News Briefs - May 17
The Latest Headlines:
- Price of Crude Oil Nears $42 After Iraq Bombing
- U.S. Continues to Fill SPR Despite Record Prices
- Patent Office Ruling Favors ArvinMeritor
- More Independent Truckers Picket in Northern California
- Canada Facing Shortage of Truck Drivers
- Segmentz Reports Loss for 1Q
- U.S. Continues to Fill SPR Despite Record Prices
Price of Crude Oil Nears $42 After Iraq Bombing
The price of crude oil rose to another record in New York on Monday after the head of Iraq's governing council was killed, raising concern that supply from Iraq could be disrupted, Bloomberg reported.Crude oil jumped as much as 47 cents, or 1.1%, to an all-time high of $41.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday before settling at $41.55, the fourth-straight record closing price.
Izzedine Salim, the holder of the interim council's rotating presidency, was killed in a car-bomb attack on his four-vehicle convoy in Baghdad, news services reported.
U.S. Continues to Fill SPR Despite High Prices
Despite record crude oil prices, the United States has continued to fill its emergency reserves to the highest level ever, an amount experts said could be used to bring prices down, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Bush ordered the strategic petroleum reserve to be filled to its maximum 700 million-barrel capacity. Stocks have risen to 659 million barrels, and the Department of Energy expects the reserve to be full by next summer.
The United States and other nations have a combined 1.4 billion barrels of oil stored away, but experts told the Journal markets have ignored that supply amid fears terrorism could reduce exports.
The apparent disregard for the reserves has some analysts questioning whether the United States should tap them -- or even just threaten to use them -- to help calm the market and signal to OPEC the nation will not tolerate actions to maintain high prices, the Journal said.
However, Treasury Secretary John Snow on Monday rejected calls for the Bush administration to tap the SPR and urged OPEC to boost supplies, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Patent Office Ruling Favors ArvinMeritor
Commercial truck-component supplier ArvinMeritor Inc. said May 10 the U.S. Patent Board of Appeals and Patent Interferences had issued a judgment in its favor and against Eaton Corp. on all claims in two related transmission patent interferences involving torque prediction technology for some automated transmissions.An Eaton spokesman said the company no longer uses that technology and “had no intention of using it in the future.”
Both companies, however, said that additional litigation continued, involving Eaton’s claim that ArvinMeritor and ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s separate FreedomLine transmission infringed on Eaton’s patents.
ArvinMeritor May 10 reiterated that the FreedomLine automated truck transmission was protected by several patents worldwide. Transport Topics
This story appears in the May 17 print edition of Transport Topics
More Independent Truckers Picket in Northern California
About 100 independent truck drivers formed a picket line in Concord, Calif., on Friday evening, to protest for more pay and better working conditions, the Contra Costa Times reported.Concord is located about 20 miles from Oakland, Calif., where truckers recently protested high fuel prices at the port.
Most of the independent drivers who picketed haul for Royal Trucking, Reliable Trucking and Alegre Trucking.
They are seeking a 50% rate increase on all loads, a 15% fuel surcharge, $65-per-hour pay for standby time, compensation for toll bridge fees, a 20% cap on commission and broker fees and full disclosure of the rates paid to the trucking companies by their clients, the article said.
Negotiations between the companies and drivers are ongoing, the article said. Transport Topics
Canada Facing Shortage of Truck Drivers
British Columbia is facing a shortage of truckers that has transportation firms warning that the cost of shipping and purchasing could go up as a result, the Vancouver Sun reported Monday.A recent study found the industry needs to recruit 10,000 new drivers a year across Canada in order to meet growth projections, and 7,000 drivers to compensate for those who leave the industry, the Sun reported.
Although 330,000 Canadians either drive freight-haul trucks or work in the trucking industry, B.C. Trucking Association President Paul Landry said the industry is suffering the same lack of interest as other blue-collar trades such as construction. Transport Topics
Segmentz Reports Loss for 1Q
Transportation and logistics services provider Segmentz Inc. said Monday its net loss for the first quarter was $404,031 or 2 cents per share, compared with a net income of $130,842 or 2 cents a year earlier.Revenues for the quarter increased about 129% to $6.6 million, primarily related to three recent acquisitions and the expansion of its terminal in Chicago, the company said in a statement.
However, Segmentz said costs of services increased by 150% to $5.5 million due to lower freight volume, rental equipment costs and repair costs. Transport Topics
