News Briefs - Feb. 20
The Latest Headlines:
- Boyd Bros. Reports 4Q Profit
- Led by Energy Costs, Consumer Prices Rise 0.5%
- Velocity, Schneider Logistics Agree to Shipping Deal
- Former Official Admits to Falsifying Truck Driver Tests
- Hub Group Earnings Nearly Double
- AAR Reports Another Strong Week for Intermodal Traffic
- Led by Energy Costs, Consumer Prices Rise 0.5%
Boyd Bros. Reports 4Q Profit
Flatbed trucking firm Boyd Bros. Transportation Inc. said Friday its net income for the fourth quarter was $128,229 or 4 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $339,960 or 13 cents per share a year earlier.Operating revenues rose 7% to $32.5 million, the company said in its release.
"We believe the gradual improvement we have seen in economic and industry conditions during the past few quarters provides an encouraging outlook for business in the year ahead,” said President Gail Cooper.
Led by Energy Costs, Consumer Prices Rise 0.5%
Consumer prices rose 0.5% in January, but prices excluding food and energy rose only 0.2%, suggesting inflation remains subdued, the Labor Department reported Friday.The increase in the overall index followed a rise of 0.2% in December. Energy prices jumped 4.7% in January, the largest since 5.4% in March 2003, when the war in Iraq started.
Labor also said prices fell 0.1% for autos and 0.3% for clothing. Prices for food were unchanged.
Consumer prices for all goods and services climbed 1.9% for the 12 months that ended last month, the same as for the year through December. Transport Topics
Velocity, Schneider Logistics Agree to Shipping Deal
Velocity Express Corp. said Thursday it had entered into an agreement to deliver automotive service parts to Schneider Logistics' customer's dealerships network.Using its new facility in North Carolina, Velocity will deliver time-critical service parts to about 250 automotive dealerships in the North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee region.
Velocity is ranked No. 47 and Schneider National Inc. is ranked No. 7 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Former Official Admits to Falsifying Truck Driver Tests
Jessee York, a former Hamblen County, Tenn., sheriff's deputy, admitted in U.S. District Court to falsifying commercial driver's license testing and applications while operating under the jurisdiction of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported.York admitted to falsely certifying commercial driver licenses without actually having conducted the skills testing required by law, the article said.
According to court documents, at least 48 CDL applicants were given documents filled out by York, indicating they had completed the required road test, when in fact they had not taken the test. Transport Topics
Hub Group Earnings Nearly Double
Freight forwarder Hub Group Inc. said Thursday its net income for the fourth quarter was $2.6 million or 33 cents per share, compared with $1.4 million or 18 cents a year earlier.Revenue for the quarter was $359.2 million, an increase of 3.8%, although truckload brokerage revenue declined 6.6% to $48.1 million, the company said in a statement.
For the full year, net income was $8.4 million or $1.07 per share, compared with $1.5 million or 19 cents in 2002.
The company said it expected earnings for the current year to be in the range of $1.25 to $1.40. Transport Topics
AAR Reports Another Strong Week for Intermodal Traffic
Intermodal traffic on the nation's railroads totaled 198,844 trailers or containers in the week ended Feb. 14, up 6.1% from the same week a year earlier, the Association of American Railroads said late Thursday.Railroading, like commercial trucking, is considered an important economic indicator. Intermodal traffic, which tends to be merchandise rather than bulk commodities, is more directly competitive with trucking and more reflective of the state of the economy.
AAR said container traffic registered a 2.3% gain, while trailer volume rose 17.6%.
For the first 6 weeks of the year, trailer and container loadings totaled 1.2 million, which was 5.8% above last year's pace. Transport Topics
