News Briefs - April 30
The Latest Headlines:
- Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Index Rises in April
- No. Calif. Fuel Price Strike Impacts UP Rail-Truck Shipments
- Vitran to Change Stock Symbol
- Pacer Reports Improved 1Q Results
- Intermodal Rail Traffic Sets Weekly Record, AAR Says
- No. Calif. Fuel Price Strike Impacts UP Rail-Truck Shipments
Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Index Rises in April
Manufacturing increased in the industrial Midwest during April, the National Association of Purchasing Mangers-Chicago said in a report released Friday.The NAPM-Chicago said it’s manufacturing index rose to 63.9 in April from 57.6 in March.
Manufacturing activity is a key indicator of future demand for trucking services. Analysts use the Chicago index as a harbinger of national manufacturing activity. Transport Topics
No. Calif. Fuel Price Strike Impacts UP Rail-Truck Shipments
Union Pacific Corp. said Thursday that shipments at a rail terminal in Northern California have plunged due to a strike by drivers protesting high fuel prices, Bloomberg News reported.The strike by at least 100 drivers has cut shipments by about 80% at the railroad’s largest intermodal transfer terminal in Lathrop, Calif., about 70 miles east of San Francisco, the company said.
The work stoppage began Monday, Bloomberg reported, and could spread to freight terminals in Los Angeles and Oakland by Friday. Transport Topics
Vitran to Change Stock Symbol
Canadian trucking company Vitran Corp. Inc. said Thursday it was changing its stock symbol for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange to VTN.Previously, the company had been traded as VTN.A. The change does not effect its listing on the American Stock Exchange where it is traded as VVN.
Based in Toronto, Vitran offers less-than-truckload, truckload and logistics services in the United States and Canada. It was ranked No. 57 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the U.S. and Canada. Transport Topics
Pacer Reports Improved 1Q Results
Pacer International Inc. said Thursday its first-quarter net income increased to $9.4 million or 25 cents per share from last year’s totals of $7.4 million or 20 cents per share.The logistics and transportation services provider said that in the quarter ended April 2, it had cash flow of $11.6 million from operations and paid down $15 million in debt.
Pacer said its domestic intermodal freight volumes were up 8.1% in the quarter, helping to boost its bottom line.
Pacer, based in Concord, Calif., is ranked No. 14 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest trucking companies in the United States and Canada. Transport Topics
Intermodal Rail Traffic Sets Weekly Record, AAR Says
Intermodal traffic jump 13.6% in the week ended April 24, setting a new weekly record, according to the Association of American Railroads.AAR said April 29 that intermodal traffic totaled 213,104 containers and trailers for the week, 0.9% above the previous record total set in November 2003.
U.S. railroads handled 56,018 trailers during the week, up 19.1% over the year earlier. Container traffic totaled 157,086, 11.7% higher than the year before.
"Normally intermodal doesn't peak until late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter,” Craig Rockey, AAR's vice president for policy and economics, said in a release. “That we're reaching these levels now indicates that the economy is gathering strength and that railroads are providing their intermodal customers with attractive service and rate combinations." Transport Topics
