P.M. Executive Briefing - Dec. 11
ul>
Racial Allegations Hit American Freightways
American Freightways (AFWY) has been hit with a lawsuit filed by former employees who allege the company prevented blacks from being promoted, according to the Associated Press.The suit was filed Dec. 5 in Memphis, Tenn., the home of FedEx Corp. (FDX), which recently agreed to buy AF.
Loading dock employees were kept from being promoted into supervisory positions, and a terminal at Memphis kept bathrooms racially segregated, the suit alleges, according to AP. Sixteen plaintiffs filed suit, all but two still work at the company, and only one was a driver, the story said.
Energy Shortages Hitting Factory Production in Canada, Mexico
Trucking companies may face fewer loads in the coming months due to shortages of energy and water, two reports in the Monday Wall Street Journal indicate.In Mexico, dozens of factories are shutting temporarily due to high prices of natural gas, the paper said. That fuel has jumped in price by 250% since January, hitting makers of glass, chemicals, steel and other metals particularly hard, the paper said.
In Canada, Alcan Aluminum plans to cut aluminum production at its Kitimat, B.C., smelter by 18% for at least 10 months, according to the Journal. The facility is also suffering an energy crunch as water for hydroelectric power is lacking, the paper said. Transport Topics
Shareholders Sue to Stop American Freightways Sale
American Freightways (AFWY) has been hit with a class-action suit that challenges its sale to FedEx Corp. (FDX), the Associated Press reported.Hundreds of stockholders have suffered because the defendants - the company and board members - failed to disclose information and took action to halt or head off other offers, the suit claimed.
The court will decide if those company decisionmakers benefited themselves at the expense of the shareholders, and if the transaction should be stopped, AP reported.
FedEx agreed last month to pay $950 million cash and stock and assume $250 million in debt to acquire AF. Transport Topics
Indian Postal Strike Boosts Private Sector Deliveries
Delivery companies operating in India - including DHL Worldwide Express and a FedEx (FDX) affiliate - are seeing a surge in document delivery business because of a seven-day strike by that nation's postal workers, Bloomberg News reported Monday.DHL has seen a positive effect on its document business, and Blue Dart Express, a FedEx partner, has seen its document traffic rise by 2%, Bloomberg said.
United Parcel Service (UPS) and TNT Express partner Elbee Services are also reporting document boosts, according to Bloomberg.
The post office - which is also the country's largest savings bank - delivers many communications that would be handled by telephone, since the country only has three phones per 100 people, according to Bloomberg. Transport Topics
Midwestern States Brace for Blizzard
The Midwest may get a foot of snow Monday, and northern parts of Illinois and Indiana are under blizzard warnings, the Associated Press reported.The Illinois Department of Transportation said a number of interstates in western parts of the state were substantially covered with ice or snow Monday afternoon. Parts of Interstates 72, 74, 80, 88 and 90 were snow-covered, while interstates in and around Chicago had patchy ice and snow.
In Iowa, most school districts called off class Monday, and ice-covered roads brought school closings in Kansas, Oklahoma and parts of Missouri, according to AP.
Central Illinois had freezing rain, AP said. Transport Topics
Analyst Gets Temp Insight at Amazon.com
Warehouse managers should beware - a Wall Street spy could be on the shop floor.Amazon.com (AMZN) carefully guards its sales and operations information during the Christmas season, so a stock analyst decided to get an up-close look by working as a temp for a day, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Although the analyst identified himself on an employment application as an employee of a major Wall Street firm, the temp agency did not seem to notice - but did give him a drug test before sending him to an Amazon.com facility in Delaware, the article said.
The Journal said the analyst was impressed by Amazon's operation and gave them a favorable report. The analyst said he has no plans to quit his day job. Transport Topics
Patriot Transportation Reports Decreased Earnings
Flatbed and tank truck carrier Patriot Transportation Holding reported earnings of $130,000 for its fourth quarter or 4 cents per share compared to $1,906,000 or 56 cents per share during the same period last year.The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company said high costs of fuel and insurance contributed to its decreased earnings. Transport Topics
Con-Way Southern Opens Freight Handling Center
Less-than-truckload carrier Con-Way Southern Express announced Monday that it has opened a new freight-handling center in Birmingham, Ala. The 62,000-square-foot, 100-door service center will handle freight for 560 delivery lanes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. The Forth Worth, Texas-based company opened a similar freight handling center in Richmond, Va. last month. Transport Topics
Arkansas to Build Stretch of I-49
The Arkansas Highway Commission voted late last week to spend $94 million in federal dollars to build a part of Interstate 49 in the southwestern part of the state near Texarkana, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.Arkansas officials hope the highway will pressure Louisiana officials to extend its section of 1-49 north from Shreveport to the Arkansas-Louisiana border, the article said. Transport Topics
Bad Persian Gulf Weather Keeps Oil in Iraq
Although Iraq settled a conflict over oil prices with the United Nations, bad weather has blocked resumption of oil exports as of late Sunday, the Associated Press reported.Iraq exports 2.3 million barrels of oil daily, about 3% of global exports.
Iraq stopped exporting oil beginning Dec. 1 when its demand for buyers to pay an extra 50 cents per barrel of oil was not met. The dispute was settled on Friday and Iraq agreed to comply with UN standards. Transport Topics
Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing
- Crude Oil Prices Rise Despite Iraq Settlement
- DaimlerChrysler to Restructure Truck Units
- Freightliner Threatens to Shut Plant Unless Workers Ratify Contract
- FreightPro.com Nets $7M in Second Round of Financing
- Genetic Corn Disruption Finally Hits Trucking
form method="post" action="http://lists.truckline.com/scripts/submany.pl">
| ||||
