News Briefs - Nov. 14
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The Latest Headlines:
- House, Senate Reach Deal on Energy Bill
- Con-Way Implements Surcharge for Insurance Costs
- Consumer Sentiment Index Highest Since May 2002
- Covenant Transport Completes Stock Offering
- US 1 Profits Shrink in 3Q
- Price of Crude Oil Reaches One-Month High
- AAR Reports Intermodal Loads Up 11.2%
- Con-Way Implements Surcharge for Insurance Costs
House, Senate Reach Deal on Energy Bill
House and Senate Republicans reached an agreement Friday afternoon on the first overhaul of national energy policy in a decade, news services reported.Negotiators said they would provide details over the weekend and final action on the bill could come next week, the Associated Press reported.
The legislation calls for billions of dollars in tax breaks for energy industries and would double the use of corn-based ethanol as a gasoline additive, AP said. Transport Topics
Con-Way Implements Surcharge for Insurance Costs
Less-than-truckload carrier Con-Way Transportation Services Inc. said Friday that it would begin applying a 2% surcharge to all shipments starting Jan 1."Health insurance costs are now at crisis proportions," Gerald Detter, Con-Way chief executive officer, said in a statement. "This surcharge will only cover a small portion of the overall cost increase we're experiencing in health care benefits and other insurance expenses."
Also starting next year, the company said it would assess all its employees 1% of their salary for health care costs.
Con-Way is a subsidiary of CNF Inc., ranked No. 4 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Consumer Sentiment Index Highest Since May 2002
The University of Michigan said Friday its preliminary November consumer sentiment index rose to 93.5 from 89.6 in October, the highest level since May 2002.The current conditions index, which reflects Americans' perception of their financial situation and whether it's a good time to make major purchases, rose to 102.8 this month from 99.9 in October.
The expectations index, based on optimism about the next one to five years, increased to 87.6 from 83.
The preliminary Michigan index is based on a survey of more than 250 households. The final index, to be released Nov. 26, polls about 500 households.
The index had averaged 86.5 this year before this report. However, the index is still below where it was prior to the recession that lasted from March 2001 to November 2001. Transport Topics
Covenant Transport Completes Stock Offering
Truckload carrier Covenant Transport Inc. said Friday it had completed a public offering of 2 million shares of its Class A common stock at $19.50 per share.The company also said in a release the underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to 300,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments.
Covenant is ranked No. 31 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
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US 1 Profits Shrink in 3Q
US 1 Industries Inc., which provides financial resources, insurance and information technology to the trucking and logistics industries, said late Thursday it net income for the third quarter was $238,376 or 2 cents per share, compared with $542,569 or 10 cents a year earlier.Revenues increased to $30.9 million from $28.6 million, the company said in a release.
However, operating expenses also increased, to $30.6 million from $28 million. Transport Topics
Price of Crude Oil Reaches One-Month High
The price of crude oil rose to its highest level in a month on Thursday after the International Energy Agency said fuel demand would increase faster than previously forecast because of economic growth in China and the United States, Bloomberg reported.Global demand for fuels such as gasoline, diesel and heating oil during 2004 will average 79.6 million barrels a day, 200,000 more than expected last month, IEA said.
Crude oil for December delivery rose 57 cents, or 1.8%, to $31.90 a barrel on Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since Oct. 13.
Also Thursday, the Department of Energy said stockpiles of crude oil declined by 800,000 barrels to 291.1 million during the week ended Nov. 7, while supplies of distillate fuel, which includes heating oil and diesel, tumbled 1.5 million barrels to 131.2 million. Transport Topics
AAR Reports Intermodal Loads Up 11.2%
Intermodal traffic on the nation's railroads continued to outperform last year, the Association of American Railroads said late Thursday.Railroading, like commercial trucking, is considered an important economic indicator. Intermodal traffic, which tends to be merchandise rather than bulk commodities, is more directly competitive with trucking and more reflective of the state of the economy.
The AAR said 210,118 trailers and containers were loaded in the week ended Nov. 8, which was up 9.6% from the corresponding week a year ago.
For the first 45 weeks of the year, trailer and container loadings totaled 8.6 million, which is 6.6% above last year's pace. Transport Topics
