News Briefs - June 17
The Latest Headlines:
- Overnite Raises 2Q Earnings Guidance
- Central Freight Says It Will Post a 2Q Loss
- Pacer Names New President of Warehousing Unit
- Jobless Claims Fall By 15,000 in Latest Week
- Study: Road Debris From Vehicles Cause 25,000 Crashes a Year
- Report Says Logistics Costs Are Declining
- Central Freight Says It Will Post a 2Q Loss
Overnite Raises 2Q Earnings Guidance
Less-than-truckload carrier Overnite Corp. on Wednesday raised its second-quarter earnings prediction to 53 cents to 58 cents per share, from previous guidance of 43 cents to 48 cents."We continue to see sustained economic growth in all regions of the country, and are successfully executing our business and strategic growth plans," said Chairman and President Leo Suggs.
The company said it expected to release its earnings report on July 28.
Central Freight Says It Will Post a 2Q Loss
Less-than-truckload carrier Central Freight Lines Inc. said it expected to report a second-quarter net loss between 9 cents and 14 cents per share. It previously said it expected a profit of 4 cents to 8 cents."Although revenue for the quarter is basically on track, the integration of our recent geographic expansion and subsequent return to operating initiatives has not developed as fast as expected," said Central's President Bob Fasso.
Central Freight is ranked No. 45 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Pacer Names New President of Warehousing Unit
Pacer International Inc. said Thursday it named Kent Prokop the president of its warehousing and distribution unit.The unit is as part of Pacer's retail segment, which provides logistics services to manufacturers and retailers.
Pacer is ranked No. 14 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Jobless Claims Fall By 15,000 in Latest Week
The number of Americans filing initial jobless claims fell by 15,000 to 336,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.Labor also said the four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, fell to 343,250 from 346,000.
This was the second consecutive jobless claims report covering a week in which federal offices were closed for a day. A portion of last week's decline can be attributed to the closing last Friday of state offices for the day of mourning for President Reagan, a Labor Department spokesman told Bloomberg.
The average number of weekly claims this year has fallen to 346,917 from about 402,000 last year as rising sales and profits have given companies confidence to boost hiring, Bloomberg reported.
The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits rose by 31,000 to 2.895 million in the week that ended June 5 from a revised 2.864 million a week earlier, Labor said. Transport Topics
Study: Road Debris From Vehicles Cause 25,000 Crashes a Year
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety said Wednesday vehicle parts, cargo and other material unintentionally discharged from vehicles are estimated to cause over 25,000 crashes and between 80 and 90 deaths on North American roads each year."Although vehicle-related road debris crashes are generally less severe than other crashes, individual incidents can be catastrophic," said Peter Kissinger, president of the foundation. "Moreover, many of the estimated 25,000 VRRD crashes can be prevented if truckers and motorists secure their loads properly and report debris that they encounter on the road."
The report said the three most common types of road debris were tire treads, garbage from waste haulers and lumber and construction materials.
It also recommended enacting stricter laws on load securement and educating motorists on load securement as ways to reduce the number of accidents. Transport Topics
Report Says Logistics Costs Are Declining
The cost of logistics as a portion of U.S. gross domestic product declined for the third consecutive year in 2003, despite rising costs for trucking and a sharp increase in business inventories, transportation researcher Rosalyn Wilson said in her first solo “State of Logistics Report,” delivered June 7 in Washington, D.C.Wilson, who had been co-author of the annual report, assumed responsibility for it following the April 2 death of founder Robert Delaney, a former vice president of Cass Information Systems.
In the new report, Wilson said businesses spent an estimated $936 billion to store and transport goods last year, or 8.5% of GDP. That compared with $910 billion or 8.7% of GDP in 2002, and $1.01 trillion or 10.2% in 2000.
rucking costs increased by $20 billion to $482 billion last year as tight demand and rising costs led many fleets to raise rates, she said.
She also said the report was now sponsored by the Council of Logistics Management, an association for those involved in supply chain management. Wilson said a quarterly index of logistics costs would make its debut this fall at CLM’s annual conference. Daniel P. Bearth
This story appeared in the June 14 print edition of Transport Topics.
