News Briefs - Nov. 8
The Latest Headlines:
- Shippers Making Arrangements for Further Port Closures
- OOIDA Sues Landstar
- GOP Wins Lead to Leadership Changes
- Intermodal Loadings Rise 7.4%, AAR Says
- TravelCenters of America Inks Deal with TMI
- UPS Petitions for More Flights to Hong Kong
- Crude Oil Prices Steady Ahead of UN Vote
- OOIDA Sues Landstar
Shippers Making Arrangements for Further Port Closures
U.S. shippers, still recovering from October’s 10-day shutdown of the West Coast ports, are already making contingency plans in case the government-enforced cooling off period does not yield a solution, an industry survey released Thursday said.The survey by logistics specialist BDP International Inc. said that 74% of surveyed supply-chain managers said that their plans to deal with another work stoppage include a diversion of cargo to ports on the East Coast.
In October, the Pacific Maritime Association locked out its union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, for 10 days. The lockout slowed trade on the West Coast to a trickle and caused a backlog of cargo on the West Coast for several weeks following the reopening of the ports.
BDP International said that most shippers planned to change their supply-chain management in the long term to deal future disruptions in trade. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
OOIDA Sues Landstar
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and six individual drivers filed suit Monday against Landstar System Inc. and its operating companies, another in a string of lawsuits filed against major fleets in which the plaintiffs maintain the companies are not fairly reimbursing the expenses of for-hire drivers.The latest suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, claims that Landstar did not pass on discounts when drivers used their Comdata credit cards to buy fuel at truck stops and overcharged drivers for various fees.
It also alleged the company reduced the value of freight bills for Defense Department shipments before calculating compensation for independent drivers.
“I believe the OOIDA lawsuit is self-serving,” Landstar Chairman Jeff Crowe said in a statement. “Landstar’s business model treats its owner-operators fairly and as the true entrepreneurs they are.” He said Landstar would fight the litigation.
OOIDA is currently engaged in lawsuits with C.R. England, Swift Transportation, Prime, Heartland Express and Mayflower Transit Inc. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release from Landstar.)
This article appears in the Nov. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
GOP Wins Lead to Leadership Changes
As the Republican Senate delegation returns to Washington, several senior members will be preparing to assume new roles as chairs of some powerful committees to trucking.
Maverick Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will now chair the committee with the most direct impact on the industry – the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Other committee chairs of note are:
- Energy and Natural Resources – Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.)
- Environment and Public Works – Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
- Appropriations – Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
- Budget – Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.)
- Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs – Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)
- Finance – Sen. Charles Grassley
- Governmental Affairs – Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
- Health, Education, Labor and Pensions – Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.)
- Judiciary – Sen. Orin Hatch (R-Utah). Transport Topics
Intermodal Loadings Rise 7.4%, AAR Says
The Association of American Railroads said Thursday that the number of intermodal rail loadings rose 7.4% in the week ended Nov. 2.Intermodal is the segment of railroad operations that competes most directly with long-haul over-the-road trucking.
The increase in intermodal loadings was spearheaded by container loadings – which spiked 11.3% higher over the same period last year. Trailer loadings, which only totaled 54,201, slipped 2.2% versus last year’s results.
For the full month of October, however, fell 5.1%, the AAR said, due mainly to the effects of the 10-day lockout of dockworkers on the West Coast. Transport Topics
TravelCenters of America Inks Deal with TMI
TravelCenters of America said Friday that it has reached a deal with TMI, the parent company of the popular TripPak Express and TripPak Online document management services, to expand their use and promote the services.TripPak is commonly used by truck drivers to send documents to their dispatch offices while on the road.
Under the terms of the deal, TravelCenters will insure that there is a yellow TripPak drop box at every one of their facilities in the United States. Currently, TravelCenters of America operates 151 locations in 40 states.
TMI said that nearly 700 fleets utilize its document management service. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
UPS Petitions for More Flights to Hong Kong
United Parcel Service Inc. has submitted a request to the U.S. government for permission to operate 18 cargo flights to Hong Kong a week, Bloomberg reported.If the flights granted, the Atlanta-based company will be allowed to carry cargo to Hong Kong then onto another country, Bloomberg said. For onward flights, UPS hopes to have two flights a day between the Philippines and Hong Kong and a once-a-day flight to Cologne, Germany.
The request comes after Hong Kong and the United States signed a new aviation agreement last month. Under that agreement, airlines can add 56 weekly flights to the Asian island. Previously, airlines were only allotted eight flights a day, Bloomberg said.
The announcement by UPS comes just a day after rival FedEx Corp. said it was asking for permission to operate 12 flights a week to Hong Kong (Click here for related coverage.). Transport Topics
Crude Oil Prices Steady Ahead of UN Vote
The price of crude oil edged down slightly in electronic trading Friday in advance of a vote by the United Nations Security Council on a resolution to disarm Iraq, Bloomberg reported.Crude oil is distilled down into motor fuels like diesel and gasoline, making its cost very important to the trucking industry.
Bloomberg said that most observers expect the council to past a resolution giving the go-ahead for inspections of Iraq’s weapons programs. Passage of the resolution would, some said, reduced the chance the United States would attack Iraq unilaterally.
Concerns that a conflict between the U.S. and Iraq would limit oil supplies coming out of the Middle East pushed the price of oil higher in recent months.
In electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil prices slipped 7 cents a barrel to $25.31, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
