A.M. Executive Briefing - Aug. 28
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Gas Prices Go Back Up After Nine-Week Drop
The Lundberg Survey, which averages prices from 10,000 gas stations nationwide, showed gasoline prices have increased almost two cents per gallon in the past two weeks, CNN reported Monday. Gas prices had been dropped over the past two months.The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline cost $1.51 Aug. 25, 1.9 cents more than it cost two weeks before, the survey showed. Thanks to the upward swing in crude oil prices, U.S. gasoline prices rose for the first time since self-serve regular peaked at $1.67 in June.
Prices did drop in some regions, mainly the East and Gulf Coasts - for example, prices dropped 3.2 cents in Atlanta and 1.3 cents in Houston, according to the survey. Transport Topics
Police Raid Mitsubishi's Tokyo Office
Police raided the Tokyo office of auto and truck maker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Sunday in search of evidence that the company violated Japan's Road Vehicles Law, Bloomberg reported.Shares dropped as much as 18% due to the raid, in which police looked for evidence that Mitsubishi covered up customer complaints of faulty vehicles that would have resulted in a recall, the article said. The company's overall value has decreased 30% since reports of the coverup surfaced in July.
DaimlerChrysler is currently purchasing a 34% stake in Mitsubishi, and said last month the recall will not affect that transaction, Bloomberg noted. DaimlerChrysler officials declined comment on the police raid.
Mitsubishi said it is recalling one million vehicles for repairs and also denied rumors that its president, Katsuhiko Kawasoe, will resign over the affair, according to Bloomberg. Transport Topics
Overcrowding, Noise Causes St. Louis Airport To Turn Away Cargo Customers
St. Louis Lambert International Airport will be referring cargo business to another nearby airport due to overcrowding and noise limit concerns, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.Cargo business will be referred to Mid-America Airport, located across the Mississippi River in St. Clair County, Ill., 25 miles east of St. Louis, the article said.
To help Lambert comply with federal noise limits, the airport will cap night flights by companies such as United Parcel Service and FedEx, according to the newspaper. An ongoing $2.6 billion expansion project is expected to relieve congestion at the airport. Transport Topics
Air Canada, Pilots Reach Tentative Accord
In a development that makes it highly unlikely that the largest Canadian air freight and passenger service will suffer a strike, Air Canada said Monday that it has struck a tentative deal with its pilots union.The potential for a company lockout of pilots or a strike by them around Labor Day had appeared to grow recently, when mediated contract negotiations broke down. But the two sides reconvened after the federally appointed mediator offered a package that was in between the positions of both sides.
A disruption of the big air freight hauler could have distorted freight moves at various U.S. and Canadian airports, clogging up the truck operations that serve them directly. It would have also thrown more freight onto cross-border trucking. Transport Topics
Old Dominion Says It May Have To Relocate Greensboro, N.C. Hub
Old Dominion Freight Line may have to move its regional hub from Greensboro, N.C. to another city in that state if expansion cost issues cannot be worked out, company President David Congdon said in the Greensboro newspaper News and Record on Saturday.The company wants to expand its Greensboro hub so that its High Point service center can be moved to that facility, the newspaper said. However, Old Dominion faces issues with Greensboro-area officials regarding water, sewer and relocation of a nearby road and pipeline, which are pushing development costs far above early expectations, Congdon told the News and Record.
The cities of Charlotte and Wilson are under consideration for the hub relocation, if the issues with Greensboro cannot be worked out in a cost-effective manner, Congdon said in the article.
Old Dominion serves 32 states, mainly in the northeast and southeast. The company ranks 37th on the Transport Topics list of 100 largest trucking companies, with 1999 revenues of $426 million. Transport Topics
Ford Turns To Information Highway To Get Its Vehicles On The Highway
Ford Motor Company's 4,200 dealers announced Monday they will form a new e-commerce venture, FordDirect.com, to sell Ford cars and trucks via the Internet.Trilogy, which handles all of Ford's e-commerce, will create and maintain FordDirect.com, the Ford Dealer Council said.
FordDirect.com will allow customers to do all facets of purchase and schedule delivery of a Ford vehicle completely through the Internet. The customer will also select a local Ford dealer to facilitate the transaction. Transport Topics
FAA To Conduct Study on Possible Louisiana Cargo Airport
The Federal Aviation Administration will spend $405,000 to study the feasibility of building a cargo-only airport between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the Associated Press re-ported.Air freight always ties in to local and regional truck operations, and an airport like the one targeted by this review could have a big impact on trucking development in a corridor that is alerady a significant zone for freight connections.
Congress had requested this step in a March aviation bill, and the FAA told members of Congress from Louisiana this week that it would make the study, the article said.
The Louisiana Airport Authority backs the review, which will look at a possible airport that would combine air cargo services with rail, water and truck shipping, according to the AP story. The LAA originally proposed a joint cargo and passenger airport, but the FAA said it would not consider financing such a project because of existing passenger airports in the two nearby cities, the article said. Transport Topics
Michigan Warns: "Click It or Ticket" Come Labor Day Weekend
Michigan's law enforcement officials will be out on extra patrols during the Labor Day weekend to crack down on motorists not complying with the state's new safety belt law, the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning said Monday.The enforcement campaign is called "Click It or Ticket," and state police officials warn that the safety belt law will be strictly enforced by extra patrols in 20 Michigan counties, beginning Monday, Aug. 28 and continuing until Sunday, Sept. 10.
Commercial truckers are used to states putting on extra enforcement staff around major holidays; the Michigan notice spells out both the timing and focus on its effort.
Before the safety belt law went into effect, usage in Michigan was 70%; in a recent sur-vey, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute measured safety belt use at 83%. Transport Topics
Headlines From Friday's P.M. Breifing
- Shiloh Net Down in Q3, Warns Of Possible Q4 Drop on Trucking Softness
- Cysive Stock Tumbles After Terminating Contract With CorPay
- After 911 and 411, Now Comes 511 Traffic Info Hotline
- Clayton County, GA. Votes Six-Month Moratorium on Truck Terminals
- Canada's CRASH Opposes Longer Trucks in Alberta
- American Freightways Will Spend Another $19 Million On Equipment, $100 Million Total This Year
- Air Canada’s Pilots Agree to More Talks
- Logistics Management & Distribution Report Honors Quest For Quality Award Winners
