News Briefs - June 27
The Latest Headlines:
- Mississippi to Close Parts of U.S. 11 in September
- Waste Management Cleared to Buy Rival's Assets
- Personal Spending Rose 0.1% in May
- FedEx May Consider Opening Vietnam Center
- Navistar Sees Adsorbers Through 2010
- Intermodal Rail Loadings Rise 3%
- Nafta Rail Receives Mexican Approval
- Waste Management Cleared to Buy Rival's Assets
Mississippi to Close Parts of U.S. 11 in September
Mississippi state transportation officials said they would close part of U.S. 11 in east Mississippi south of Interstate 20/59 in September to replace eight bridges, the Associated Press reported Thursday.The stretch of U.S. 11 that will be closed connects Meridian to communities south of the city and parts of Clarke County. Once construction on the bridges begins, no traffic will be allowed on the road.
The work was scheduled to take 15 months, Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall said. The total cost of the project was expected to be $5 million.
Waste Management Cleared to Buy Rival's Assets
The U.S. Justice Department said that Waste Management Inc. and Allied Waste Industries Inc. agreed to restructure an asset sale to win antitrust clearance for the transaction, Bloomberg reported Friday.In April, Waste Management offered to buy trash hauling and landfill assets in five states from Allied for $73 million. The restructuring forced by the Justice Department would preserve competition in seven metropolitan areas, Bloomberg said.
As first proposed, the transaction would have resulted in higher prices for waste collection or disposal, the Justice Department said. Transport Topics
Personal Spending Rose 0.1% in May
U.S. personal spending rose 0.1% in May, matching the revised increase from the month before, the Commerce Department reported Friday.Spending by consumers account for two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States.
Adjusted for a decline in prices, spending increased 0.3%, Commerce said. Incomes rose 0.3% after increasing a revised 0.2%.
Economists had expected a 0.2% increase in spending after a previously reported 0.1% drop in April. Transport Topics
FedEx May Consider Opening Vietnam Center
FedEx Corp. is considering establishing a regional center in Vietnam if the nation signs an air-services pact with the United States, Bloomberg reported Friday.Citing the Saigon Times Daily, Bloomberg said FedEx had met with the chairman of Quang Nam province. That province is located near the central port city of Danang.
Negotiators from the U.S. and Vietnamese governments last week completed the second round of talks this year on a possible air-services accord that could pave the way for airlines from the two countries to fly to each other's airports, Bloomberg said.
FedEx is ranked No. 2 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Navistar Sees Adsorbers Through 2010
Navistar’s International Truck and Engine Corp. expects the engine emissions technology it is pursuing to meet 2007 emissions rules — nitrogen oxides adsorbers — will also meet stricter rules coming in 2010, said Patrick Charbonneau, chief technical officer for International’s engine group.International says it would develop medium- and heavy-duty engines using NOx adsorbers to meet standards the Environmental Protection Agency will require.
Some competitors are pursing an alternative that would cause trucks to carry urea as a catalyst to help burn off emissions, and have said adsorbers might not be ready in time or would not be able to meet the 2010 rules.
But Charbonneau told reporters in a conference call last week that “I see a path for going to 2010 with it (adsorber technology), but on some of the other options I’m not sure they can do it. . . . Clearly we’re only working on things that can get us to 2010, and to just take a step in 2007 is not appropriate.”
He said expecting the urea additive to be available in all truck fueling stations would be “an impossible task,” while adsorbers would require drivers to use only diesel fuel. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the June 23 print edition of Transport Topics.
Intermodal Rail Loadings Rise 3%
The Association of American Railroads said late Thursday that the number of intermodal rail loadings rose 3% in the week ended June 21, compared with last year.Intermodal combines railroad hauls of cargoes over long distances with regional or short-haul truck operations at either end to connect shippers with ultimate customers.
Intermodal volume rose to 195,897 trailers or containers, but carload freight, which does not include the intermodal data, was off 2.5% to 325,101 cars, AAR said.
For the first 25 weeks of the year, intermodal volume was up 6.6% at 4.6 million trailers and containers. Transport Topics
Nafta Rail Receives Mexican Approval
Kansas City Southern said June 25 it had received notice that Mexico’s Competition Commission approved its proposed Nafta Rail transaction.Under the proposed transaction announced April 21, Kansas City Southern Railway Co., Texas Mexican Railway Co. and TFM — the major freight railroad in northeastern Mexico — would be placed under one transportation holding company called Nafta Rail.
Kansas City Southern said the commission found that Nafta Rail fully complies with Mexico’s competition guidelines, and would not impede competition within the transportation sector.
The proposal still needs the regulatory approval of Mexico’s Foreign Investment Commission, a decision expected by the end of July, Kansas City Southern said.
In addition, it would need the approval of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. The board said it would rule by Oct. 17. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
