News Briefs - July 21
The Latest Headlines:
- Yellow: Freight Shipments Increasing in July
- ArvinMeritor’s Fiscal 3Q Profits Slip
- U.S. Profits Top Forecasts by Most in Three Years
- Another Storm Moves Toward Gulf of Mexico
- Report: 2002 One of Worst Years for U.S Airfreight
- Canada’s Roberge Transport Trims Fleet Due to Beef Ban
- Feds Hand Out $35 Million to 21 States
- Daniels to Retire as President of Belmor Products
- ArvinMeritor’s Fiscal 3Q Profits Slip
Yellow: Freight Shipments Increasing in July
The amount of freight shipped this month by Yellow Corp. increased by 10%, Chief Executive Officer William Zollars said,The growth rate is more than double the 4.2% gain last quarter and signals a possible recovery in the manufacturing sector.
“We have seen an increase in volume that is not seasonality,” Zollars said on a conference call with analysts last week. “It could be an anomaly, but it looks like things are coming back.”
Yellow is ranked No. 8 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
ArvinMeritor’s Fiscal 3Q Profits Slip
Vehicle parts maker ArvinMeritor Inc. on Monday reported a net income for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30 of $47 million or 69 cents per share, compared with $62 million or 91 cents per share a year ago.Sales for the quarter totaled $2.1 billion, an increase of 12%
"Our results for the third fiscal quarter were negatively impacted by lower light vehicle production volumes in both North America and Western Europe, continued soft demand in our light vehicle aftermarket business and reduced build rates in certain of our commercial vehicle systems markets,” said ArvinMeritor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Yost said.
Sales for Arvin’s commercial vehicle systems rose $23 million to $645 million despite a decline in North American Class 8 truck production. Higher trailer volumes in North America offset declines in North American and Western European truck volumes, Arvin said. Transport Topics
U.S. Profits Top Forecasts by Most in Three Years
U.S. companies led by Coca-Cola Co. and General Motors Corp. are exceeding earnings estimates more than any time in the past three years, Bloomberg reported Monday.Second-quarter profits for the Standard & Poor's 500 are expected to rise by 6.9%, revised from 5.2%in early July, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
The earnings gains are giving investors greater confidence in an U.S. economic and earnings recovery in the second half of the year, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Another Storm Moves Toward Gulf of Mexico
A tropical depression that formed over the weekend was moving westward toward the easternmost Caribbean islands, gathering strength on a path that would take it into the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, Bloomberg reported.The weather system, which may soon be upgraded to a tropical storm, would be the third Atlantic storm to reach the Gulf this year, following Tropical Storm Bill and Hurricane Claudette, which temporarily closed some offshore oil and gas platforms and disrupted shipping.
t. Lucia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were under a tropical storm watch on Monday, meaning tropical-storm-force winds might reach those parts within 24 to 36 hours.
t. Croix, one of the Virgin Islands, is home to the Caribbean's biggest oil refinery. Transport Topics
Report: 2002 One of Worst Years for U.S Airfreight
The Colography Group, an Atlanta-based research and planning firm, said Friday that 2002 was one of the worst years in the history of the U.S. airfreight industry.The company said in a release that nearly 2.6 billion shipments moved in domestic air service last year, a 5.9% decline from 2001. Revenue was down 2.9% and tonnage was off 4.1%.
All three of the main product categories - letter/envelope, package and freight – all experienced year-over-year shipment declines, Colography said.
A weak economy, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, geopolitical instability, corporate scandals, airline bankruptcies and higher fuel and security costs all were blamed for the struggles of the airfreight industry. Transport Topics
Canada’s Roberge Transport Trims Fleet Due to Beef Ban
The U.S. ban on Canadian beef due to the discovery of mad cow disease has forced Roberge Transport, one of Canada’s largest livestock transporters, to cut back its fleet to about 80 trucks from 146 and reduce its contract workforce to 47 from 70, the Edmonton Journal reported Friday.The company has lost about 50% of its business or $500,000 since the ban went into effect two month ago. If the ban is not lifted soon, the company would have to look into changing its industry, the article said.
Canadian officials estimate that livestock haulers have lost 60% of their business and truckers who haul frozen meat are dealing with a 20% loss.
Regardless of when the ban is lifted, it is expected that many carriers will be forced into bankruptcy, the Journal said. Transport Topics
Feds Hand Out $35 Million to 21 States
The Federal Highway Administration said July 8 that it distributed $35 million for bridge repair and other highway construction projects.FHWA distributed the grants to 21 states from the agency’s pool of discretionary funds for infrastructure projects.
In all, FHWA handed out grants for 36 projects in three categories — seismic retrofit of bridges, historic covered bridge repairs and value pricing grants to provide funds for projects aimed at reducing congestion and increasing transit productivity.
Four states — Arkansas, California, Missouri and Tennessee — received funds for seismic bridge retrofitting. These grants carry a total value of $24.8 million, FHWA said.
Another seven states divided $4.5 million in value pricing grants. Those are Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.
The grants are in addition to $692.8 million FHWA gave states on June 16 for various highway construction projects. Sean McNally
This story appeared in the July 21 print edition of Transport Topics.
Daniels to Retire as President of Belmor Products
Lund International Inc., manufacturer of accessories for the automotive aftermarket, said that John Daniels, president and general manager of its Belmor Products division, is retiring effective July 24.Daniels has been with Belmor, a supplier of accessories to the heavy-truck industry, since 1977, Lund said in a release.
The company said Harry Samp would become vice president and general manager of Belmor. Transport Topics
