A.M. Executive Briefing - Sept. 28
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Though Truck Hours Reform Delayed, Wolf Says It's Coming
While congressional negotiators and the Clinton administration have struck a deal that will delay a proposed curb in truckers' hours for at least a year, a key lawmaker cautioned the trucking industry that a change to current driving rules is still coming, the Associated Press reported.Rep. Frank Wolf, the Virginia Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee's panel on transportation and had led efforts to tighten truck safety rules, said the compromise to delay the rule was fair and allows time to get more information on how to best change trucker hours. However, he noted that reform advocates were not going to rest until a good rule is in place, according to AP.
The story said both the Teamsters union that represents many drivers and an official for the American Trucking Associations that represents trucking companies favored delaying the rule until next year to allow more time to offer changes. But AP quoted officials from Public Citizen and from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety criticizing the delay.
M.S. Carriers, U.S. Express Both Warn on Earnings
Tennessee trucking firms M.S. Carriers and U.S. Xpress have each announced that they expect earnings for the third quarter to fall below analysts' estimates.
M.S. Carriers, an irregular-route truckload carrier based in Memphis, said it expects to earn 35 to 45 cents per share, while analysts' had been esimating about 58 cents.
U.S. Xpress, a Chattanooga-based truckload carrier specializing in expedited and time-definite services, said it will fall below estimates of 14 cents per diluted share, expected instead to report earnings of 10 to 12 cents a share. Transport Topics
Xtra Lease, Terion to Put Cellular Tracking on 25,000 Trailers
In a development that will rapidly spread a high-technology tracking device through the freight industry, St. Louis-based trailer giant Xtra Lease and wireless applications firm Terion of Melbourne, Fla. have agreed to install a cellular-based tracking product on 25,000 rental trialers.The companies will also jointly develop a service for trucking companies and private fleets that rent Xtra's trailers to follow the locations of units equipped with this "FleetView" device. Besides location, it would provide such information as load status changes, trailer movement and even opening of the cargo door.
Xtra President Bill Franz said in announcing the partnership that using the tracking service would help customers use the trailers more efficiently, especially in peak shipping periods, to avoid wasting money with rented trailers sitting idle. Transport Topics
Solar Truck Line Victim of Western Star Acquisition
Freightliner LLC, the Portland, Ore.-based truck manufacturing arm of DaimlerChrysler, will no longer offer the Solar series of medium-duty trucks once it sells the 600 Solars already built for it."We already have a medium-duty product with the Sterling Acterra, so there is no need for this one," said Freightliner spokeswoman Debra Nicholson, in remarks to Light & Medium Truck magazine.
Freightliner on Wednesday said it was canceling the contract under which Mexico's Consorcio G. Grupo Dina was to build 9,000 of those trucks over three years for the former Canadian manufacturer Western Star Truck Holdings.
A day earlier, Freightliner's acquisition of all Western Star shares had been completed. Nicholson noted that all contracts are eligible for review after acquisitions. Such third-party marketing alliances are not part of Freightliner's long-range strategy.
Western Star introduced the Solar in 1999 as its entry into the growing North American market for medium-duty commercial trucks. Cancellation of the contract was widely seen as a given soon after the acquisition was announced in July. Dina was notified soon after that Western Star was reviewing it, and the risk to such a large contract weighed on Dina's financial outlook.
The cancellation takes effect in late November, 60 days after the Wednesday notice. Jim Galligan, Editor, Light & Medium Truck
(Editor's note: For more on this story, see the Light & Medium Truck Web site.)
Clean Diesel Demonstration to Target Heavy-Duty Trucks
Clean Diesel Technologies, a specialty chemical company focusing on reducing emissions from diesel engines, said Thursday it has granted RJM Corp. a limited license to demonstrate a cleaner-burning retrofit technology for two Houston heavy-duty constuction trucks, aimed at a major retrofit in Texas.CDT said the state of Texas is actively searching new technology to reduce diesel emissions, and has proposed retrofitting up to 60,000 diesel engines to cut emissions and meet federal air quality standards.
RJM provides energy and emission control technologies to the utility and industrial markets. Transport Topics
Saudi Oil Assurance Sends Oil Price Lower
Oil prices that had fallen with the U.S. decision to tap its strategic reserve, and then rose on concern that it might not be enough to overcome refining and distribution bottlenecks, fell again Thursday after assurances from Saudi Arabia.Reuters reported that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah told heads of other OPEC nations in Venezuela that his country - the world's largest oil exporter-was ready to pump whatever amount needed to stabilize prices.
He warned that prices remaining too high could hurt world economic growth. He also called on consumer nations to curb their fuel taxes, Reuters added. Strident protests against fuel prices in Europe and elsewhere have pressured governments over their fuel taxes.
Brent crude oil futures traded in London declined 37 cents to $30.17 a barrel after the Saudi remarks, and U.S. light crude fell 28 cents to $31.18, Reuters said. Transport Topics
Headlines From Yesterday's P.M. Briefing
- Freightliner Will Cancel Western Star-Grupo Dina Agreement
- Tanker Shortage May Crimp Oil Flow
- Mitsubishi Reported Firing Quality Assurance Head
- Oil Price Highs Only Temporary, Top World Bank Economist Says
- DHL Will Open New Logistics Center in October
- DaimlerChrysler Says Group Profit Is Up, But Chrysler 3Q Is Down
- Slater Names Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Recipients
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