Executive Briefing - Feb. 8
- Union Postpones Dina Strike
- Emons Earns Eight Cents/Shr
- Gap Nixes Ohio Distribution Center
- Landstar 4Q Earnings Up
- Hub Has 14-Cent 4Q Net
- FreightWise.com Suspends Services
- PNV Sells Non-Web Operation to TTI
- Teamsters Blast Nafta Ruling
Union Postpones Dina Strike
A Mexican auto workers union postponed, until Feb. 27, a strike scheduled to have begun Thursday at a plant owned by troubled truck maker Consorcio G. Grupo Dina (DIN).The Independent Workers National Union for the Automotive Industry had planned a walkout at Dina's Camiones plant in Sahagun City, Mexico. The union is seeking a 40% wage increase, which Dina management says it cannot meet.
The company's difficulties became apparent last July when it missed an interest payment on its commercial paper. At that time, three of Dina's top executives resigned and the company's chief financial officer, Jose Ignacio Moreno Olivaros, left his post to assume a temporary role in a restructuring program.
When Portland, Ore.-based Freightliner's acquisition of Western Star closed on Sept. 27, Dina was notified the contract was canceled. At that point, Dina had delivered about 600 Solar Series trucks to Western Star. In response to the cancellation, Dina filed a $110 million lawsuit against Western Star Trucks, claiming breach of contract, in the Paris-based International Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Dina averted a strike at its Plasticos Automotrices plant, which produces plastic parts and components for automobiles, with an agreement that calls for a 10% wage increase and a 6% increase in fringe benefits. Dan Lang, Transport Topics
AirNet Reports 18 Cents/Shr
Specialty air courier AirNet (ANNCC) reported fourth-quarter diluted earnings of 18 cents a share for the period ended Dec. 31, compared with 12 cents a share in the 1999 quarter.The Columbus, Ohio-based company said it has established a regional management structure and increased services to the medical industry.
AirNet has also focused on relationships with package integrators, freight forwarders and third-party logistics providers - a pattern it expects to continue. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Emons Earns Eight Cents/Shr
Rail and intermodal company Emons Transportation Group (EMON) reported diluted earnings per share of eight cents for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with six cents for the comparable 1999 period.Looking ahead, the York, Pa.-based company said it expects to complete its ex-panded intermodal terminal in the spring, boosting its handling capacity for containers and trailers.
Emons operates four short line railroads, rail/truck transfer facilities and a rail inter-modal terminal. It also provides warehousing and logistics services. It operates in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. areas, plus Quebec.Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
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Gap Nixes Ohio Distribution Center
Clothing retailer Gap Inc. (GPS) is not going to build a distribution center in southwest Ohio after all, the Associated Press reported Thursday.The company decided a smaller warehouse in Erlanger, Ky., and a distribution center in New York are sufficient for its Banana Republic store needs.
In August, Gap made commitments to build a center in Harrison, about 15 miles northwest of Cincinnati, along the Indiana border, AP said. However, the recent slump in retail sales led to the change in plans. Transport Topics
Landstar 4Q Earnings Up
Landstar System Inc. (LSTR) – which operates several specialized trucking operations including flat-bed, heavy, refrigerated and expedited – said Thursday that it earned record net income in the fourth quarter of $15.9 million or $1.85 per diluted share, up from $15.6 million or $1.63 per in the 1999 fourth quarter.Landstar also noted that its carrier operating units invoiced customers for $16.2 million in fuel surcharges in the latest quarter; up from just $0.5 million a year earlier when fuel prices were much lower. Those surcharges were fully passed along to the actual truck owner-operators and so were not counted in Landstar revenue or earnings.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based Landstar is ranked 14 on the Transport Topics 100 list of largest U.S. trucking compa-nies, based on 1999 data. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Hub Has 14-Cent 4Q Net
Freight transportation management company Hub Group Inc. (HUBG)announced declines in per-share earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31.
Earnings per share decreased to 14 cents from 40 cents in the previous year, the non-asset-based company said.
Development of a new operating system and outsourcing of the hardware infrastruc-ture contributed to the drop, as did severance relating to centralization of accounting.
The Lombard, Ill-based company provides comprehensive intermodal, truckload, less-than-truckload, railcar, airfreight international and related logistics and intermo-dal services. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
FreightWise.com Suspends Services
FreightWise.com, which helps shippers and carriers coordinate transactions online, announced this week that it has suspended services, according to a recorded message at the company headquarters.The Fort Worth, Texas-based company was a subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) and was also backed by General Electric (GE).
BNSF founded the online marketplace in 1999. It began operations in January 2000. Transport Topics
PNV Sells Non-Web Operation to TTI
/h4>PNV Inc. (PNVNQ), which offered cable and Internet communications at truck stops but recently suspended most operations, said late Wednesday it is selling its non-Web portal assets to TTI Holdings for $5.5 million.
Coral Springs, Fla.-based PNV.com, is not part of the sale, which was approved by a bankruptcy court.
TTI Holdings is a subsidiary of Transcom Technologies Inc., which also provides communi-cations to the transportation industry.Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Teamsters Blast Nafta Ruling
he trucking-centered Teamsters union on Wednesday sharply criticized the ruling by a panel of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which said a U.S. ban on Mexican trucks operating inside the United States violates the Nafta treaty.
In the wake of that ruling, President Bush has said he will open U.S. roads to Mexican trucks that meet U.S. safety rules, although when and how that will be implemented is still unclear.
A statement by Teamsters President James Hoffa said the ruling "would allow unsafe trucks to freely cross the border between the United States and Mexico." Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
