News Briefs - Jan. 22
The Latest Headlines:
- Senate Passes $373 Billion Spending Bill
- First-Time Jobless Claims Dip by 1,000
- Maine Truckers, Loggers Vote to End Work Stoppage
- Knight's 4Q, Yearly Earnings Increase
- Oshkosh's Profits More Than Double
- Hayes Lemmerz to Supply Parts for Hyundai Translead
- First-Time Jobless Claims Dip by 1,000
Senate Passes $373 Billion Spending Bill
The Senate on Thursday sent President Bush an overdue $373 billion spending bill for the budget year that began Oct. 1, news services reported.The measure was approved by a vote of 65-28. On Tuesday, Democrats had succeeded in blocking a final vote.
The package wraps seven spending bills into one, covering 11 Cabinet departments and scores of other agencies, plus foreign aid and the District of Columbia government.
The bill also includes $45 billion for highway, aviation and mass transit projects that comes from transportation taxes, such as the federal levy on gasoline, AP said. Transport Topics
First-Time Jobless Claims Dip by 1,000
The number of Americans filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits dipped 1,000 in the week ended Jan. 17 to 341,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.The drop was the second consecutive weekly improvement and defied Wall Street expectations for a rise to 347,000 claims from the originally reported measure of 343,000 in the week ended Jan. 10, Reuters said.
The four-week moving average of claims fell last week by 3,250 to 344,500, the lowest since 336,500 in the week ended Jan 27, 2001.
Labor also said the number of people staying on jobless rolls for state benefits rose 17,000 to 3.14 million in the week ended Jan. 10. Transport Topics
Maine Truckers, Loggers Vote to End Work Stoppage
Loggers and truckers in Maine voted to end a 17-day work stoppage that was blamed for wood shortages at some mills and to return to work at Irving Woodlands, the Associated Press reported Thursday.Irving Woodlands supplies wood fiber to about 30 mills. The company had 27 logging contractors and 40 to 50 trucking contractors before the work stoppage began.
The dispute began when workers formed the International Loggers Association and walked off the job. Truckers refused to sign a new contract offered by Irving; loggers, who usually negotiate new contracts in the spring, stopped work in solidarity with the truckers, AP said.
Despite voting in favor of returning, truckers and loggers said they would not return to work unless Irving allows everyone who had a job on its woodlands prior to the work stoppage to come back to work, AP said.
In addition, they said Gov. John Baldacci must agree not to veto legislation that, if passed, would allow loggers to form associations to bargain collectively with landowners, AP said. Transport Topics
Knight's 4Q, Yearly Earnings Increase
Truckload carrier Knight Transportation Inc. said Wednesday its net income for the fourth quarter was $10 million or 26 cents per share, compared with $8.2 million or 22 cents a year earlier."Freight demand remained solid through the end of the year, and we perceived little evidence of growth in industrywide tractor-trailer capacity," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Knight said in a release.
The company said revenue, before fuel surcharges, increased 14% to $87.1 million. For the full fiscal year, net income was $35.5 million or 93 cents, up from $27.9 million or 73 cents in 2002.
Knight is ranked No. 59 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Oshkosh's Profits More Than Double
Oshkosh Truck Corp., a manufacturer of specialty trucks, said its net income for the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31 was $29.7 million or 83 cents a share, compared with $11.3 million or 32 cents a year earlier.Sales rose 16% to $493.2 million from $426.3 million, the company said in a release. Profit at its military-related operations almost tripled in the most recent quarter.
Oshkosh also said sales at its commercial segment rose 9.7% to $183 million, largely as a result of a higher mix of package sales involving a chassis and body and higher unit volumes in domestic and European refuse products.
The company also said it expected 2004 earnings to be $2.80 a share, higher than the $2.45 forecast in October. Transport Topics
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Hayes Lemmerz to Supply Parts for Hyundai Translead
Vehicle parts supplier Hayes Lemmerz International Inc. said Wednesday its commercial highway division had signed a new supply contract with Hyundai Translead.Hayes Lemmerz said in a release it will supply standard wheel-end components for all of Hyundai Translead's dry freight vans, refrigerated trailers, chassis and converter dollies.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Transport Topics
