News Briefs - Oct. 6
The Latest Headlines:
- Yellow Transportation Wins Chamber of Commerce Recommendation
- Covenant Transport Lowers Third Quarter Expectations
- Tennessee Cracks Down on Truckers' Seat Belt Use
- Oil Rises Overnight on Nigerian Strike Threat
- TravelCenters of America Agrees to Acquire Rip Griffin Travel Centers
- September Job Cuts Rise, Challenger Says
- Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference Established
- Covenant Transport Lowers Third Quarter Expectations
Yellow Transportation Wins Chamber of Commerce Recommendation
Yellow Transportation said Wednesday it had been selected by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the exclusive less-than-truckload provider the Chamber recommends to its small and medium-sized members.Yellow Transportation said it created a customized program for LTL deliveries available to Chamber members, for shipments in excess of 150 pounds.
Yellow Transportation is a subsidiary of Yellow Roadway Corp., No. 3 in the Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. Transport Topics
Covenant Transport Lowers Third Quarter Expectations
Truckload carrier Covenant Transport, Inc. said Wednesday it lowered third-quarter earnings guidance after hurricanes in the Southeastern United States in August and September disrupted freight patterns and decreased truck utilization.Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Parker said the company would earn between 32 cents and 36 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from a July estimate of 36 cents to 40 cents per share. The revised figures do not include the effects of interest accrual expected in connection with the reversal of a tax-planning strategy, he said.
Parker said the current business environment is strong but that the company experienced a "soft spot" because of the hurricanes. The company already had been struggling against rapidly rising fuel prices, he said.
The company expected to release actual results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2004, after the close of the market on October 18. Transport Topics
Tennessee Cracks Down on Truckers' Seat Belt Use
The Tennessee Highway Patrol began a campaign Friday to crack down on truckers who don't use their seat belts, the Chattanooga Times Free Press newspaper reported.State officials told the newspaper they hope the Safety Enforcement and Trucks, or SEAT, campaign, will help boost truckers' seat belt use by 10% in the next year.
About 48% of the commercial truck drivers in the state use their safety belts, compared to 79% of passenger vehicle drivers, according to a 2003 report by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
FMCSA said last December it planned an "educational" effort in conjunction with states to boost safety belt usage in the trucking industry. Transport Topics
Oil Rises Overnight on Nigerian Strike Threat
Crude oil continued its rise overnight in electronic trading based on traders' concerns about a planned strike by Nigerian oil workers and U.S. refinery capacity, Bloomberg News reported.Crude oil for November delivery was trading at $51.48 a barrel, Bloomberg said.
Nigerian workers threatened to close Africa's largest oil company by the end of the week, before a nationwide strike over fuel prices set to start Monday, Bloomberg reported.
Unions on the country went on strike in June over fuel prices, ending their strike after gasoline marketers agreed to lower prices. Transport Topics
TravelCenters of America Agrees to Acquire Rip Griffin Travel Centers
TravelCenters of America (TA) and Truck Service Center, Inc., also known as Rip Griffin, announced Wednesday that TA planned to acquire Rip Griffin's 11 interstate travel centers.TA said its purchase of Rip Griffin full-service travel centers in Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and Arkansas would expand the TA network to 160 locations across the U.S. and Canada and would strengthen TA's position in the full-service travel center industry.
The sale did not include the Rip Griffin off-interstate travel center properties or gasoline convenience store locations across Texas. The companies said Rip Griffin Travel Centers' employees would be offered positions with TA.
TA and Rip Griffin said the transaction was subject to customary regulatory approvals, but they expected the deal to close by the end of the year. Financial details of the acquisition were not immediately disclosed. Transport Topics
September Job Cuts Rise, Challenger Says
The number of announced job cuts in the U.S. September rose to 107,863 with the computer, transportation, telecommunications and consumer products industries posting the largest number of cuts, an industry report said Tuesday.The report, compiled by job-placement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, said that the September number jumped 45% from the figure posted in August. John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of the outplacement firm, said the heaviest downsizing normally occurs between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31.
The number of announced hirings decreased significantly in September with 16,166 hirings compared to 132,105 in August.
The report is a non-statistical tally of job-cut announcements rather than actual layoffs. Transport Topics
Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference Established
American Trucking Associations established the Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference during its Management Conference and Exhibition Wednesday.he Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference (IMCC), established as an alliance for motor carriers involved in intermodal trucking, elected John Drewes, chief executive officer of Devine Intermodal, as its chairman.
rewes said the conference would provide a voice for the intermodal industry before federal, state and local governments. He also said the conference would advance operational safety and security.
ill Graves, ATA president, said the conference would be an effective agent in advancing important industry issues. Intermodal service is among the fastest growing sectors in the transportation industry, ATA said. Transport Topics
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