News Briefs - July 26
The Latest Headlines:
- New Penn Opens New Terminals
- Existing Home Sales Rise 2.1% in June
- Trucking Executives Question I-69 Highway Extension
- Smithway Posts 2Q Net Income
- Scania's Profits Rise on Higher Truck Sales
- Boeing Selects Menlo to Handle Air Freight
- Existing Home Sales Rise 2.1% in June
New Penn Opens New Terminals
Less-than-truckload carrier New Penn Motor Express Inc. said it opened new facilities in New Jersey and New York.New Penn is a subsidiary of Yellow Roadway Corp., ranked No. 3 on the 2004 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.
The company said it purchased a 40-door facility near Trenton, N.J., and 57-door facility in East Syracuse, N.Y.
Existing Home Sales Rise 2.1% in June
Sales of previously owned houses in the United States rose 2.1% in June to a record annual pace of 6.95 million, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.Last month's pace compares with a revised 6.81 million in May. Sales were forecast to fall to 6.65 million in June from a previously reported 6.80 million for May, Bloomberg said.
Resales account for 85% of the residential real estate market. New home sales account for the rest. When a home is sold, trucks are usually used to transport household appliances and furniture.
Sales rose in all regions. They increased 3.5% in the Midwest to 1.46 million at an annual rate, 3.1% in the West to 1.99 million, 2.8% in the Northeast to 740,000 and 0.4% in the South to 2.76 million.
Sales of new houses are recorded when a contract is signed, while resales are tabulated when transactions close, which often occurs a month or two later. Transport Topics
Trucking Executives Question I-69 Highway Extension
Executives from Schneider National Inc. and Celadon Trucking Services Inc. have questioned the value of extending Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Mexico, suggesting it would parallel existing routes and waste federal road dollars, the Indianapolis Star reported Monday.The proposed extension would bisect Indiana diagonally from northeast to southwest and stretch across eight states from Canada to Mexico. Currently, the highway extends from Indianapolis north through Fort Wayne to Port Huron, Mich.
Thomas Glaser, chief operating officer for Celadon, said it would be more beneficial to improve existing highways rather than adding this stretch, the Star reported.
In addition, Wayne Lubner, a vice president for Schneider, said large-scale projects like I-69 have led to a protracted fight over federal highway dollars on Capitol Hill and maintaining the existing highway system should be a higher priority, the Star reported.
However, Kenneth Cragen, president of the Indiana Motor Truck Association, said the extension was a good idea because there were more interstates converging in Indianapolis than any other city in the country. Transport Topics
Smithway Posts 2Q Net Income
Truckload carrier Smithway Motor Xpress Corp. said its second-quarter net income was $665,000 or 13 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $458,000 or 9 cents a year earlier.Operating revenue increased about 10.5% to $46.7 million, the company said in a statement.
Smithway is ranked No. 94 on the 2004 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Scania's Profits Rise on Higher Truck Sales
Scania AB, Sweden's second-largest truck maker, said second-quarter profit rose about 15% as vehicle sales increased in Europe, Bloomberg reported.Net income rose to $128.5 million, up from $112 million a year earlier. Sales rose 10% to about $1.9 billion.
Scania is benefiting from improved demand for trucks in its main European market and in South America after three years of declines, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Boeing Selects Menlo to Handle Air Freight
Menlo Worldwide Forwarding said that aircraft-maker Boeing Co. had chosen Menlo to be its primary domestic air-freight provider for next-day and deferred air-freight services.The companies did not disclose the value of the contract. A Menlo spokesman said BAX Global previously had the primary service.
enlo, which previously had secondary provider status with Boeing, has begun providing domestic airfreight services under the new contract, under which Menlo also will provide domestic air-freight services to Boeing’s suppliers and vendors.
“The Boeing business has the potential to be one of our largest domestic accounts,” said Eric Kirchner, chief operating officer of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, which was No. 23 in the Transport Topics Logistics 50.
Menlo said its centers in Seattle, Los Angeles and St. Louis would be the most active in serving the Boeing account. Transport Topics
