News Briefs - May 28
The Latest Headlines:
- Bush Signs $350 Billion Tax Bill
- Iraq’s Oil Production Expected to Rise in June
- Housing Starts, Home Sales Rise in April
- Graebel Cos. Names Watson Division CEO
- Iraq’s Oil Production Expected to Rise in June
Bush Signs $350 Billion Tax Bill
President Bush signed a bill on Wednesday that offers $330 billion in tax breaks small businesses, families and investors and $20 billion in state aid, news services reported.The 10-year legislation would within weeks start speeding refunds to parents and fattening paychecks in the hopes of stimulating the economy, which would increase the demand for trucking services.
Bush said the legislation would provide tax relief to 136 million American taxpayers, the Associated Press reported. Transport Topics
Iraq’s Oil Production Expected to Rise in June
Iraq's southern oil fields are expected be producing large volumes of oil in the next 10 days, with exports beginning possibly as early as two weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.Crude oil is distilled down into diesel fuel and gasoline, making it important to the trucking industry.
With Iraq's northern and southern fields producing oil again, the country should be exporting about 500,000 barrels of oil a day by the middle of June, the Journal said. That will climb to about a million barrels of oil a day by the end of the month.
Iraq's export capacity before the war was about 2 million barrels of oil a day before the war, with about 60% of production coming from the south, the article said. Transport Topics
Housing Starts, Home Sales Rise in April
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that sales of new single-family homes rose by 1.7% from March to April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million, the best showing since December.In a second report Tuesday, sales of previously owned homes rose by 5.6% in April to a rate of 5.84 million, the National Association of Realtors reported.
Housing starts and sales can be strong indicators for demand for trucking services because trucks haul construction goods to build homes with also goods to fill those homes with.
In March, new-home sales jumped 8.2%, while existing-home sales fell 5.6%.
Analysts said both reports provided fresh evidence that the housing market continues to be one of the economy's few bright spots, the Associated Press reported. Low mortgage rates have been a key to keeping the housing market strong, AP said. Transport Topics
Graebel Cos. Names Watson Division CEO
Graebel Cos. of Aurora, Colo., said it had named Don Watson as the first chief executive officer of its division called Graebel Relocation Services Worldwide.Graebel explained that the division was formerly known as Transfer EEZ Inc., but has been made the company’s full-service relocation arm.
The Graebel companies are providers of residential and workplace relocation services worldwide. Graebel ranked No. 47 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.
In his new role, Watson is responsible for leading the group’s global sales and operation activities, Graebel said. He brings 31 years of financial and relocation experience to his new position, the company said.
Graebel also said it promoted Bill Stannard to vice president of safety and Carolyn White to senior vice president of marketing. Stannard was previously corporate director of safety, Graebel said, and White was vice president of marketing. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the May 26 print edition of Transport Topics.
