P.M. Executive Briefing - July 18
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Fuel Prices Drop Slightly, Midwest Sees Biggest Decrease
Fuel prices dropped last week, with the average retail diesel price going down 1.4 cents to $1.435 per gallon, the Department of Energy reported Tuesday.The largest decrease was in the Midwest, where prices fell two cents to $1.422, according to the American Trucking Association's Fuel Line publication.
This was the second consecutive week the national average price dropped since reaching $1.453 on July 3. Last year the national average was $1.11. Transport Topics
NHTSA Opens Hearing On Driver Distractions
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a public hearing Tuesday to discuss growing concerns of factors that distract drivers, the Associated Press reported.Traditional factors, including the radio or passenger noise, combine with new technology such as cellular phones to increasingly distract drivers. While rough estimates blame 20 to 30% of fatal accidents on such distractions, the NHTSA said in the article that those figures only reflect reports from the 14 states that document distractions in accident reports.
The hearing will include testimony from the automobile and cellular telephone industries, motorcyclists, safety groups and others. An online discussion forum is also available at www.driverdistraction.org. Transport Topics
Swift Announces 20.6% Increase in Revenues for Second Quarter
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Net earnings for the quarter were $16.6 million ($.26 per share) and $27.2 million ($.43 per share) for the six-month period. Chairman and CEO Jerry Moyes said in the announcement that – like other companies announcing results this week – Swift is feeling the effects of increased fuel prices, resulting in less net earnings than 1999.
"We are pleased with our results. We continue to operate with sustained high fuel prices," Moyes said. "During this second quarter these higher fuel costs had a three cent negative impact on our earnings per share, net of the fuel surcharge revenue, when compared to the second quarter of 1999." Transport Topics
Truck Parts Makers Dana, Eaton Note Weak Demand
In separate earnings announcements the past two days, Toledo, Ohio-based light axle maker Dana Corp. and hydraulic heavy-duty parts producer Eaton Corp. told Wall Street analysts that the North American truck market remains weak.Eaton cut its estimate Monday of how many heavy-duty trucks will be built this year, but said its margins are good because it is selling more profitable products. Dana said Tuesday its lower earnings than in second-quarter 1999 were partly due to a market softness in North America and to some extent in Europe. Transport Topics
U.S. Xpress Blames Fuel Spike For Decreasing Income
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Operating revenue for the company in the second quarter was $202.4 million, up a record 14.7%. However, net income for the quarter was down to $3.1 million, or $.22 per diluted share. The company said that this was "due in a large part to the significant increase in fuel prices in the first and second quarters of 2000 ... which increased the company's fuel expense by approximately $8.5 million (for the second quarter)."
U.S. Xpress is the fifth largest publicly owned truckload carrier in the country, serving much of North America. Transport Topics
Trade Not Moving Smoothly Between New England-Canadian Borders
Business executives told New England governors and eastern Canadian premiers that regulations needs to be eased and trade routes improved in the region, The (Montreal) Gazette reported Tuesday.At a conference involving the region's politicians, business owners pointed out that, 10 years after the Free Trade Agreement was signed, trade is not moving smoothly within the region.
The New England governors were urged to encourage the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to allow a proposed merger between Canadian National Railway and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Supporters of the move claim it will greatly reduce the number of trucks on the highways, the article said. Transport Topics
Ryder Funds Internet Freight Marketplace pFreight
Third-party logistics powerhouse Ryder System Inc. plans to fund new Internet freight marketplace pFreight, the company announced Tuesday.The site will provide a convenient package of business and administrative services for both drivers and trucking company owners and will allow users to find and dispatch freight over the Internet. Found at www.pfreight.com, it is meant to increase efficiency in the transportation industry.
Ryder offers logistics, leasing and carrier services in North America, Europe and Asia. Transport Topics
Aussie Truckers Call Off Blockade ... For Now
Independent truck drivers in Australia backed off their threatened blockade on major high-ways last weekend, but vowed to keep pressure on freight firms for better deals, the Australian Associated Press reported.Lyn Bennetts, secretary for the Long Distance Truck Owner-Drivers Association, told the AAP that members voted in a series of meetings not to go through with the blockade. The association thought it would be unfair to inconvenience the general public when they were not to blame for the growing tension, Bennetts said.
The blame falls on a series of events, namely an 11% reduction in freight rates and the rising cost of diesel fuel for owner-drivers. Where the association will continue negotiating within the industry, Bennetts would not rule out the drivers staging a blockade if their concerns were not addressed. Transport Topics
Creature Comforts, New Technology Improve Drive, Fortune Says
With driver turnover at almost 100%, trucking companies are turning to a myriad of new improvements to attract drivers and make their workplace safer and more comfortable, Fortune magazine reports.The magazine's July 24 issue highlights the various new innovations aimed at driver comfort and increased safety.
On the show circuit, Kenworth's T2000 features a fingerprint-identification ignition switch and an infrared night vision system. Freightliner's new safety concepts include a rollover-alert system that first warn a driver that he or she is driving in a way that may cause a rollover, then electronically causes the engine to idle if the driver does not stop.
Other new "goodies" in the article include electronic brake systems that will cut stopping distances by 15%, adjustable pedals for different sizes of drivers, automated gearboxes for easier braking, and improvements in fuel and satellite communications. Transport Topics
Trucking Officials Involved In Bribery Investigation
The scope of a federal investigation into bribery charges against a Palo Alto city councilman has included two trucking companies, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.The owner of Charlie Touchatt Trucking told the Chronicle federal investigators looked into his finances, including a $500 donation he made to the 1996 re-election campaign of Councilman R.B. Jones. Charlie Touchatt said he was being targeted because of his long-time battle to have a cement plant operate on land the trucking firm owns. He went on to deny he ever bribed Jones.
In court documents researched by The Chronicle, it was shown that FBI agents questioned Jones about George "Smitty" Smith, a trucking operator who illegedly delivered a $7,000 bribe to Jones in 1998 from Newark-based Viviano Trucking. The alleged bribe was done in hopes of getting Jones' support for a rock-crushing plant, which was never built.
A federal grand jury did indict Jones in May on charges he solicited bribes from a truck-ing firm and a water company, who were both looking to do business in the Northern California city. Transport Topics
Washington Post Calls For Better Waste Handling
A recent Washington Post editorial calls for improvements in the District of Columbia's garbage system.Twenty-five percent of the one million tons of solid waste that comes into Washington, D.C. each year is from neighboring counties, making the city a "trash-transfer hub."
Washington has nine total garbage transfer stations, where trash is brought in from the district and nearby counties on its way to permanent deposit in Virginia or Pennsylvania landfills.
Due to problems with Washington's garbage-handling system, the D.C. Council in 1993 allowed private companies to operate in the district to help the Department of Public Works clear trash from the streets. These companies then set up trash-transfer stations in areas zoned in the 1950s for "lulus," or "locally unwanted land uses." While this was perhaps legal, the editorial states that the results – a buildup of both environmental and traffic problems near the transfer stations – are unfair to local residents.
The D.C. Council has created an advisory panel to look into the issue, and to date has conducted several public hearings on the issue. Transport Topics
