News Briefs - Oct. 28
The Latest Headlines:
- DaimlerChrysler's Commercial Vehicle Sales Surge
- Jobless Claims Rise 20,000 to 350,000 in Latest Week
- Oshkosh Earnings Up in 4Q, Fiscal Year
- Truck Volume Index Falls 1.8% in Aug.
- Profits at Allied Waste Rise; President Resigns
- CSX Swings to Profit in 3Q
- Jobless Claims Rise 20,000 to 350,000 in Latest Week
DaimlerChrysler's Commercial Vehicle Sales Surge
German car and truck maker DaimlerChrysler AG said Thursday its third-quarter net income was $1.21 billion, compared with a net loss of $2 billion a year earlier.The company said total sales of DaimlerChrysler's trucks and buses in the quarter rose 56% from a year earlier to 192,767 vehicles. Revenues rose by 36% to $11.4 billion.
North America sales by its Freightliner, Sterling and Thomas Built Buses units rose by 29% to 43,100 vehicles.
Jobless Claims Rise 20,000 to 350,000 in Latest Week
The number of U.S. workers filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance rose by 20,000 to 350,000 in the week ended Oct. 23, the Labor Department reported Thursday.However, the less volatile four-week moving average fell to 343,250 from 348,750.
The lingering effects of hurricanes in the U.S. southeast in August and September may have contributed to some of the increase in claims last week, a Labor Department spokesman told Bloomberg.
The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits rose to 2.823 million in the week that ended Oct. 16 from 2.785 million the week before. Transport Topics
Oshkosh Earnings Up in 4Q, Fiscal Year
Specialty truck maker Oshkosh Truck Corp. said Thursday its net income for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30 was $30 million or 83 cents, compared with $26 million or 74 cents a year earlier.Sales increased 28.1% to $651.1 million, with commercial segment sales rising 30.9% to $234.5 million. However, operating income at the commercial segment fell 21% to $4.9 million due in part to rising steel prices, Oshkosh said.
For the full fiscal year, net income was $112.8 million or $3.13 per share, compared with $75.6 million or $2.16 in the 2003.
Oshkosh also said it was raising its 2005 guidance to $3.45 per share from $3.30. Transport Topics
Truck Volume Index Falls 1.8% in Aug.
August freight volumes dropped amid a soft patch of consumer spending and Hurricane Charley’s disruption of freight flows in the southeast, American Trucking Associations economist Tavio Headley said.The seasonally adjusted average fell 1.8% in August after slipping 0.5% in July.
he August drop-off was the third decline in the past four months, ATA said in its October report.
The tonnage index now stands at 157.1, ATA said.
The index set a record high of 162 in April. The level was 100 in the index base year of 1993.
Despite the most recent decline, there had been strong year-to-date gains, Headley told Transport Topics Oct. 19.
The unadjusted index was up 7.1% compared with the first eight months of 2003, he said.
“We are well above the levels seen in 2002 and 2003. That shows the gains have been sustained and why we feel for all of 2004 we are looking at over 6% growth in tonnage,” Headley said.
Also, the unadjusted index for August was up 9.5% from a year earlier, ATA said.
Longer term, strong tonnage numbers would continue “if manufacturing volumes remain very high and inventory levels very lean, which would help to boost trucking volumes,” Headley said. Artelia Covington
Profits at Allied Waste Rise; President Resigns
Waste services and hauling firm Allied Waste Industries Inc. said its net income for the third quarter was $44.1 million or 12 cents per share, compared with $38.4 million or 6 cents a year earlier.The company also said that President Thomas Van Weelden had resigned. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charles Cotros was given the added title of president, Allied Waste said.
Meanwhile, the company said revenues for the quarter increased 1.2% to $1.378 billion. Transport Topics
CSX Swings to Profit in 3Q
Freight railroad CSX Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter net income was $123 million or 57 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $103 million or 48 cents a year earlier.The most recent results included a $14-million gain related to a spin-off, while the year-earlier results included after-tax charges of $219 million.
The company said surface transportation revenue, including rail and intermodal, increased $115 million to $1.94 billion. Transport Topics
