News Briefs - Aug. 25
The Latest Headlines:
- Lundberg: Gasoline Prices Make Record Jump
- Many Manufacturers Seek Freer Trade
- Strike by Truckers in South Korea Enter Fifth Day
- UPS Installs New Maintenance Procedures
- Many Manufacturers Seek Freer Trade
Lundberg: Gasoline Prices Make Record Jump
Average retail gasoline prices rose more than 15 cents a gallon nationally during the past two weeks, the largest retail price hike on record since the Lundberg Survey began keeping records 50 years ago.About one-third of commercial trucking uses gasoline.
The survey of 8,000 service stations on Friday showed an average of all grades of gasoline, including taxes, reached $1.7484 a gallon, just short of the survey's all-time high weighted average of $1.76 set last March 21, analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday.
Phoenix had the highest leap in the nation during the two-week period, with prices jumping 60.42 cents a gallon for self-serve regular. On Aug. 22, self-serve regular averaged $2.1425, the highest price in the nation for that grade. Transport Topics
Many Manufacturers Seek Freer Trade
Many domestic manufacturers are pushing for freer trade despite the mounting difficulties some are having with the rising volume of imports, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.The manufacturing sector is one of trucking’s largest and most important customers.
The Manufacturers Alliance, a research group whose members include many large companies such as Caterpillar Inc., had endorsed a multilateral free-trade agreement for the world's manufacturers that would essentially strip away tariffs and combine regional and bilateral trade pacts under one umbrella.
However, many smaller manufacturers have complained about unfair competition and are starting to apply pressure on the government to restrict imports, whether made by foreign firms or U.S. firms that have located abroad, the Journal said.
Trade is expected to be a topic discussed at World Trade Organization talks starting next month in Mexico. Transport Topics
Strike by Truckers in South Korea Enter Fifth Day
As a strike by truck drivers in South Korea entered its fifth day on Monday, police asked a court Monday for warrants to arrest five striking truck drivers who allegedly stopped non-union drivers from transporting goods, the Associated Press reported.The strike by about 30,000 truckers has paralyzed the country's ports, AP said. The government has dispatched dozens of military trucks to carry goods, but only half the usual number of shipping containers have passed each day through the nation's busiest port, Busan.
Government officials said Monday they would allow truckers and shipping companies to work out the dispute on their own, rather than stepping in, AP said. Transport Topics
UPS Installs New Maintenance Procedures
United Parcel Service said it had completed implementing new preventive maintenance procedures for its fleet of 70,000 parcel delivery vans that should reduce oil usage by 330,000 quarts and save almost $3 million a year.The company said its revised maintenance procedures were based on results of a three-month study by UPS’s automotive engineers, a process that included time and motion studies to optimize each step a mechanic takes while performing vehicle inspections.
Based on an analysis of individual vehicle characteristics and operating conditions, the study group recommended less frequent oil changes for some vehicles and more accurate information to help determine when a vehicle needs maintenance. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the Aug. 25 print edition of Transport Topics.
