News Briefs - April 26
The Latest Headlines:
- FedEx to Spend $40 Million Renaming Kinko's Stores
- Caterpillar Workers Reject Contract Offer
- Ryder Reports Higher Profits
- Yellow Roadway Earns $18.2 Million in 1Q
- Tennessee to Check Trucks for Dyed Diesel
- Oklahoma Senate Passes Bill to Increase Fuel Taxes
- EPA Drops Proposal to Ease Gasoline Pollution Rules
- Trailer Bridge to File Form 10-K; Appeals Nasdaq’s Decision to Delist
- USF Dugan Workers in Memphis Vote to Join Teamsters
- Caterpillar Workers Reject Contract Offer
FedEx to Spend $40 Million Renaming Kinko's Stores
FedEx Corp. said it would spend about $40 million to rename copy center chain Kinko's Inc. to include the FedEx brand, Chief Executive Officer Frederick Smith said told Bloomberg.
new logo and name, FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Center, will be used to identify the stores it acquired in February for
FedEx said it expected Kinko's to add about $2.1 billion in sales for fiscal year 2005. FedEx bought Kinko's from closely held Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. (Click here for previous coverage.)
The company is ranked No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Caterpillar Workers Reject Contract Offer
Caterpillar Inc. workers rejected a six-year contract that the heavy equipment and engine manufacturer has called its final offer, but employees remained on the job, news services reported.The United Auto Workers told the 8,000 employees to report to work even though an extension of their current contract expired Sunday night. UAW members have authorized a strike, but workers said they hope Caterpillar would return to the bargaining table, the Associated Press said.
Veteran employees, who make more than $20 an hour, would receive only small cost-of-living increases under the company's offer, according to a summary of the proposal the union provided to members. All employees would receive a $3,000 bonus this year if the offer is ratified.
Caterpillar reported record first-quarter profits of $412 million last week and raised its full-year outlook for earnings and revenue. Transport Topics
Ryder Reports Higher Profits
Transportation firm Ryder System Inc. said Monday its net income for the first quarter was $35 million or 53 cents per share, compared with $20.9 million or 33 cents a year earlier.Total revenues for the quarter was $1.21 billion, up 1.5% from the first quarter of 2003, the company said in a statement. Ryder's Fleet Management Solutions unit, which includes commercial truck and trailer leasing, reported a 4% jump in revenue.
The company also said it was expecting its full-year earnings to be in the range of $2.70 to $2.82.
Ryder is ranked No. 3 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Yellow Roadway Earns $18.2 Million in 1Q
Less-than-truckload firm Yellow Roadway Corp. said its net income for the first quarter was $18.2 million or 38 cents per share on revenues of $1.55 billion.In the first quarter of 2003, Yellow Corp. reported a profit of $5.63 million or 19 cents a share. The company’s purchase of rival Roadway closed in December for $1.05 billion.
Had the companies merged at the start of the first quarter a year ago, it would have reported combined earnings of $12.9 million or 27 cents a share, it said in a statement.
"We are on track to meet our 2004 financial objectives due to the performance of our business units, a strengthening economy and our synergy efforts, which are slightly ahead of plan," said Bill Zollars, Yellow’s chairman and president. Transport Topics
Tennessee to Check Trucks for Dyed Diesel
Investigators with the Tennessee Department of Revenue will conduct roadside checks of trucks for dyed diesel fuel on Wednesday, the Nashville Business Journal reported.Revenue Commissioner Loren Chumley told the Journal the fuel is more than 40 cents per gallon cheaper than clear diesel because it is not taxed.
Under Tennessee law, it is illegal to use dyed diesel on public highways. Penalties for the first violation are the greater of $1,000 or $10 per gallon of dyed fuel involved. Transport Topics
Oklahoma Senate Passes Bill to Increase Fuel Taxes
A second bill calling for a statewide vote on raising motor fuel taxes cleared the Oklahoma Senate last week, the Associated Press reported.The bill would raise diesel taxes by nine cents per gallon and gasoline taxes by seven cents. The money would be used for road and bridge repairs.
Oklahomans currently pay 14 cents per gallon in taxes on diesel and 17 cents for gasoline.
Another bill passed earlier in the week called for a nickel increase on the gasoline tax and an eight-cent rise in diesel taxes. The bills are scheduled to go to a House-Senate conference, AP said. Transport Topics
EPA Drops Proposal to Ease Gasoline Pollution Rules
The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped a proposal to temporarily ease pollution rules for gasoline that would have allowed more imports to supply a tight U.S. market, Reuters reported.However, the EPA is still considering a separate request to grant California and New York temporary waivers from other federal gasoline requirements this summer. The agency says it could act on the requests in the next few weeks.
The trucking industry uses an estimated 269 million gallons of gasoline each week.
The EPA had said it could give U.S. gasoline importers more flexibility to temporarily exceed the limit for sulfur content in gasoline, a move that would allow extra imports from Europe, Venezuela and Russia.
However, some U.S. refiners opposed the idea because they have already invested billions of dollars to meet the stricter rules on the air-polluting substance, Reuters said. Transport Topics
Trailer Bridge to File Form 10-K; Appeals Nasdaq’s Decision to Delist
Trailer Bridge Inc., which provides trucking and marine freight services, said Friday it expected to file its Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31 by the end of this week.However, because it had yet to file the document, which is an annual overview of its financial position, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nasdaq said April 15 it would delist the company.
Trailer Bridge, which previously announced the filing delay pending the completion of the audited financial statements by its new accounting firm, said it appealed Nasdaq’s decision and was waiting for a hearing to be scheduled.
The company also said last week it secured a new $20 million revolving line of credit. Transport Topics
USF Dugan Workers in Memphis Vote to Join Teamsters
The Teamsters union said Saturday truck drivers and dockworkers at the USF Dugan terminal in Memphis, Tenn., voted to join Teamsters Local 667.USF Dugan is a regional less-than-truckload carrier owned by USF Corp., which is ranked No. 10 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.
Earlier this month, USF Dugan workers in Cincinnati and Mobile, Ala., voted to join the union. Workers in Nashville, Tenn., voted against union representation, while workers in Little Rock, Ark., are scheduled to vote in the coming weeks. Transport Topics
