A.M. Executive Briefing - Oct. 6
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Full House Slated to Vote on Transport Bill With Hours Deal
The full House of Representatives was expected to vote sometime Friday morning on the transportation funding bill for fiscal 2001, and a congressional spokesman said it should pass without a hitch.That includes a plan to prevent the Department of Transportation from implementing its controversial proposal to curb truckers' driving hours. DOT would be able to keep working on its proposal, however.
It also includes a cap on federal outlays for the "Big Dig" road and tunnel project in central Boston, new money to jump-start an overhaul of the congested Wilson Bridge across Interstate 95 outside Washington, and a requirement that states adopt a tougher 0.08% blood-alcohol limit to penalize drunk driving or else forfeit federal highway funds.
House Commerce Committee Unanimously Approves Safety Bill
The U.S. House Commerce Committee on Thursday voted 42-0 to approve a bill that will give auto safety regulators more power to get information from companies with possibly defective products, Bloomberg reported.The bill would:
- allow fines as high as $100,000 and up to 15 years in prison for executives who know about defective vehicles or parts and do not remedy the problems.
- extend government jurisdiction over vehicle recalls to 10 years from eight, and over tire defect cases to five years from three.
Mexico’s Fox Urges Lower Oil Prices
The incoming president of oil exporter Mexico said Friday that world oil prices are still too high even after their recent declines, the Associated Press reported.President-elect Vicente Fox made the remarks at a news conference in London, AP said, one of his stops on a European tour. He said overly high oil prices could hurt both oil-consuming and producing nations and it was better to have the world economy growing to create jobs.
Mexico is a huge oil producer but is not a member of the OPEC cartel. Mexico of course benefits in direct income from strong oil prices, but since its economy is so closely tied to that of the neighboring United States it could suffer if oil prices that are too high in turn cause the U.S. economy to slow too much. Transport Topics
Rail Intermodal Traffic Breaks 200,000 Mark
Intermodal freight volume at major U.S. railroads took a large jump last week, compared with the same week in 1999, cracking the 200,000 mark for the first time ever, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Thursday.Intermodal traffic includes trailers and containers that can be hauled by trucks or trains and involve both transport modes during their trips. Railroads reporting to AAR account for 98% of U.S. rail intermodal volume.
Rail-hauled intermodal loads last week totaled 200,391 trailers and containers, a 2.9% increase from the same week in 1999, AAR said.
Containers handled by railroads maintained their pattern of strong growth, rising 12.3% from the 1999 week to 135,578 units. But trailers slid again to continue their weak trend, falling 12.5% to 64,813 units.
That pattern partly reflects long-term shifts away from trailer use generally toward the more adaptable containers, but it partly reflects as well the continued surge in international freight moves compared with a freight slowdown for domestic U.S. shipments.
Trailers are almost entirely used in domestic business or some cross-border moves with Canada and Mexico, while containers are the prime boxes used for international trade as well as for large amounts of domestic traffic. Transport Topics
Professional Trans. Group Gets Credit Extension, Retools
Marietta, Ga.-based trucking and logistics firm Professional Transportation Group (TRUC) said Friday it has worked out with its prime lender a short-term extension of its credit line.The company also said although its primary lender SouthTrust Bank had extended the credit line until Nov. 30 and increased it from $16 million to $16.5 million, "there is no assurance that SouthTrust will extend the current line" beyond that time. For now, "the company has not received any commitments from another lender and there is no guarantee that any commitment can be obtained by Nov. 30."
PTG said it is restructuring to put a greater focus on air-expedited freight business.
It will also cut 20 positions from its headquarters support staff, but said those are not critical to future It does not expect to incur any earnings charge as a result. Chief Executive Officer and President Dennis A. Bakal said "PTG has more than doubled its workforce in the past six months" from a merger with Dedicated Transportation last May, plus agency development and internal growth.
He said this was a good time to eliminate some redundancies and that "we are trying to achieve the right fit for ourselves and our skilled personnel in order to maintain and continue development of the air-expedited market." Transport Topics
Ryder Warns of 3Q Charge Amid Truck Market Downturn
Transport equipment leasor and logistics provider Ryder System (R) said Friday it will take a pre-tax charge of $34 million-$37 million – or 35-39 cents per share after income taxes – in the third quarter, because of the "continuing industry-wide downturn in the market for new and used 'Class 8' trucks and tractors (the largest heavy-duty tractors and straight trucks)."Ryder said that on a pre-charge basis, its earnings per share should meet current First Call consensus estimates.
It explained that the charge stems from Ryder's unsold Class 8 inventory of units previously used by customers of full-service commercial lease and short-term commercial rental programs. But it said it still expects to report net gains on the sale of used equipment for the rest of 2000.
Ryder will write down certain Ryder-owned unsold used tractors, and increase financial reserves for guaranteed termination values of equipment it leases rather than owns. Transport Topics
U.S. Employment Grows More Than Expected
The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that the jobless rate last month fell to 3.9% from 4.1% in August, as employment in September rose more than economists had expected.Financial market observers fretted this could mean the economy is not cooling enough to satisfy the Federal Reserve, which might be more likely to hike interest rates again after the presidential election.
However, the report also showed hourly wages rising less than expected, a sign that wages are not adding much inflation pressure.
For trucking, the stronger job growth could be a hopeful sign, if it points to the economy regaining enough momentum to get freight shipment activity back up from its recent slowdown. Transport Topics
Headlines From Yesterday's P.M. Briefing
- Oil Prices Drop Again on SPR Oil Sale
- Florida Still Suffers from Flooding
- Shuster Sanctioned by House Ethics Panel
- @Track, Mesilla in Deal for 700 Trailer-Tracking Units
- Maryland Station Adds Traffic.com in January
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