News Briefs - Jan. 14
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The Latest Headlines:
- Tolls on Pennsylvania Turnpike Likely to Increase
- Swift Acquires Remaining 51% of Trans-Mex
- I-95 in Maryland Reopens After Deadly Crash
- November Trade Gap Narrows to $38 Billion
- Trucking Company Charges $66,000 for Delays
- Martin Marietta Composites Delivers Its First Trailer
- Swift Acquires Remaining 51% of Trans-Mex
Tolls on Pennsylvania Turnpike Likely to Increase
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is planning to raise its tolls by more than 40% on Aug. 1, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Wednesday.The five-member Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is expected to vote on the plan on Tuesday, but the higher tolls would not take effect until Aug. 1 to give trucking companies a chance to build the higher costs into their schedules, the article said.
The toll for a car trip along the entire 359 miles of the east-west route, from the New Jersey border to the Ohio border, would jump to about $21.30, up from the current $14.80. Transport Topics
Swift Acquires Remaining 51% of Trans-Mex
Swift Transportation Co. said Tuesday it completed its acquisition of the remaining 51% of Mexican truckload carrier Trans-Mex Inc.Swift said in a release the deal makes it the only U.S. trucking company with a 100% ownership interest in a Mexican carrier. The purchase price for the 51% stake was $31 million, consisting of $11 million in cash and 942,155 shares of Swift common stock.
Swift is ranked No. 13 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
I-95 in Maryland Reopens After Deadly Crash
The northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Maryland was reopened prior to the morning rush hour on Wednesday, a day after a tank truck carrying flammable liquid ran off the I-895 overpass outside Baltimore and fell 40 feet onto I-95, news services reported.The stretch of the East Coast's main north-south artery was immediately closed Tuesday afternoon following the fiery accident, and authorities confirmed four people died, the Washington Post reported.
The closure caused a massive diversion of trucks and cars onto surrounding highways moving in all direction, including Routes 32 and 29 in Howard County near Baltimore and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway between Washington and Baltimore.
Southbound lanes reopened about four hours after the crash. About 180,000 vehicles travel through the area daily, a state highway official told the Post. Transport Topics
November Trade Gap Narrows to $38 Billion
The U.S. trade deficit shrank to $38 billion in November, the narrowest in 13 months, after exports climbed to a three-year high, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.The trade gap was $41.6 billion in October. November's reading was the lowest since $35.2 billion in October 2002.
U.S. exports rose 2.9% to $90.6 billion, the most since November 2000, from $88.1 billion. The increase was the
hird in a row, and included $3.3 billion of shipments to China, the most ever.
November imports fell 0.8% to $128.6 billion, second only to the record $129.7 billion set in October. Transport Topics
Trucking Company Charges $66,000 for Delays
Refrigerated trucking firm Navajo Shippers Inc. charged customers $66,000 in penalties on Jan. 5, the day after new hours of service regulations for truck drivers took effect, the Denver Business Journal reported.The company, which said it raised rates 11% ahead of the new rules, started charging customers a $100-an-hour penalty if its trucks were waiting at loading docks more than one hour, the article said.
Vice President Don Digby Jr. told the paper Navajo was expecting a 17% decrease in utilization due to the new rules, and about a 25% decrease in the supply of trucks. Transport Topics
Martin Marietta Composites Delivers Its First Trailer
Trailer maker Martin Marietta Composites Inc. said it delivered its first composite trailer, marking its debut into the truck trailer market.The company said it constructed the 48-foot, live-floor transfer trailer almost entirely of glass fiber-reinforced polymer materials. Only the king pin, the landing gear, axles, wheels and brake components and miscellaneous fasteners were not composites, the company said.
Also, the company said it would begin producing composite tipper trailers “in the very near future” at its Sparta, N.C., plant. The company said it delivered the initial trailer to representatives of the West Palm Beach Solid Waste Authority.
The company said production of the trailer culminated 10 years of development in Europe by Composittrailer n.v. of Belgium, which licensed the trailer technology to Martin Marietta, two years of adaptation to U.S. specifications and market requirements, as well as 18 months in acquiring and equipping the new production facility in western North Carolina.
Martin Marietta Composites, a subsidiary of Martin Marietta Materials Inc., said it manufactures composite bridge decks in the North Carolina. The parent company produces crushed stone, sand and gravel used to build roads, sidewalks and foundations. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the Jan. 12 print edition of Transport Topics.
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