News Briefs - Feb. 23
The Latest Headlines:
- Accident Closes Ship Traffic on Mississippi River
- Strike by CN Workers Could Delay Some Shipments
- Navistar’s Loss Narrows as Sales Rise
- Illinois House Votes to Scale Back Trucking Fees
- TIA Meeting to Focus on Growth
- Strike by CN Workers Could Delay Some Shipments
Accident Closes Ship Traffic on Mississippi River
Commercial divers were expected to search a sunken vessel Monday for five missing sailors in an accident that has shut down ship traffic on the Mississippi River since Saturday, the Associated Press reported.Over the weekend, about 80 large cargo vessels were stranded after the 178-foot offshore supply boat Lee III sank following a collision with a container vesselin the Southwest Pass, the only channel from the Gulf of Mexico into the Mississippi River deep enough for large oceangoing vessels.
Although many of these ships are expected to be unloaded on Monday, the longer the river is blocked, the more likely that cargo bound for south Louisiana and other ports upriver would experince significant delays, AP said.
Strike by CN Workers Could Delay Some Shipments
Some freight shipments across North America could be delayed due to a strike by about one-third of Canadian National Railway Co.'s workers, the Wall Street Journal reported.The railway is a major conduit for shipments of automobiles and many other product between Canada and the United States. Its intermodal operations, which involve ocean containers and truck trailers moved long distances on railcars, could be affected because union workers operate the cranes that move such shipments on and off rail cars, the Journal said.
The company said it would continue to operate normal schedules, with management staff performing tasks usually handled by members of the Canadian Auto Workers union.
While CN said some shippers may experience delays, the Canadian units of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. said there was little or no impact on their rail shipments so far, the Journal said. Transport Topics
Navistar’s Loss Narrows as Sales Rise
Truck maker Navistar International Corp. said its net loss for the fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31 was $23 million or 34 cents a share, compared with a loss of $99 million or $1.49 a share a year earlier.Revenue rose to $1.86 billion from $1.58 billion, the company said in a statement. Navistar said the improved results were due in part to “volume improvements spurred by strengthening industry demand.”
Navistar also said it was raising its full-year guidance to a net income of $2.44 a share from its earlier prediction of $2.02.
It said it expected total industry sales for medium and large trucks and buses in the United States and Canada to be 328,500 for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31 compared with an earlier estimate of 304,500. Transport Topics
Illinois House Votes to Scale Back Trucking Fees
The Illinois House on Friday approved a plan to roll back as much as $140 million in tax and fee hikes on trucking companies, the Associated Press reported.The measure was sent to the Senate for debate.
Lawmakers and Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved the tax and fee hikes last spring to fill a $5 billion budget hole, AP said. They included the elimination of a sales tax exemption on trucks and a higher fee on commercial distribution.
Blagojevich's office opposes a rollback of the taxes, AP said. Transport Topics
TIA Meeting to Focus on Growth
The Transportation Intermediaries Association said it would focus on growth at its annual convention and trade show Feb. 26-29 in New Orleans.TIA, which represents freight brokers and forwarders, intermodal marketing companies and third-party logistics companies, said the program included seminars on growth strategies, niche marketing and information technology development.
A session entitled “Where Is the Industry Headed?” on Feb. 28 has scheduled logistics industry analyst Evan Armstrong, load matching specialist Dan Thornton of TransCore Inc. and shipper representative John Gentle of Owens Corning, TIA said. Transport Topics
