News Briefs - Jan. 16
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The Latest Headlines:
- January Preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index at Three-Year High
- Daimler to Buy Another 22% of Mitsubishi Fuso
- Allen Named President of Navistar’s Engine Group
- Segmentz Completes Acquisition of Dasher Express & Air Freight
- Intermodal Loadings Up 1.1% in Latest Week
- Daimler to Buy Another 22% of Mitsubishi Fuso
January Preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index at Three-Year High
The University of Michigan said Friday its preliminary index of consumer sentiment jumped to 103.2 in January from December's 92.6.The increase was the largest since November 1992, leaving the index at its highest level in three years.
The expectations index, based on optimism about the next one to five years, rose to 99.5 from 89.8. The January reading was the highest since 101.6 in November 2000. Transport Topics
Daimler to Buy Another 22% of Mitsubishi Fuso
DaimlerChrysler AG will spend about $490 million to buy another 22% stake in Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. from Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Bloomberg reported.The companies plan to complete the transaction by March 31, Mitsubishi said in statement. DaimlerChrysler owns 37% of Mitsubishi Motors and once the deal is completed, will own 65% of Fuso.
Mitsubishi, which now holds 42% of Fuso, will sell the remaining 20% it owns to other Mitsubishi Group companies, Bloomberg reported citing previous reports.
uso raised truck and bus sales 40% to 87,000 units in Japan in 2003 and overseas sales increased 7% to 92,000 units. Transport Topics
Allen Named President of Navistar’s Engine Group
Navistar International Corp. said Jan. 15 that Jack Allen had been named president of International Truck and Engine Corp.’s engine group.The company said in a release Allen, who was vice president and general manager of the Navistar’s parts business, replaced Richard Fotsch, who resigned to accept a position with another company.
Phyllis Cochran, chief executive officer and general manager of Navistar Financial Corp., was named to succeed Allen at the parts business.
Allen previously headed the Blue Diamond Truck Co., a joint venture with Ford Motor Co. that builds medium-duty commercial trucks and sells truck and diesel engine service parts. Transport Topics
Segmentz Completes Acquisition of Dasher Express & Air Freight
Transportation and logistics services company Segmentz Inc. said it completed its acquisition of Dasher Express & Air Freight, a transaction valued at $2 million.egmentz said Jan. 6 that Dasher, which began operations in 1990, generated more than $8 million in revenues over the past 12 months and has been “historically cash flow positive.”
Allan Marshall, chief executive officer of Segmentz, said the arrangement continued the company’s acquisition strategy focused in the Southeast and Midwest.
“Dasher operates in three of our current cities and an additional three including Greensboro and Charlotte, N.C., and the Detroit area . . . The Detroit location gives us added traction in our pursuit of additional automotive dedicated delivery contracts.”
Dasher was headquartered in Lexington, Ky., Segmentz said. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the Jan. 12 print edition of Transport Topics.
Intermodal Loadings Up 1.1% in Latest Week
The number of intermodal loadings on the nation’s railroads rose 1.1% in the first full week of 2004 compared with the year-earlier period, the Association of American Railroads reported.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.
During the week ended Jan. 10, loadings totaled 188,722 trailers or containers, AAR said in a release.
The group also noted carload freight totaled 317,986 cars, down 3.2% from last year, with loadings off 4.4% in the East and 2.2% in the West. Transport Topics
