News Briefs - Sept. 20
The Latest Headlines:
- Amtrak President Considers Cutting Freight Service
- Mayor to Fight to Save Canadian Truck Plant
- West Coast Port Employers Call Off Shutdown
- Fed Unlikely to Change Rates, Sources Say
- N.C. House OKs Tax Break Extension for FedEx
- Conn. Board Considers Plan to Reduce Traffic
- War Talk Keeps Oil Prices High
- Intermodal Volumes Second Highest Ever, AAR Says
- Mayor to Fight to Save Canadian Truck Plant
Amtrak President Considers Cutting Freight Service
Amtrak President David Gunn said Thursday the railroad may be forced to end freight service as it looks at ways to meet its proposed budget for fiscal year 2003 beginning Oct. 1, the Associated Press reported.An Amtrak spokesman previously told Transport Topics the nation's passenger railroad derives $140 million in revenue a year from hauling mail and express freight.
Amtrak won permission from the government in 1998 to carry time-sensitive packages and freight shipments, but it has been losing about $3 million a year on the venture, AP said.
Mayor to Fight to Save Canadian Truck Plant
Diane Gagner, the mayor of Chatham, Ontario, said she plans to lead a group of city leaders to Chicago to make a personal plea to Navistar Corp. to save the International Truck and Engine Corp. plant located there, the Chatham Daily News reported Friday.In accordance with Canadian law, the company issued a notice of possible plant closure in April and is laying off as many as 500 of the 1,000 employees in November as a cost-cutting measure, the paper said.
Navistar said earlier this year it needs to cut $28 million in yearly plant operation costs to turn a profit. Transport Topics
West Coast Port Employers Call Off Shutdown
West Coast port employers late Thursday called off a threatened shutdown of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Reuters reported.Truckers and shippers are concerned that a strike at the 29 West Coast ports could severely disrupt freight movement throughout the country. The ports handle $300 billion in trade each year, and September is one of the busiest months as retailers bring in holiday goods.
The Pacific Maritime Association, which is negotiating a new contract with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, had said it would call off the shutdown plan if workers arrived for their evening shift, and operations continued at normal levels.
The sides were expected to resume contract negotiations on Friday, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, imports through the Los Angeles port increased 30% in August compared with year-earlier period, Bloomberg said. Imports in Long Beach rose 5.9%. Transport Topics
Fed Unlikely to Change Rates, Sources Say
With the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee scheduled to meet Sept. 24, the Washington Post on Friday cited several Fed officials who gave indications the central bank would keep interest rates steady.Recent comments by officials with the Fed about the growing strength of the recovery are among several pieces of evidence the central bank will leave rates at 1.75%, the lowest in 40 years.
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who usually gives a signal to the markets when it is about to change policy, did not do so last week during testimony before the House Budget Committee, the Post said.
Also, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill told a group of executives in Washington on Thursday that rates were “appropriate,” Bloomberg reported.
If the Fed changes its interest rates, it can have an impact on spending by consumers and businesses – and as a result, on trucking. Transport Topics
N.C. House OKs Tax Break Extension for FedEx
The North Carolina House approved an extension for tax breaks on FedEx Corp.’s proposed air cargo hub in Greensboro, N.C., the Associated Press said Friday.The tax breaks, which have yet to be used by FedEx, total nearly $115 million on the $300 million project. The current deadline is 2006, but the bill would extend that to 2010, AP reported.
Although original scheduled to open in 2003, environmental, economic and legal delays have forced FedEx to push back the opening until at least 2007.
Rep. Lyons Gray, one of the bill’s sponsors, said if North Carolina does not extend the deadline, then FedEx will not come. The hub will employ 750 people when it first opens, and should eventually expand to 1,500, AP said.
FedEx is ranked No. 2 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
Conn. Board Considers Plan to Reduce Traffic
The Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board is examining adding an elevated second deck to portions of Interstate 95, bringing back I-95 tolls and building a tunnel to New York as ways to solve the state’s traffic problems for the next 20 years, the Connecticut Post reported Friday.Interstate 95 is the major north-south highway along the East Coast running from Maine to the Florida Keys.
The board is expected to have a final recommendation ready by Dec. 15. Widening the Merritt Parkway, which connects Connecticut and New York, or making it a carpool-only road at certain times of day, are other ideas being considered by the board, the story said. Transport Topics
War Talk Keeps Oil Prices High
Crude oil prices remained near 12-month highs Friday as President Bush and Iraqi officials continued to trade verbal jabs, Bloomberg reported.Crude oil prices can often cause the prices of motor fuels like diesel and gasoline to change significantly.
On Thursday, Bush asked for quick congressional approval for military action in Iraq, while Iraq’s foreign minister read a speech to the United Nations from Saddam Hussein saying the country is weapons-free, the Associated Press said.
Oil prices rose 8 cents a barrel to $29.58 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday morning, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Intermodal Volumes Second Highest Ever, AAR Says
The number of intermodal rail cars loaded last week was the second highest ever recorded, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.Intermodal is the segment of the railroad industry that competes most directly with long-haul trucking.
During the week ended Sept. 14, intermodal loadings totaled 201,459 containers and trailers – a 10.2% improvement from the same week last year, and just shy of the record 202,551 loadings moved during the weekend ending Aug. 31.
Container loadings led the increase – rising 14.2% from the same week during 2001, but trailers still lagged from last year, slipping 0.1% to 51,369, AAR said.
For the year-to-date, intermodal loadings are up 5.4% to 6.63 million. Transport Topics
