News Briefs - Oct. 7
The Latest Headlines:
- Oklahoma Sen. Nickles to Retire
- Venezuelan Minister: OPEC May Cut Output Again
- Report: Volvo Studies One Chassis for Its Trucks
- Utah Unveils Long-Range Road Plan
- Goodyear to Close Alabama Tire Plant
- U-Haul Parent Files Bankruptcy Recovery Plan
- Dynamex Reports Higher Earnings
- Venezuelan Minister: OPEC May Cut Output Again
Oklahoma Sen. Nickles to Retire
Sen. Don Nickles said Tuesday that he will retire rather than seek re-election next year, the Associated Press reported.Nickles was the second ranking Republican until earlier this year, and became chairman of the Budget Committee at the beginning of the most recent Congress.
He won his seat in 1980. He became the second Republican lawmaker to announce retirement plans, after Sen. Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois.
Venezuelan Minister: OPEC May Cut Output Again
Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez said that the OPEC oil cartel could decide to cut output again at its next meeting in December, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.Last month, the cartel agreed to trim production quotas by 3.5% or 900,000 barrels a day to 24.5 million barrels beginning Nov. 1.
The decision would likely depend on the extent of recovery in output by Iraq, Ramirez said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Tuesday OPEC members would probably have "mixed results" with the cutbacks, with some members cutting production, but others increasing production in defiance, Bloomberg reported. Transport Topics
Report: Volvo Studies One Chassis for Its Trucks
Volvo AB may build one common chassis for both its Volvo, Renault and Mack trucks, Bloomberg reported Tuesday citing an interview Chief Executive Leif Johansson gave to a French newspaper.Johansson said the company is “studying the possibility” of creating a single chassis for all of its brands as the company moves to make the vehicles more similar to each other, Bloomberg said.
Volvo bought France's Renault Trucks and U.S.-based Mack in 2000 for $1.8 billion. Transport Topics
Utah Unveils Long-Range Road Plan
The Utah Department of Transportation has unveiled its $3.6 billion plan to improve non-urban roads in the state, the Associated Press reported.The forward-looking document, called Transportation 2030, lists more than 500 projects that the department would like to complete in the next 27 years along Utah's 6,000 miles of non-urban highway.
Among larger projects covered in the state's plan include improving roads in northern Utah. The trucking industry has expressed concern about the state's roadway system. Freight movement in northern Utah is a significant issue because of the region's highway and rail system, warehousing facilities and growing population, AP said.
It's estimated that the number of trucks that enter the state each year will double to 14 million by 2020, David Creer, executive director of the Utah Trucking Association, told AP. Transport Topics
Goodyear to Close Alabama Tire Plant
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Monday it would close its Dunlop tire plant in Huntsville, Ala., by Dec. 5, putting 1,100 employees out of work.The closing had been anticipated since mid-September, when workers with the United Steelworkers of America approved a three-year contract that allowed Goodyear to close the plant, Bloomberg said.
"The decision to close the Huntsville plant is based on Goodyear's need to reduce capacity in North America," Jonathan Rich, president of Goodyear's North American Tire business unit, said in a release.
Goodyear predicted annualized savings of $100 million from the closure. Transport Topics
U-Haul Parent Files Bankruptcy Recovery Plan
Amerco Inc., the bankrupt owner of the U-Haul truck-rental business, filed a recovery plan that pays creditors owed more than $884 million, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.Amerco sought Chapter 11 protection in June after failing to refinance $866 million of debt. U-Haul was not included in the filing.
Court approval would allow Amerco to complete its reorganization and come out of bankruptcy in less than seven months, Bloomberg said.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive is scheduled to review the plan on Nov. 18. Transport Topics
Dynamex Reports Higher Earnings
Package-delivery and logistics services company Dynamex Inc. reported net income of $2.2 million, or 19 cents a share, for its fiscal fourth quarter ended July 31 on revenues of $67.5 million.That was an increase from earnings of $1.2 million, or 11 cents a share, on revenues of $60.1 million in the same period in 2002.
For the fiscal year ending July 31, it earned $7.6 million, or 67 cents a share, on revenues of $251 million. That was an increase from the year-earlier period when it lost $16.2 million, or a loss of $1.53 a share, on revenues of $236 million.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick McClelland, in a release announcing the earnings, said, “We are forecasting a 10%-25% increase in fiscal year 2004 net income and our capital structure will be even more attractive as we plan to reduce long-term debt by approximately $7 million” in 2004. Transport Topics
This story appeared in the Oct. 6 print edition of Transport Topics.
