News Briefs - July 14
The Latest Headlines:
- DOT Selects Carriers for Hong Kong Cargo Service
- Lundberg: U.S. Gas Prices Rise More Than a Penny
- Truck Ban on Maine Bridge Could Be Permanent
- Mitsubishi Fuso Recalling Almost 15,000 Trucks
- WTO Rules Against U.S. on Steel Tariffs
- Marten Declares Stock Split
- Roadrunner Elevates Turner to COO Post
- Lundberg: U.S. Gas Prices Rise More Than a Penny
DOT Selects Carriers for Hong Kong Cargo Service
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday tentatively selected six airlines to operate new all-cargo air service between Hong Kong and cities in other countries in conjunction with their U.S.-Hong Kong services.The airlines selected to operate new or expanded service are FedEx Corp., United Parcel Service, Evergreen International Airlines, Kalitta Air, Northwest Airlines and Polar Air Cargo, DOT said in a release.
"This expansion of U.S. all-cargo services in the important and growing Hong Kong air freight market will provide enormous benefits not only for the carriers involved but for shippers and the economies of both sides," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in a release.
DOT said it was accepting public comments, and would then issue its final decision. Transport Topics
Lundberg: U.S. Gas Prices Rise More Than a Penny
Gasoline prices rose more than one cent per gallon over the past three weeks, according to the Lundberg survey of service stations nationwide.About one-third of commercial trucking uses gasoline.
The average price nationwide for a gallon of self-serve gas on Friday, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.55. That was an increase of 1.07 cents per gallon from June 20.
Recent gas increases have been driven largely by crude oil prices reacting to a move by OPEC to tighten supplies as of June 1, analyst Trilby Lundberg said told the Associated Press on Sunday.
The national weighted average price of gasoline, including taxes, at self-serve pumps Friday was about $1.52 for regular, $1.62 for mid-grade and $1.71 for premium. Transport Topics
Truck Ban on Maine Bridge Could Be Permanent
Tractor-trailers and other heavy trucks could be banned forever from the Waldo-Hancock Bridge in Maine, the Associated Press reported.State officials announced Friday that vehicles weighing 12 tons or more are prohibited from crossing the 72-year-old bridge because of concerns about the safety of the suspension cables. Trucks that now use the span to cross the Penobscot River from Prospect to Verona must travel 40 miles to cross the river in Bangor.
About 800 heavy trucks typically cross the bridge each day, AP said. Transport Topics
Mitsubishi Fuso Recalling Almost 15,000 Trucks
Mitsubishi Fuso said it was recalling 14,913 Fuso Super Great series of trucks produced between November 1994 and March 2003 to repair a bolt connected to the drive shaft, AFX news service reported Monday.The recall does not affect trucks in the North American market.
Fuso is the truck and bus making subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motors, Japan's fourth-largest automaker, in which DaimlerChrysler AG owns a major stake.
The company said it has received reports of three accidents involving the drive shaft problem, AFX said. Transport Topics
WTO Rules Against U.S. on Steel Tariffs
The World Trade Organization on Friday ruled that heavy duties on steel imports imposed by the Bush administration violate global trade rules, news services reported.A three-member panel of trade experts said that the "safeguard" duties of up to 30% introduced by the United States last March were out of line with WTO rules, Reuters reported. That confirmed an interim ruling issued earlier this year and upheld complaints filed by the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Switzerland, China, New Zealand and Brazil.
The United States said it would appeal, and would keep in place the tariffs that President Bush had justified as necessary to protect domestic steel producers against a flood of cheap imports, the Associated Press said.
In response, the European Union stepped up plans to impose $2.2 billion in retaliatory duties on U.S. imports, ranging from footwear to fruit and vegetables. Transport Topics
Marten Declares Stock Split
Refrigerated truckload carrier Marten Transport Ltd. said Monday its board of directors had declared a three-for-two stock split.The Mondovi, Wis.-based company said the split would be in the form of a stock dividend distributed on July 24 to shareholders of record as of July 21. The stock split would increase the number of outstanding shares of common stock to about 6.4 million.
Marten is ranked No. 59 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
Roadrunner Elevates Turner to COO Post
Roadrunner Freight Systems, Cudahy, Wis., said it had promoted Barry Turner to chief operating officer from vice president of operations.Roadrunner is an interregional, less-than-truckload carrier focused on two and three-day delivery service.
In his new role, Roadrunner said, Turner is responsible for all terminal and staff-related operational areas of the company.
The company said Turner joined Roadrunner in 1996 as an account manager for the Milwaukee terminal. In 1999, he was named assistant vice president and worked with terminals on operational issues, then moved to Dallas as terminal manager in 2000. He returned to the corporate office last year as vice president. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the July 14 print edition of Transport Topics.
