may lead to a strike or a lockout at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, disrupting the flow of goods, Bloomberg reported Friday.In a letter dated Friday, the National Retail Federation urged the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to avoid actions that would disrupt commerce at the nation's two busiest container ports.
If the union strikes or the PMA locks workers out, the number of shipments headed in and out of the port by truck could drop significantly.
The contract between the PMA, which represents carriers and terminal operations, and the union expires July 1, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
Crude Oil Prices Continue to Fall
The prospect of increased production by Russia and Norway, as well as cheating by cartel members, is causing a continued slide in crude oil prices, Bloomberg said Friday.Diesel fuel and gasoline are both made from crude oil, so falling crude oil prices will eventually lead to lower prices at the pump, which is good news for the trucking industry.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna, Austria, this month, but analysts told Bloomberg the group is likely to maintain the output cuts it instituted in January.
However, Bloomberg said, OPEC members overstepped their quotas by 6.4%, or 1.38 million barrels, in May, helping to boost the inventories that push prices down.
The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange in after-hours electronic trading on Thursday fell as much as 15 cents or 0.6% to $24.64 a barrel, Bloomberg said.
Members of OPEC agreed Jan. 1 to cap their production levels in order to boost prices closer to the $25 per barrel ideal price, and non-OPEC countries agreed to comply as well. OPEC is not expected to increase production when it meets June 26, but Russia and Norway have already announced they will boost production, Bloombeg said. Transport Topics
Intermodal Loadings Up 9.4% from 2001
Intermodal loadings on the nation's railroads in the week ended June 1 were up 9.4% from the corresponding week in 2001, marking the eighth consecutive week of significant increases, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday.Intermodal, particularly the hauling of trailers, is the segment of the railroad business most directly competitive with long-haul trucking.
Trailers and containers loaded during the week totaled 163,944, compared with 149,880 in the previous year. Trailer loadings were 4.3% lower than the preceding year, while containers topped last year's loadings by 15.0%.
For the first 22 weeks of the year, overall loadings totaled 3,794,941, up 3.3% from the 3,675,216 loaded last year. Transport Topics
NPTC Endorses ATA Action Plan
The National Private Truck Council endorsed the American Trucking Industry's Anti-Terrorism Action Plan Thursday, although with a few qualifications.Gary Petty, president and chief executive officer of NPTC, said the group had concerns about the Highway Watch Program and proposed criminal background information system on drivers and other employees.
However, Petty said, in a letter dated June 6, NPTC recognizes the critical need for trucking industry unity on the subject of anti-terrorism. Transport Topics
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