P.M. Executive Briefing - Oct. 9
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Three State Trucking Groups Join Cleaner Diesel Push
Three state trucking associations have joined a coalition that supports the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to cut the level of sulfur in diesel fuel down to 15 parts per million in 2006.The California Trucking Association, the New Hampshire Motor Transport Association and the Texas Motor Transportation Association have lent their support to a coalition that also includes International Truck and Engine Corp., the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the American Lung Association.
EPA wants to lower the sulfur level of diesel from its current maximum cap of 500 ppm to enable engine makers to reduce emissions. Much of the advanced pollution control technology being developed by engine makers requires low-sulfur diesel to work.
Among ATA's objections are possible supply problems associated with the lower-sulfur diesel and the fact that EPA does not plan to require the new fuel for off-road diesel users. Jeff Johnson, Transport Topics
U.S. Average Gasoline Prices Fall
A widely followed analyst of the motor fuel market said average gasoline prices at U.S. filling stations fell by more than 3 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, the Associated Press reported.Analyst Trilby Lundberg of The Lundberg Survey said a review of 10,000 stations nationwide found the average price-counting all grades and taxes - was $1.58 per gallon as of Friday, down 3.37 cents.
The fall was generally widespread, although prices rose a bit in the West, AP noted. Self-serve regular unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles area averaged $1.72, up 2.08 cents from two weeks earlier. Lundberg put the national weighted average price of regular unleaded at $1.54 at self-serve pumps.
New Diesel Engine, Power Generator Offered
The "most powerful diesel engine ever produced for a heavy-duty pickup or chassis cab" will debut in the 2001 model year, according to General Motors (GM).The Duramax Diesel 6600 - the product of a joint venture between GM and Isuzu Motors - will be an optional engine on 2001 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 2500HD/3500 Series pickups and chassis-cab models, GM said Monday. A company press release said the engine is expected to help GM "set new industry standards for diesel power, performance, durability, reliability and quiet operation in the growing heavy-duty pickup class."
The AuraGen provides mobile power for users where electricity is not available and generates clean 60 Hz AC power suitable for use with sensitive electronic equipment, a company release said. It has been designated as the AC/DC power generation option for GM Military Trucks' CUCV-III.
General Motors Military Trucks will exhibit the Duramax Diesel 6600 engine with the AuraGen power generation option, Aura Systems Inc., makers of the AuraGen, said Monday. Transport Topics
G.I. Trucking Expands Idaho Operations
G.I. Trucking, a direct less-than-truckload carrier mainly serving the West and Midwest, announced Monday it will open two new service centers Oct. 16, in Boise and Pocatello, Idaho.These new facilities will allow G.I. Trucking to provide overnight delivery between Boise and Spokane, Pocatello, Portland, Salt Lake City and Reno, as well as between Pocatello and Salt Lake City. Second-day delivery will be available between Boise and Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Modesto, Fresno, Seattle and Denver, and between Pocatello and Spokane, Seattle, Portland and Denver.
G.I. Trucking is a subsidiary of Arkansas Best Corp. of Fort Smith, Ark. It also offers transportation services to the United States and Canada through its ExpressLINK North American service network. Transport Topics
L.A. Strikes Extend Beyond Transit Workers
Los Angeles' transportation workers are being joined by other county employees in work stoppages, several news agencies reported this weekend.The Service Employees International Union, representing about 47,000 nurses, clerks and other county workers, began staging one-day job actions last week, Reuters reported. Currently in negotiations to increase pay, the SEIU said it will call a general strike Wednesday if contract talks do not resume, the report said. A strike is planned Tuesday at hospitals such as County-USC Medical Center, according to reports.
Meanwhile, workers for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority entered their 23rd day on strike Monday, as talks continue with their respective unions and MTA, the Associated Press reported. Transport Topics
As Temperatures Drop, Oil Prices Rise
An early Northeast-U.S. cold snap refreshed concerns about U.S. heating oil supplies, driving crude oil prices up 3%, Bloomberg reported Monday.U.S. crude oil went up to $31.80 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange; heating oil rose 2.95 cents to 95.89 per gallon on that same exchange, the article said.
A blast of arctic air brought record low temperatures up and down the Atlantic seaboard, with snow falling in Michigan Sunday and more predicted for other parts of the Northeast Monday, according to a Weather Channel report cited by Bloomberg.
Concerns over the Israeli-Palestinian tensions, which could disrupt production in the oil-rich Middle East, also contributed to the hike in oil prices. Transport Topics
Maquiladoras Re-Invest $800 Million Outside of Mexico
Lack of an efficient transportation infrastructure is one reason mentioned by foreign assembly plant operators in Mexico, known as maquiladoras, for deciding to relocate plants out of Mexico, Reuters reported Monday. Such a move could end up shifting large amounts of freight transportation away from trucks that criss-cross the U.S.-Mexican border and to ocean freight, if the companies take their production overseas.Reuters said newspapers in Mexico City cited an electronics industry official as saying some large firms had already decided to build plants in such competing nations as Thailand and Malaysia instead of Mexico, and that Mexico had lost investments worth $600-$800 million.
Maquiladora plants have sprung up in large numbers at the U.S.-Mexican border in the days since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, the article said. These plants bring in components duty-free and then re-export them. Reuters noted that they mainly make electronics, clothes and auto parts, employ 1.3 million Mexicans and are a major reason Mexico has more than doubled it exports in five years to $135.9 billion in 1999. Transport Topics
DaimlerChrysler Creates E-Commerce Subsidiary
DaimlerChrysler (DCX) announced Monday it has combined all its Internet-related business into a new subsidiary, called DCX Net, Reuters reports.DCX Net will include a DaimlerChrysler e-business, such as business-to-business procurement, business-to-consumer sales and marketing, online navigational and alarm aids and fleet management systems, the article said. Mercedes-Benz cars are now available for sale online, and product information and services have been upgraded, according to Reuters.
The company said it expects cost savings of about 15-30%, Reuters said. Transport Topics
Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing
- Oil Back Up on Israeli-Palestinian Tensions
- GM, Fiat Reported Eyeing Daewoo
- ComRoad Sales 10% Over Forecast
- Grupo Dina Workers Go on Strike
- Vehicle Parts Firm SPX Expecting $76.1 Million Charge
- Three Small Firms Among Those With SPR Contracts
- Ford Says Recall Cost Estimate in "Ballpark"
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