News Briefs - June 4
The Latest Headlines:
- Price of Crude Oil Falls 9% Since Setting Record
- Oklahoma Trucking Service Agent Pleads Guilty
- Canadian Trucking Firms Turn to U.K. for Drivers
- Rail Intermodal Traffic Up 13.6% in May
- Ryder Completes Sale of Corporate Headquarters
- Oklahoma Trucking Service Agent Pleads Guilty
Price of Crude Oil Falls 9% Since Setting Record
The price of crude oil in New York declined 9.2% since reaching a record Tuesday as OPEC's decision to boost production eased concern over low fuel supplies, Bloomberg reported.Crude oil for July delivery was down 83 cents, or 2.1%, at $38.45 a barrel at the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said. The contract on Tuesday rose to $42.33 a barrel, a record since the contract began trading on the exchange in 1983.
The OPEC oil cartel on Thursday agreed to raise quotas by 2 million barrels daily, or 8.5%, starting July 1. It also could increase oil quotas by 500,000 barrels a day in August, which would lift the group's limit from 25.5 million to 26 million. Transport Topics
Oklahoma Trucking Service Agent Pleads Guilty
JoAnn Matthews, a trucking service agent who was indicted as part of an investigation into kickbacks at the Oklahoma Tax Commission, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy against the state and making a fraudulent application to the commission, the Associated Press reported.She received a five-year deferred sentence from an Oklahoma County judge, and she agreed to testify for the state in its case against her former business partners, AP said.
Matthews was indicted last year on counts of bribing Tax Commission employees and submitting false motor vehicle registration renewal applications to the agency. She was an operator of Carrier Services LLC, a trucking service agency, AP said. Transport Topics
Canadian Trucking Firms Turn to U.K. for Drivers
Three trucking companies in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan are involved in a recruitment drive that will bring 120 truck drivers and their families to Canada from the United Kingdom, the Star Phoenix reported.Westcan Bulk Transport, Yanke Group and Siemens Transportation Group said the campaign has succeeded beyond expectations, the article said.
The Saskatoon companies said they are not providing signing bonuses, but that Saskatoon's cost of living seemed to be incentive enough. The program does require the companies to cover an airline ticket for the driver and a return ticket if the job does not work out.
The Saskatchewan Trucking Association said the campaign focused on drivers from the United Kingdom because many of them would have to cross into the United States, and it is easier for them to get security clearance than if they were from other countries. Transport Topics
Rail Intermodal Traffic Up 13.6% in May
The Association of American Railroads said Thursday the number of intermodal loadings on U.S. railroads totaled 102,522 units for May, up 13.6% from May 2003.AAR Vice President Craig Rockey said the improvement was "slightly overstated" because Memorial Day was included in last year’s data for May but not this year, but "there is no denying that U.S. freight rail traffic is up significantly thanks to the improving economy."
For the first five months of the year, intermodal traffic totaled 4.27 million trailers or containers, up 9% from a year earlier. Transport Topics
Ryder Completes Sale of Corporate Headquarters
Truck-leasing company Ryder System said May 20 it had closed the sale on its 400,000-square-foot, five-story corporate headquarters in Doral, Fla., for $39 million in cash, as part of an effort to reign in operating costs.The company said that Shoma Development Corp., a South Florida community developer, purchased the 46.5-acre property in a deal that closed May 18. Ryder said it would lease back the property from Shoma until its new building is available in 2005.
Ryder said that its new facility would be a downsized 250,000 square feet located at the Beacon Station business park site, which is within a few miles of the company’s existing headquarters. The company said it planned to lease the new headquarters from Flagler Development Co.
Ryder said it sold its current facility and planned to relocate to a smaller one because it needed a more cost-effective and efficient office space that reflected its requirements.
Ryder also said it would realize a one-time gain in its current quarter as a result of selling the property. Transport Topics
I>This story appeared in the May 31 print edition of Transport Topics.
