News Briefs - June 2
The Latest Headlines:
- Another OPEC Nation Begins Pumping More Oil
- Clark Sells Unit to PBB
- Swift Says Future Insider Trades to be Cleared By CFO
- Job-Cut Announcements Rise in May
- DOT Names Bobo to Head Drug Office
- Clark Sells Unit to PBB
Another OPEC Nation Begins Pumping More Oil
A day before the OPEC oil cartel meets, the United Arab Emirates said Wednesday it was immediately releasing an additional 400,000 barrels daily this month, complementing 700,000 bpd already on the way from Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported.This extra crude is being pumped irrespective of any formal decision by OPEC on higher output quotas on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia appeared to have backing from most in OPEC to lift official supply quotas at the top end of a range under discussion, by 2.5 million barrels daily or 11%, Reuters said. Transport Topics
Clark Sells Unit to PBB
PBB Global Logistics Income Fund said late Tuesday it acquired the transportation management services division of Toronto-based trucking company Clarke Inc.The deal gives PBB "a much stronger presence in the U.S. and Mexico, a more comprehensive service offering, a strong platform in the growing intermodal rail service market and a more diversified revenue and customer base," said Mike Scott, PBB's president.
The deal is worth about C$40 million, the company said in a release.
Clark is ranked No. 68 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Swift Says Future Insider Stock Trades to be Cleared By CFO
Truckload carrier Swift Transportation Co. said that in the future, insider stock trades would have to be precleared by the company's chief financial officer or its vice president of financial reporting, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, Swift said outside counsel would investigate stock purchases by Chief Executive Jerry Moyes days before the company raised its second-quarter profit forecast. (Click here for previous coverage.)
Securities law prohibits stock trades based on material nonpublic information in breach of fiduciary duty. The company said the relevant information in this case was the news that the company's board had decided to extend and increase its stock buyback -- a move that was made in a board meeting on May 20 and announced May 24, the Journal said.
Swift is ranked No. 13 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Job-Cut Announcements Rise in May
The number of planned layoffs in the United States rose by 1.6% to 73,368 in May, compared with 72,184 in April, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.The report also said monthly cuts in May were 6.9% above those in May 2003, making it the first month since December that has seen a year-over-year increase. Layoffs hit a nine-month low of 68,034 in March.
Announced cuts are not the same as layoffs or firings, because some employees are reassigned, other cuts never actually take place and some are done through early retirement and other means.
And for the first time, the report included the number of planned hirings, Reuters said.
Employers announced plans to hire 55,307 workers, with the largest additions expected in the service sector and among government employers. Transport Topics
DOT Names Bobo to Head Drug Office
John Bobo, a former prosecutor and most recently director of the National Traffic Law Center at the American Prosecutors Research Institute, was named head of DOT’s Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, the Department of Transportation said.In 2002, Bobo assisted the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy in forming policies and programs for handling intoxicated drivers.
e also spent time teaching and hosted a radio show in the Washington, D.C., area, DOT said.
Before going to Washington, Bobo was a prosecutor in several Tennessee jurisdictions. Along with violent crime cases, he was the lead prosecutor for impaired driving and vehicular homicide cases.
He worked in Chattanooga, Tenn., as both a lawyer and writer, and in Hamilton County, Tenn., DOT said. Will Scheltema
This story appeared in the May 31 print edition of Transport Topics.
