P.M. Executive Briefing - July 5
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Lengthy Witness List Set for Hours-of-Service Hearing in D.C.
Sixty witnesses are scheduled to testify at a public hearing that begins July 6 at the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington, D.C. on proposed changes in the federal hours of service regulations.The witness list includes several trucking executives, including representatives of U.S Express Enterprises of Chattanooga, Tenn., Overnite Transportation of Richmond, Va., and M.S. Carriers of Memphis, Tenn.
Leaders of several trucking trade groups are also scheduled to testify, including Walter B. McCormick, Jr., president of American Trucking Associations, Charles Whittington, president of Grammer Industries, Grammer, Ind., and chairman of ATA's Agricultural Transporters Conference, and Henry Seaton, general counsel of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies.
Rollins Leasing Bought Back 400,000 Shares Last Quarter
Rollins Truck Leasing Corp. today said it bought back 400,000 shares of its common stock during the quarter that ended June 30. Rollins bills itself as the third-largest, full-service truck leasing and rental company in the United States. It services more than 50,000 vehicles from 270 U.S. and Canadian facilities. Transport Topics staffOil Prices Keep Falling Wednesday After Saudi Move
The decline in oil prices on futures markets continued Wednesday in the wake of a Saudi announcement late Monday that the important oil-producing nation would boost its output another half-million barrels per day to bring down world oil prices. Already, analysts think the momentum could trim the futures price to around $25 a barrel, from $32 before the Saudi announcement.Prices were falling for motorists in the hard-pressed U.S. Midwest even before this production news, after local, state and federal officials warned suppliers that the officials would be looking for signs of illegal price manipulation, and as some states like Illinois have begun suspending state fuel taxes.
This summer's pump price crisis has been targeted mostly at gasoline, but has also lifted the prices of diesel fuel for truckers in some areas; at any rate, many trucking operations use gasoline as well in local delivery vans. Transport Topics staff
Senator Calls For Oil Companies To Pay $143 Million If Guilty of Price Gouging
If a Federal Trade Commission investigation finds oil companies guilty of collusion or price gouging, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said the industry should be forced to reimburse residents and business owners $143 million, the Chicago Tribune reported today.Durbin made his comments during a public hearing on the high gas prices that have gripped the Midwest for more than a month now, sending pump prices over the $2 mark. An informal survey by the senator's staff concluded the impact to be $143 million on the state's economy.
The president of a family-owned trucking company, Cresco Lines, testified that escalating diesel prices have forced his business to buy fuel outside Illinois. Still, he added, Cresco will likely spend $1 million more on fuel this year than it did last year. Transport Topics staff
Roadway Expands Expedited Service to More States
General freight carrier Roadway Express said it has expanded its service of expedited coast-to-coast service into the U.S. Southeast states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and parts of Alabama and North Carolina. The service, which reaches destination in two to three days, was already available to Roadway customers along much of the eastern seaboard, the Midwest and the West Coast.The coast-to-coast expedited schedule was first introduced last September to link customers in the Ohio Valley with certain West Coast points. Roadway said it offers timing that was previously available only through deferred air service. Transport Topics staff
Canadian West Coast Timber Strike Continues, But Progress Seen
A weeklong strike by forestry workers along Canada's West Coast is still under way, but the workers have already settled their disputes with some employer groups and will hold talks over the next few days with others. That dispute spread rapidly to include dozens of lumber producers in coastal British Columbia and triggered fears it could spread inland.Since Canada does a brisk trade in shipping lumber into the United States, the strike threatened to spread disruption into flatbed trucking operations serving that part of Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest region.
Reuters news service reports that the Industrial, Wood and Allied Union had reached an agreement with northern interior employers, and held talks with those in the southern interior. An industry group representing coastal employers said that after reviewing the tentative settlements for the northern interior, it was prepared to return to the bargaining table in coming days. Transport Topics staff
