News Briefs - April 1
The Latest Headlines:
- Highway Bill Temporarily Stalls in House
- UP to Transfer Some UPS Freight to Trucks
- Caterpillar, UAW Extend Contract
- Jobless Claims Fall By 3,000 in Latest Week
- Union Pacific Expected to Add at Least 4,000 Workers
- Producer Prices Rise 0.1% in February
- Eaton Forms Venture for Truck Transmissions in China
- Port of Tacoma Gaining on Rivals, Journal Says
- UP to Transfer Some UPS Freight to Trucks
Highway Bill Temporarily Stalls in House
A highway and transit spending bill temporarily stalled in the House on Wednesday as Republican leaders struggled to deal with a presidential veto threat and disunity within their ranks, the Associated Press reported.However, House Republicans said they would likely try again on Thursday to pass a six-year, $275 billion bill.
The White House, which has proposed spending $256 billion, released a statement Tuesday, saying the House bill was too costly. The White House likewise threatened to veto a $318 billion bill that the Senate passed in February.
UP to Transfer Some UPS Freight to Trucks
Freight railroad Union Pacific said Wednesday it would transfer a portion of the freight it carries for UPS Inc. to trucks in an attempt to limit delays, Bloomberg reported.Union Pacific plans to pay truckers to carry UPS packages between Los Angeles and Chicago, and Dallas and Memphis for four weeks, Bloomberg said.
Union Pacific won UPS' business in 2003, offering to deliver freight within 60 hours on a coast-to-coast train once a week in each direction, in conjunction with the CSX Corp. Transport Topics
Caterpillar, UAW Extend Contract
About 8,000 Caterpillar workers will remain on the job after the company and the United Auto Workers agreed Wednesday night to extend their current contract and continue negotiations, the Associated Press reportedThe manufacturer and the UAW announced the extension less than four hours before their six-year labor deal was set to expire at 1 a.m. EST Thursday for union workers at plants in Illinois, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
No time limit was set on the contract extension and negotiations were expected to resume Thursday, Caterpillar spokesman Ben Cordani told AP. Transport Topics
Jobless Claims Fall By 3,000 in Latest Week
The number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless benefits declined by 3,000 to 342,000 in the week ended March 27, the Labor Department reported Thursday.Claims reached 333,000 the week ended March 13, the fewest since January 2001. Filings have averaged 351,460 this year, down from 402,100 for all of 2003.
The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile indicator, held unchanged at 340,250, the lowest since the same figure during the week ended Jan. 27, 2001.
The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits rose to 3.062 million in the week that ended March 20 from 3.030 million a week earlier. Transport Topics
Union Pacific Expected to Add at Least 4,000 Workers
Freight railroad Union Pacific Corp. plans to hire at least 4,000 workers to handle increased business and replace employees who are retiring, Chief Executive Richard Davidson said in an interview with Bloomberg.Davidson said as many as 6% of employees are retiring annually, more than double an earlier pace, because the retirement age was lowered to 60 from 62. The railroad hired 1,800 workers in the first two months of this year, Bloomberg said.
Union Pacific's shipments have risen 2.5% so far this year. Transport Topics
Producer Prices Rise 0.1% in February
The Labor Department said Thursday its producer price index rose 0.1% in February after a 0.6% rise the month before.A rising PPI could indicate stronger demand for goods, which would mean more shipments for trucking companies. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core rate also climbed 0.1%, Labor said.
Prices were 2.1% higher in February than a year ago, compared with a 3.3% gain in the 12 months ended in January.
Difficulties converting statistics to a new classification system caused the government to delay the producer prices report from its originally scheduled March 12 release, Labor said. Transport Topics
Eaton Forms Venture for Truck Transmissions in China
Eaton Corp. said Wednesday it had agreed to form a joint venture with FAW Jiefang Automotive Co. to build transmissions for trucks and buses in Changchun, China.Eaton and FAW Jiefang will have equal ownership of the venture, which will be called FAW Eaton Transmission Co. It is expected to receive Chinese government approval in the next few months.
The venture will produce transmissions in FAW's existing factory in Changchun in the northeastern province of Jilin. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Transport Topics
Port of Tacoma Gaining on Rivals, Journal Says
An increase in Chinese imports is fueling a massive expansion plan at the Port of Tacoma, Wash., that will make it the No. 3 port on the West Coast and the nation's No. 4 container port, the Wall Street Journal reported.When the expansion is completed, annual container capacity will have been expanded by about 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 2.94 TEUs. TEU is a standard measurement used when counting cargo containers of different lengths.
The port is gaining market share with rival cities such as Seattle and Los Angeles because it offers quicker access to markets in the upper Midwest and Northeast, the Journal said. The port is able to easily expand because it is located in an industrial area and close to railroad tracks. Transport Topics
