News Briefs - March 13
- Senate Rejects Fuel Economy Standards
- Greenspan Says Business Investment Key to Recovery
- Navistar's Credit Rating Downgraded
- UPS, Teamsters to Resume Negotiations
- New Penn Opens Terminal in Vermont
- W.Va. Coal Truckers Protest Weight Crackdown
- Olympic Traffic Not as Bad as Expected
- Higher Fuel Prices May Be On the Way
- Volvo to Make Trucks in Russia
- AAA Charts Gasoline Price Rise
- U.S. Officials See Economy Improving
- Greenspan Says Business Investment Key to Recovery
Senate Rejects Fuel Economy Standards
The U.S. Senate rejected tougher vehicle fuel economy requirements Wednesday, voting instead to direct the Department of Transportation to develop new fuel economy rules, news services reported.The Senate voted on whether to require automakers to increase the gasoline economy of cars and light trucks to 36 miles per gallon by 2015, an increase of about 50% percent from current rules. Light trucks, which are minivans and sport utility vehicles, can be used in many commercial trucking applications.
The Senate also voted to exempt pickup trucks from future mileage increases, keeping the requirement at 20.7 mpg.
Previously, the U.S. House called for modest limits on the amount of oil used for motor vehicles in its energy legislation, a requirement expected to amount to about a mile-per-gallon improvement, the Associated Press said. Transport Topics
Greenspan Says Business Investment Key to Recovery
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday that business investment -- and not consumer spending -- will determine the speed and scope of the economic recovery, Bloomberg reported.Trucking is sensitive to economic fluctuations and will benefit from an upturn.
Greenspan, speaking to a group of bankers in Hawaii via satellite, said that consumer spending will not increase as much as after previous recessions so companies will be need to pick up the spending slack.
He also said that data show strong worker productivity and falling unemployment are further proof that the recovery is starting, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Navistar's Credit Rating Downgraded
The corporate credit rating of truck manufacturer Navistar International Corp. was cut to junk status by Standard & Poor's on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.S&P reduced the rating to "BB+" from "BBB-" due to an increase in the company's financial leverage has reduced its flexibility. Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings had previously made similar moves.
Bloomberg said that the lower credit ratings mean Navistar will likely pay higher borrowing costs. Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said this is more than a reflection on the current state of the trucking industry rather than the company. Transport Topics
UPS, Teamsters to Resume Negotiations
United Parcel Service and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are scheduled to resume contract talks next week in Chicago, more than a month after their last formal meeting, the Journal of Commerce reported Wednesday.Talks so far have focused mostly on issues such as the Teamsters' demand that UPS convert 3,000 part-time positions into full-time jobs. The sides have also worked on supplemental agreements, which cover local issues, JoC said.
UPS is the largest single employer of Teamsters, with about 200,000 members on its payroll. In 1997, a contract dispute caused a 15-day strike, disrupting operations and costing the company $750 million in revenue.
Based in Atlanta, UPS is ranked No. 1 on the 2000-2001 Transport Topics list of the 100 largest trucking companies in the U.S. Transport Topics
New Penn Opens Terminal in Vermont
Less-than-truckload carrier New Penn Motor Express said Wednesday that it has opened a new terminal location near Burlington, Vt.This facility will expand New Penn's service in Vermont and upstate New York, the Lebanon, Pa.-based company said in a release.
New Penn is owned by Roadway Corp., which is ranked No. 7 in the 2000-2001 Transport Topics 100 list. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
W.Va. Coal Truckers Protest Weight Crackdown
More than 100 coal truck drivers parked their rigs around the Capitol building in Charleston, W. Va., on Wednesday to protest a crackdown on coal truck weights, the Charleston Daily Mail reported.The truckers said if the current 80,000-pound law is strictly enforced, it will put truckers and coal miners out of work. They want Gov. Bob Wise to raise the weight limit to 120,000 pounds with a 5% or 8% variance.
The state's House Judiciary Committee recently rejected a similiar proposal.
The truckers had a brief discussion with the governor before he left for other appointments, the article said. Transport Topics
Olympic Traffic Not as Bad as Expected
Utah's use of several transportation innovations kept roads around the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games relatively clear, officials told the Associated Press Monday.The director of the Utah Department of Transportation said that the state's use of a light-rail system, shuttle buses and increased public transportation removed excess traffic from the area's roads.
As a result, traffic in West Valley City, Utah and Davis County around Salt Lake City, fell between 20% and 30%. State officials also said there was a decrease in the amount of truck traffic along Interstate 81. Transport Topics
Higher Fuel Prices May Be On the Way
With a meeting of major oil exporters looming and the summer travel season approaching, consumers may need to brace for higher fuel prices, news services reported.Increases in the prices of gasoline and diesel fuels directly affects the cost of trucking services.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet Friday to discuss production and export policy, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. While the meeting is not expected to produce any further cuts in production, some members would like to further restrict output in the hope that prices would rise and help their sagging national economies, Bloomberg said.
In the United States, a rejuvenated economy, coupled with the beginning of the spring and summer vacation season and the change in many cities to reformulated gasoline use will likely push the price of gasoline higher by at least a few pennies, Fox News reported. Transport Topics
Volvo to Make Trucks in Russia
Volvo AB will begin making trucks at a new plant near Moscow by the end of 2002, Bloomberg noted from a published report.The Swedish company, which is the second-largest maker of heavy trucks, will produce 200 trucks in 2003 as part of a joint venture with Russia's AFK Sistema. Volvo owns 66% of the venture.
Russia, in its fourth consecutive year of economic growth, is seeing an increase in demand for heavy-duty trucks, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
AAA Charts Gasoline Price Rise
Gasoline prices increased 9.5 cents per gallon nationwide in the last month, according to American Automobile Association's fuel gauge report released Tuesday.lthough long-haul trucking mainly uses diesel fuel, a large segment of the commercial trucking business is carried out in gasoline-burning vehicles.
The average price of $1.215 per gallon is the most expensive since last November, the report said. This report is in line with other findings Monday by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Lundberg survey.
The increase appeared to be triggered by positive economic data and industry predictions that some blends of reformulated gasoline may be in short supply again this summer. Rising crude oil prices have also played a role, AAA said. Transport Topics
(Q=AAA&Title=Headlines%20for%3A%20AAA%20&ComplexSearchOp=and">Click here for the full press release.)
U.S. Officials See Economy Improving
Two U.S. officials, speaking at two separate events, said Tuesday that the economy is recovering from last year's recession, Reuters reported.The trucking industry is sensitive to economic fluctuations and will benefit from an upturn.
Federal Reserve Governor Mark Olson told a group of community bankers that there are clear signs that the economy is at or near the end of its down cycle.
Meanwhile in Brazil, John Taylor, Treasury's under secretary for international affairs, said the United States is coming out of the slowdown.
Taylor also said that he said there is no need to worry that fresh economic growth will spark inflation because U.S. worker productivity is high. Transport Topics
