P.M. Executive Briefing - Oct. 31
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wo Cents a Gallon
Navistar to Take $300M 4Q Charge to Cover Restructuring
Restructuring and new product costs - including a new line of high-performance medium trucks and a new generation of diesel engines - is forcing Navistar International Corp. (
The restructuring charge will include the costs related a reduction in force announced earlier this fall, including some lease termination expenses, the company said, according to Reuters. The restructuring charge will also include costs from the exiting of certain operations, associated charges for the disposal of certain assets and the sale of targeted company-owned dealership operations.
John Horne, Navistar's chief, said productivity initiatives resulting from the restructuring will increase the company's short-term cash flow position by as much as $60 million. Transport Topics
Diesel Dropped Last Week by One to Two Cents a Gallon
Diesel prices dropped by about one to two cents a gallon in much of the nation last week, but rose by more than a penny on the West Coast, according to the Energy Information Administration.The U.S. national average stood at 1.629, or 1.9 cents lower than last week.
The largest drop was in the Gulf Coast region, at 2.8 cents. The West Coast region was up by 1.2 cents. California, however, was down - although by only a tenth of a cent. Transport Topics
Tanker Carrier Kenan Transport Gets 11% 3Q Boost, Purchase Offer
Kenan Transport Co. (ref="http://www.truckline.newsalert.com/bin/digest?Symbol=KTCO">KTCO
) announced an 11% increase in earnings for the third quarter as company officials ponder a purchase offer from a petroleum investor group.Revenue for the third quarter of 2000 was $39.5 million compared to $35.5 million for the third quarter of 1999. Net income rose from $1.24 million to $1.4 million, while earnings per share rose 7 cents to $.58 per share for the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based petroleum tanker carrier. Revenue increased 11% in the quarter compared to the third quarter of 1999 through growth with existing customers and the addition of new ones.
Malcolm M. Turner, a Dallas consultant and businessman announced Oct. 24 his proposal to buy a controlling interest. At that time, Kenan stock was trading at around $20 a share, which Turner called undervalued. On Monday, it traded at $23.87 on the Nasdaq. Transport Topics
Aether Says It Aims to Link All Trucks
SAN DIEGO - Technology provider Aether Systems (ref="http://www.truckline.newsalert.com/bin/digest?Symbol=AETH">AETH
) wants to a have a role in connecting every truck in North America to a wireless connection network, one of its officials said here Monday."We are positioned at Aether to leverage our expertise … into transportation, logistics and supply-chain management," said Erik Bleyl, who heads Aether's logistics unit. He said the millions of trucks on the road are his company's market.
The Owings Mills, Md. company took the occasion of the American Trucking Associations annual meeting to unveil to the trucking industry the company's logistics-related offerings. Among them is the Mobile Max2 dual-mode satellite, and cellular tracking and communications system formerly sold by Motient and bought by Aether in September.
The company foresees other applications for truckers that it has been developing for years. It wants to offer companies ways to communicate from any type of cellular or satellite device to any other device,
omputer or communications system, said Bleyl. Daniel L. Whitten, Transport Topics
Qualcomm Unveils Higher-Speed Mobile Links
SAN DIEGO - Qualcomm (ref="http://www.truckline.newsalert.com/bin/digest?Symbol=QCOM">QCOM
) will offer a way to get data at a rate of 2.4 Megabits per second on a hand-held device or cell phone by early 2002 - 20 times faster than the current average Internet connection on a personal computer.An increasing number of truckers use hand-held wireless units, both for trucking business and to conduct personal business while they travel across the country.
The technology, called high data rate, is transmitted through cellular towers. It experiences decreasing speed as a mobile device gets further from a cellular tower, but still will allow drivers to get access to
verything while they are on the move, said a Qualcomm official.
The range for this service typically averages two to five miles from a tower, but can be more than 15 miles in open areas with no building interference.
Qualcomm is developing the service to be independent of any particular cellular network, so it could work anywhere there is cellular service, the official said. Daniel L. Whitten, Transport Topics
Paccar Invests in Wireless Communication Firm
idth=140 align=right>Paccar Inc. (
ref="http://www.truckline.newsalert.com/bin/digest?Symbol=PCAR">PCAR
AES, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, designs and manufactures products that monitor and enhance the performance of transport operations, and has been in business since 1986.
Paccar, is a manufacturer of high-quality light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, DAF and Foden nameplates. It also provides financial services and distributes truck parts related to its principal business. Transport Topics
Fuel Cells: Ballard, Nissan Spending Money
Like the little engine that could, fuel cells seem to be making progress but not yet profits.
Ballard Power Systems' (
ref="http://www.truckline.newsalert.com/bin/digest?Symbol=BLDP">BLDP
Ballard anticipates a boost from the California Air Resources Board's September decision to reaffirm its zero-emission vehicle policy. Early in the quarter, Ballard and XCELLSIS GmbH, a company jointly owned by DaimlerChrysler (
ref="http://www.truckline.newsalert.com/bin/digest?Symbol=DCX">DCX
ref="http://www.truckline.newsalert.com/bin/digest?Symbol=F">F
Meanwhile, Nissan Motor Co. announced an upturn in profits on Monday, along with plans to spend 85 billion yen on a program to develop fuel-cell powered vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Transport Topics
Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing
- Trailer Bridge Reports 3Q Loss
REF="https://www.ttnews.com/members/topNews/0005977.html#story2">Soft Market Results in 3Q Loss for Boyd Brothers
- Cargo Revenues Helped KLM in 2Q
REF="https://www.ttnews.com/members/topNews/0005977.html#story6">Globalstar Wants Trucking Business
REF="https://www.ttnews.com/members/topNews/0005977.html#story3">Viastar, Integra to Offer Fuel-Card Services to North American Truckers
REF="https://www.ttnews.com/members/topNews/0005977.html#story4">American Trucking Associations, NetAlive Launch Wireless Portal
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