News Briefs - Sept. 15
The Latest Headlines:
- N.Y. Manufacturing Index Rises in September
- Business Inventories Rise 0.9%
- Amtrak to Stop Hauling Mail
- KLLM President Liles Retires; CFO Moves Up
- Quality Distribution Names New CFO
- Business Inventories Rise 0.9%
N.Y. Manufacturing Index Rises in September
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Wednesday its Empire State manufacturing index rose to 28.3 in September from 13.2 in August.Readings above zero indicate expansion and the Empire State manufacturing survey has shown growth since April 2003. In February, it reached a record of 42.1.
The New York Fed's gauge of the number of employees rose this month to 21.3, the highest since May, from 16.8 in August. The survey's hiring index for the next six months rose to 26.6 in September from 10.4 the previous month.
The Empire State survey began in July 2001, when the U.S. was in a recession. The Buffalo branch of the New York Fed said it polls about 150 factories each month and typically receives 100 responses. Transport Topics
Business Inventories Rise 0.9%
Business inventories rose 0.9% in July, led by retailer stockpiles of automobiles and building materials, the Commerce Department reported.The increase was the 11th straight and followed a gain of 1.1% in June that was the largest since November 1999. The back-to-back increases were the largest in almost five years.
Commerce also said sales increased 0.6% to $946.2 billion
The inventory-sales ratio, a measure of how long goods are unsold, rose to 1.32 months in July from 1.31 months in June. Those levels compare with a record low of 1.3 months in March through May of this year and 1.36 months in July 2003. Transport Topics
Amtrak to Stop Hauling Mail
In an attempt to cut delays for passengers Amtrak will stop carrying mail for the U.S. Postal Service in October, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.The nation’s passenger railroad said delays often occur when employees load and unload mail at stations. Amtrak estimated it could cut 40 minutes from the 14-hour trip from New York to Charlotte, N.C.
Hauling mail and express shipments generated about $77 million in revenue for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2003. It started phasing out express shipments about two years ago, the Journal said.
The Postal Service said it would use trucks and freight trains to move the mail that Amtrak had been haul-ing, the Journal said. Transport Topics
KLLM President Liles Retires; CFO Moves Up
Jack Liles, a member of one of the founding families of refrigerated truckload carrier KLLM Transport Services, has retired from daily management of the company but will remain as its chairman, the company said.At the same time, K. William Grothe, the chief financial officer, was named president of the Richland, Miss., carrier, which ranks No. 68 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire trucking firms.
Liles joined the company in 1974 and held a variety of senior management positions, including chairman, chief executive officer and vice president of sales and marketing, KLLM said.
Grothe brings more than 27 years’ experience in finance and accounting to the position, the company said. He had been CFO since July 2003.
KLLM also said Grothe has experience in the computer and telecommunications industries in senior finance and corporate development positions. Transport Topics
Quality Distribution Names New CFO
uality Distribution Inc. said late Tuesday that Richard Marchese was named the company's interim chief financial officer.
Marchese would replace Samuel Hensley, who submitted his resignation as CFO last week effective Sept. 24, the company said in a statment. Marchese would remain as a director of the company, but planned to resign from the audit and corporate governance committees.
Quality Distribution is ranked No. 34 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
