A.M. Executive Briefing - Jan. 17
ul>
Truck Rams Calif. Capitol, Killing Driver
A refrigerated truck belonging to Dick Simon Trucking of West Valley City, Utah, crashed into the California Capitol building at 9:26 p.m. Tuesday night and exploded, killing the driver, the Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday.The registered driver was a 37-year-old parolee named Mike Bowers who allegedly had made threats against Gov. Gray Davis, the Bee reported on its Web site early Wednesday. Officials with Dick Simon Trucking told the Bee that the truck was on a regular run in the Sacramento area and that Bowers was the driver assigned to that truck, but had no other information. The driver's body was burned beyond recognition, the story said.
The truck was carrying evaporated milk. The paper said the explosion occurred when the trucks fuel tanks were ripped off as it hit a doorway.
Delphi 4Q Earnings Beat Forecasts
Although Delphi Automotive Systems Corp.'s (DPH) earnings fell by 26% in the fourth quarter, they beat revised forecasts, Reuters reported.The company earned 36 cents a share ($200 million) compared with 48 cents a share ($269 million) in the year-earlier period. Wall Street analysts had expected the company to earn only 32 cents a share, the news service said.
Delphi is based in Troy, Mich., and makes components for trucks and cars. Transport Topics
U.S. Economy: Output Falls Again; CPI Rises Mildly
Two important government reports early Wednesday could help prod the Federal Reserve into another big interest-rate cut later this month.The Fed reported that overall U.S. industrial production by factories, mines and utilities contracted by 0.6% last month while the factory component by itself shrank by 1.1%. And the Labor Department said its consumer price index for December rose a mild 0.2%, as expected.
The trucking industry has already been hurting by the slump in factory orders and shipments, and this latest news of production cutbacks both confirms the weakness truckers saw in December and implies weaker shipments ahead for finished goods.
News reports quoted analysts saying that the factory sector is already in recession, since its output has declined three consecutive months for the worst showing since the recession of 1990-91.
But since the CPI shows that inflation remains under control, some observers are hoping this means the Fed at its Jan. 30-31 meeting could again cut rates by half a percentage point as it did on Jan. 3. Had the inflation news been more cautionary, or output stronger, the Fed would be more likely to eye a quarter-point cut, analysts believe. Transport Topics
OPEC to Cut Oil Production By 1.5 Million Barrels
As expected, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed Wednesday to cut 1.5 million barrels of oil per day beginning Feb. 1, Bloomberg reported. This was the first OPEC cut in two years.However, since a formal ratification had yet to be released, an OPEC committee requested further production cuts of 1.7 million barrel per day.
The announcement did not drastically change oil prices since the cut had been anticipated for several weeks, the article noted. In London, crude oil was down 41 cents to $25.11, while New York crude dropped 49 cents to $29.80 per barrel. Transport Topics
GM 4Q Earnings Beat Wall Street Expectations
Car and truck maker General Motors Corp. (GM) earned $1.15 per share or $609 million in the fourth quarter of 2000, topping Wall Street analysts' prediction of $1.12 per share, the Associated Press reported. The Detroit auto giant posted earnings of $1.95 per share or $1.3 billion in the same period in 1999.The slowing North American auto market contributed to the reduced earnings, the article note. Transport Topics
Lowe's to Build Distribution Center in Wyoming
Home improvement retailer Lowe's Cos. Inc. (LOW) said Wednesday that it plans to construct a 900,000-square-foot distribution center in Cheyenne, Wyo. The center is as large as 20 football fields, the company noted.Construction is expected to start this year and finish in 2003. The $60 million facility is expected to supply products to 70 stores in central and western United States. It will also create 425 new jobs, the company said. Transport Topics
U.S. Xpress Will Help Restore Destroyed Seattle Landmark
U.S. Xpress Enterprises has agreed to help restore a historic Seattle iron-and-glass structure that one of its trucks demolished, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.The 91-year old Pioneer Square Pergola was originally built as a cable car stop and was one of the city's most famous meeting spots, according to AP.
But the 60-foot-long structure collapsed Monday when a truck clipped a corner of it before daybreak, according to AP. No injuries were reported.
The 56-year old driver was relatively new to driving big rigs, and had worked at Chattanooga, Tenn.-based U.S. Xpress since October, the news service reported. Transport Topics
Headlines From Yesterday's P.M. Briefing
- OPEC Moves Closer to Production Cut
- Contrans Reports Increased Q1 Earnings
- UPS to Purchase First International Bancorp
- Dana Rejects DaimlerChrysler's Price-Cut Demand
- FedEx to Acquire 10 Airbus A380 Freighters
- Citigroup 4Q Earnings Up Despite Associates' Purchase
- Cardinal Names Sanderson to Head Clicklogistics
- BorgWarner Issues Earnings Warning
form method="post" action="http://lists.truckline.com/scripts/submany.pl">
| ||||
