P.M. Executive Briefing - Nov. 30
ul>
Renault/Volvo Review May Run Past Christmas
A Justice Department antitrust review of AB Volvo's (VOLVY) proposal to take over Renault SA's (13190-PAR) commercial truck making unit will not take place until late December at the earliest, Stark's News Service Interactive reported Thursday.This could push the review into 2001. Volvo got regulatory approval last September from the European Union, although its antitrust agency said approval there depends upon Volvo divesting its holdings in Scania AB, and several other items, Stark's noted.
Renault plans to take a 15% equity stake in Volvo in exchange for Volvo's takeover of its Renault Vehicules Industriels truck unit, Stark's explained. That entity owns Mack Trucks, the third-largest maker and seller of commercial vehicles in North America. Transport Topics
Truckmaker Layoffs Raise Unemployment Figures
Layoffs at truck plants contributed to the highest number unemployment benefit requests in two and a half years, Bloomberg reported.The U.S. Labor Department said 358,000 people made claims at state unemployment offices this week, an increase of 19,000 from last week, the wire service noted.
The layoffs occurred at General Motors, which stopped production for two weeks at its medium-duty truck plant in Janesvillle, Wis., beginning last Monday. About 900 people worked at this plant.
A Ford plant in Avon, Ohio, also idled production for two weeks beginning Monday, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
Tire Association Projects Trends for Truck Tires
Original truck tires shipments will drop in coming years, while replacement tires shipments will grow, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association in its recent industry forecast.Shipments of original equipment medium and wide-base truck tires will decrease by 15.7% to 1.1 million units this year due to slower commercial truck sales. The forecast predicts sales will continue to slow in 2001, although 2002 will experience slight growth.
Replacement tires in the same category will grow by 4.7% in 2000 and continue to grow at 2% each year through 2002, the forecast said. Although the forecast did not specifically indicate why truck replacement tires shipments might increase, it did say that recent recalls brought up replacement tire orders for other vehicles, such as light trucks. Transport Topics
USF Logistics Appoints New CFO
Logistics company USF Worldwide Logistics has appointed Jan Christiansen as its Chief Financial Officer. He is formerly of Panalpina, a Swiss freight forwarder and logistics company.The Itasca, Ill.-based company provides freight forwarding and logistics services. It is a subsidiary of USFreightways Corp. (USFC) Transport Topics
Pa. High Court Says Owner-Operator Ineligible for Workers' Comp
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court has ruled that a trucker who owns and operates his own vehicle cannot receive worker's compensation beneafits, according to the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association.The state's highest court ruled that an owner-operator is considered an independent contractor under the law. Thus, the operator takes responsibility for problems casued by equipment he has leased while doing business.
The decision overruled a lower court's ruling that would have classified almost every owner-operator an employee eligible to receive workers' compensation benefits, PMTA said. Transport Topics
Clinton Could Decide On Oil Exploration in Alaska
Although President Bill Clinton has less than eight weeks in office, he still has the authority to make a major decision concerning Alaskan oil exploration, MSNBC reported.Clinton is currently facing pressure from environmental groups to designate 1.5 million acres of oil-rich land in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a national monument, thus barring any oil exploration or production, the article said. The issue has added significance in light of OPEC's hesitance to increase production and ease high oil prices and recent Iraqi threats to cut exports.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 5.7 billion barrels of oil, or 22 months worth of U.S. oil imports, lie beneath this land.
A decision on whether to make the land a national monument will most likely be passed on to the next administration, the story said. Texas Governor George W. Bush, the Republican presidential nominee, supports the idea of exploring for oil on the land, while Democratic candidate Al Gore opposes exploration, MSNBC reported. Transport Topics
Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing
- Iraq Plans to Stop Oil Exports
- Rep. Hall May be Bush's Energy Pick
- American, United Plan Same-Day Air Parcel Service
- Canadian 3Q Economic Growth Exceeded Expectations
- Boston's "Big Dig" Gets Final Federal Funds
form method="post" action="http://lists.truckline.com/scripts/submany.pl">
| ||||
