A.M. Executive Briefing - Aug. 4
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DaimlerChrysler Sale of Train Division Announced Officially
DaimlerChrysler AG officially announced Friday the sale of its rail division Adtranz to Canadian railroad giant Bombardier, for $711 million, the Associated Press reported.The total price will be more than $1 billion, as Bombardier has agreed to assume approximately $237 million in debts, the Wall Street Journal said.
The sale signals a narrowing of focus for DaimlerChrysler, from wide-ranging transportation to its core business, auto and truck making, the article said.
EMA Supports EPA Diesel Emission Standards
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Referring to the 2004 deadline EPA has set, EMA Executive Director Glenn Keller said the goal was "technically challenging but achievable." Keller went on to answer criticism from environmentalists that the diesel engine industry was reneging on a 1998 agreement to install pre-sale testing equipment by 2002. That equipment would insure actual highway performance was taken into account when a truck went though its pre-sale emissions tests.
"The final 2004 regulations have nothing to do with the ongoing dialogue between some consent decree companies and federal officials regarding engine certification procedures," Keller said. "That is a completely separate matter." Transport Topics
Markets See Economy Slowing in Jobs Report
Financial markets sifted through a complex Labor Department report Friday on July employ-ment, finding further signs that the economy is slowing down.That would be another indicator that the Federal Reserve is not likely to push interest rates higher when it meets later this month.
The government reported that the unemployment rate held steady last month at 4%. Payroll employment actually fell as census workers were laid off, but even with that factored out the July gain of 138,000 new jobs was far less than economists had expected. Transport Topics
USDA Wants To Reward Companies That Make Alternative Fuels
A United States Agriculture Department proposal would pay companies up to $450 million over three years if they up their grain use to make ethanol, Bloomberg reported this week.Payments would be made quarterly to the more than 50 bio-energy makers in the United States if they were to use more corn, barley, grain sorghum, oats, rice, wheat, soybeans and other agricultural commodities to produce ethanol. The cleaner-burning fuel makes up 12% of the nation's fuel sales, the report said. Transport Topics
French Distributor Tabs Transportacion Maritima Mexicana For Mexican Deliveries
Transportacion Maritima Mexicana, a Latin American multi-modal carrier, has been selected by French distributor Carrefour Supermarche to deliver merchandise to its 17 Mexican stores, the company announced Friday.Transportacion Maritima Mexicana had previously handled Carrefour Supermarche's refrigerated deliveries. The agreement with TMM's trucking division will bring in about $2.8 million per year in revenue, the company said. Transport Topics
Tosco Corp. Invests In Cleaner Fuels in West Coast Refineries
Petroleum refiner Tosco Corp. said this week it will invest $375 million over the next five years to produce cleaner fuels in its West Coast refineries.Company CEO Thomas O'Malley outlined five goals for the program: to convert Tosco gasoline production in California to MTBE-free, CARB Phase 3 gasoline, to meet EPA regulations regarding sulfur levels in diesel ahead of the 2007 deadline for doing so, to produce more gasoline and diesel from the company's plants, to replace Ferndale's Thermal Cat Cracker with a more efficient Fluid Cat Cracker, and to hopefully improve Tosco's return on capital. Transport Topics
Results Strong for Trailmobile Canada in Third Quarter
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Revenue rose 50% to $34.6 million. Net income improved to $240,657, or 0.5 cents per share; the company experience net loss in the same quarter last year.
Company President Mark Burgess said the improvements were due to cost-reduction moves that helped overcome a "softness" in the market. Transport Topics
Chancellor Corp. Says It Expects Another Profitable Quarter
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Chancellor expects total revenues over $11 million and pre-tax earnings over $200,000 for the quarter. This comes despite overall decreases in the transportation market, the company said.
The official announcement of second quarter results should come around Aug. 15. Transport Topics
Trucker Hit, Killed Checking Cargo At Side Of Road
A truck driver was struck by a car and killed after he pulled off to the side of the I-75/I-285 interchange in Cobb County, Ga., to check his cargo, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.William Layton Shryock had pulled off to the triangular area between the interchange ramp and highway (called the gore area) because he thought his load had come loose, his passen-ger told Journal-Constitution. As Shryock stood beside his truck, he was hit from behind by a car driven by 17-year-old Antonio Herrera. The impact killed Shryock instantly, while Herrera's car went under the truck, shearing off the top, the article said.
Herrera suffered broken bones but was not more seriously injured because he ducked as the car went under the truck, police said. Police believe Herrera was trying to avoid traffic by cutting through the gore area, which is illegal. No charges have been filed but the accident is under investigation, the article said. Transport Topics
