News Briefs - May 3
The Latest Headlines:
- Yellow Roadway Says It Will Drop Bandag Deal
- Construction Spending Jumps 1.5% in March
- Crude Oil Price Stable Amid Strong Supply
- Fuel Costs Boost Grocery Prices
- Indiana Inspectors Lag in Pay, Paper Says
- Winn Dixie To Close 156 Stores
- Construction Spending Jumps 1.5% in March
Yellow Roadway Says It Will Drop Bandag Deal
Bandag Inc. said Monday that Yellow Roadway Corp. had elected not to renew an existing outsourcing agreement for tire and wheel services in place since 1999.Under the existing agreement, Yellow Roadway is obligated to repurchase all tires and wheels owned by Bandag and used in its fleet by Aug. 1. Bandag estimated the value of the tires and wheels at about $37 million.
Bandag estimated the agreement had contributed about $4 million in income for 2003, or 21 cents a share.
Construction Spending Jumps 1.5% in March
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that construction spending registered its best month on record in March.Construction spending rose 1.5% in March over February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $944.1 billion, the highest level on record, Commerce said.
The performance was three times bigger than the 0.5% increase some economists were calling for and the gains were broad based.
Federal government construction spending jumped 7.2%, the biggest rise since April 2003. Transport Topics
Crude Oil Price Stable Amid Strong Supply
Crude oil futures changed little in after-hours trading Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.Crude oil for June delivery traded unchanged at $37.38 a barrel, and supplies were at their highest since January, according to the U.S. Energy Department, Bloomberg said.
Supplies rose by 3.2 milllion barrels to almost 299 million during the week ended April 23, twice the median increase expected by Bloomberg analaysts.
DOE figures showed that gasoline inventories were 2.7% lower than a year earlier, while a demand was 11% higher than a year ago, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Fuel Costs Boost Grocery Prices
Higher fuel prices have boosted basic grocery prices dramatically nationwide, and some economists said they could go higher, the Washington Post reported May 1.Hormel Foods Corp. cited increased transportation and packaging costs as well as higher beef and poultry costs to explain why it will raise prices on some products by at least 4.5 percent in June, the Post said.
The increases are starting at the commodity level, where prices are being propelled by the stronger economy and higher energy prices, the paper said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's index of prices received by farmers hit its highest level in March since record-keeping began in 1910, the Post reported. Transport Topics
Indiana Inspectors Lag in Pay, Paper Says
Indiana's truck inspectors are last in pay and lack the enforcement powers of their counterparts in five neighboring states, according to a review of highway safety staffing by the Northwest Indiana Times.The paper reported Monday that state lawmakers are considering letting local police departments train for and perform roadside safety inspections, a practice already allowed by three other Midwestern states.
The state's 91 inspectors make a starting salary of $19,000 a year, less than half what those in Illinois make, according to the paper.
The five other states in the paper's review — Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin — all give either full or partial law enforcement authority to their heavy truck inspectors, allowing them to carry guns for protection and make arrests. Transport Topics
Winn Dixie To Close 156 Stores
Grocery chain Winn-Dixie Stores will close 156 stores and cut 10,000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce, USA Today reported Monday.The Jacksonville, Fla., company announced the closures in its April 30 earnings statement, stating its third-quarter profit was $610,000, or zero cents per share, from $50.6 million, or 36 cents per share, the year before, USA Today reported.
It said it expects an annual pretax savings of $60 million to $80 million, and its costs to drop by $15 million this year and about $100 million next year, USA Today said.
Winn-Dixie, with more than 1,000 tractors and 1,600 trailers, is No. 13 in the Transport Topics Private 100 listing of the largest North American private truck fleets. Transport Topics
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