News Briefs - Sept. 26
The Latest Headlines:
- Owner-Operators Group Formed in Canada
- FedEx Seen Challenging UPS Ground Service
- Ottawa, Ontario Team to Improve Windsor Crossing
- New Home Sales Rise to Record Pace
- S&P Eyes Cut in Cummins' Credit Rating
- Drivers Warned About E-ZPass Shield
- California DOT to Remove Highway Banners, Flags
- EU, U.S. Taking Steps to Avoid Trade Battle
- Republicans Pushing for Arctic Drilling Compromise
- Oil Prices Weaken Along With Storm
- FedEx Seen Challenging UPS Ground Service
Owner-Operators Group Formed in Canada
The Owner-Operator’s Business Association of Canada has been formed to represent the estimated 50,000 owner-operators in that country, the group said in a Sept. 26 release.David Marson is the president and chairman of the OBAC and said the OBAC will work to “ensure the views of owner-operators are heard during decision making.”
All owner-operators are eligible for full membership, the release said, and other in the industry may join as associate, non-voting members. Transport Topics
FedEx Seen Challenging UPS Ground Service
United Parcel Service, which was born as a trucking company and took to the air in the late 1980s, is being challenged by FedEx, which started as an overnight air carrier, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Thursday.FedEx purchased RPS, a ground package delivery service, in 1998 and renamed it FedEx Ground.
The Journal-Constitution said that, while FedEx is a distant second on the ground to UPS, it had a 33% increase in package shipments in the quarter ended Aug. 31.
This was the result, largely of diverted volume from UPS customers fearing a possible Teamsters strike. FedEx, whose drivers are nonunion, said it expects to keep a significant portion of the 150,000 additional daily shipments gained during the UPS-Teamster negotiations, which were settled without a strike. Transport Topics
Ottawa, Ontario Team to Improve Windsor Crossing
Canadian leaders have promised to spend $300 million (U.S.) to improve the busiest and most congested trade route between Canada and the United States, Montreal Gazette reported Thursday.Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Ontario Premier Ernie Eves told a press conference in Windsor Wednesday that a joint committee of both provincial governments would draw up an action plan to outline the work needed at Windsor crossing.
Chretien said the Windsor gateway is the "busiest border crossing in the largest trading relationship" in the world.
He said nothing is more critical than keeping the border working well. Transport Topics
New Home Sales Rise to Record Pace
U.S. sales of new single-family homes rose 1.9% in August to a record 996,000 annualized rate, the Commerce Department said Thursday.Housing construction can provide a boost to the trucking industry because it can increase demand for flatbed trucking to haul building materials and dry van freight to ship household appliances and furniture.
August's gain rose from a revised 977,000 annualized pace in July.
Based on the rate so far this year, builders will sell 946,000 new homes in 2002, eclipsing the record 908,000 sold last year, Commerce said.
Economists had expected a 3.6% drop from a previously reported 1.017 million pace, according to Bloomberg. New homes account for 15% of total home sales.
Sales increased in the West and South, but were unchanged in the Midwest and dropped in the Northeast. Transport Topics
S&P Eyes Cut in Cummins' Credit Rating
Standard & Poor's may cut its credit rating on engine maker Cummins Inc. to "junk" as sales slow because of new environmental regulations set to take effect in less than a week, Bloomberg reported Thursday.Cummins, which Bloomberg lists as the largest maker of heavy-duty diesel engines, currently carries a BBB– investment grade rating from S&P.
The Columbus, Ind.-based company had its debt cut to junk by Moody's Investors Service in April after restoring its credit rating with the investment group. It had been junk from 1991 to 1997, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
Drivers Warned About E-ZPass Shield
The regional consortium that operates the E-ZPass collection system warned motorists Tuesday about a device purported to protect their privacy, the Associated Press reported.The device, called E-ZShield, is a plastic windshield-mounted box, which claimed to block the signal emitted by the E-ZPass except when the driver slides the box is open, preventing the transmission of personal information by the E-ZPass transponder.
However, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike, lead agency in the consortium, said the tag contains no personal information. The code it transmits, he said, is matched to an account by a computer, which deducts the toll.
In addition, the spokesman told AP, using the plastic shield requires the driver to take a hand off the steering wheel when approaching a toll booth - and failing to open the shield would block the signal at the toll booth and cause the driver to be cited for a violation. Transport Topics
California DOT to Remove Highway Banners, Flags
The California Department of Transportation said Monday it will comply with a judge's order and remove, as a safety precaution, items such as banners and flags from above California's highways, the Associated Press reported.Although Caltrans previously said it would treat all materials equally by leaving up all flags and banners that did not pose a safety hazard, two women sued after their anti-war signs were taken down in late 2001.
An agency spokesman said it hopes to have the order overturned on appeal because it wants to leave alone American flags that are posted in places they consider safe, AP said. Transport Topics
EU, U.S. Taking Steps to Avoid Trade Battle
The European Union said Thursday that it would hold off imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, the latest in a series of moves to diffuse a burgeoning trade crisis, the Associated Press reported.The battle, which began when President Bush placed protective taxes on imports of European steel in March, appears to be heading toward a conclusion after the EU held back on placing $350 million in taxes on products like citrus from Florida and textiles from the Carolinas – key states for Bush in the upcoming mid-term elections.
A reduction in trade between the U.S. and Europe could hurt truckers who carry goods to and from ports on the East Coast.
Washington had previously exempted more than half of European steel imports, which caused the EU to delay its tariff in July, AP said.
The EU Commission said it will recommend to its members that they formally decide Monday not to impose tariffs on U.S. goods, AP reported. Transport Topics
Republicans Pushing for Arctic Drilling Compromise
Republican negotiators on the energy bill came out of a Wednesday meeting with President Bush hopeful a deal could be reached that would give the go-ahead for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Reuters reported.With the possibility of war with Iraq and the disruption of oil supplies from the Middle East increasing, more focus has been put on developing domestic sources of energy – including oil exploration in federally protected lands.
Republicans said they believe that by opening a smaller area of the ANWR to drilling, a compromise could be reached. However, Democrats working on the energy bill expressed doubt that such an agreement could be hammered out on what is the most hotly debated portion of the bill, Reuters said. Transport Topics
Oil Prices Weaken Along With Storm
Crude oil prices slipped just below $30 a barrel in London as Tropical Storm Isidore weakened in the United States, allaying concerns about supply disruptions, Bloomberg reported Thursday.Movement in crude oil prices can point the way to changes in the prices truckers pay for diesel fuel and gasoline.
After a computer failure delayed early trading, the November price on the International Petroleum Exchange went to $29.17 a barrel, while the New York Mercantile Exchange price was $30.80.
Another factor holding prices near one-year highs, Bloomberg said, was concern about the threat of a United States attack on Iraq. Transport Topics
