P.M. Executive Briefing - Sept. 21
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As Fuel Prices Go Up, European Truck Sales May Go Down
European truck-making competitors DaimlerChrysler and Volvo both warned Thursday the European truck market could slump like that in the United States if fuel prices stay high, Bloomberg reports. Both companies have seen double-digit drops in U.S. sales this year, the article said.While demand continues to grow in Europe for now, the truck makers warn that rising fuel prices could touch off a truck market slump there such as is being seen in North America, where many companies cannot afford new trucks because fuel prices are eating into their profits, Bloomberg noted.
Diesel prices in Germany have risen 17% in the past year, according to the report. Transport Topics
Summers: Gore's Plan to Tap SPR Could Be Appropriate
U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said Thursday that Vice President Al Gore's plan to loan oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve could be an appropriate move to curb oil costs, Reuters reports.A spokeswoman speaking on Summers' behalf told Reuters that Gore's proposal was one of several "prudent" approaches on the table for using the SPR. Gore had said earlier Thursday he recommends the SPR be used for five-million-barrel loans to oil companies, the article said. Transport Topics
Oklahoma Not OK as Fire Spreads
A wildfire continued to spread across Oklahoma Thursday, and forced a temporary shutdown of Interstate 35, the Associated Press reports.The southbound lanes of the interstate, which runs north-south through the center of the state, were temporarily closed in the southern portion of Oklahoma, near the town of Davis in the Arbuckle Mountains region, the article said.
Almost 40,000 acres have burned across the state, which is extremely dry after more than 50 days without measurable rainfall, AP said. Gusty winds are also helping to fan the flames, according to the article. Transport Topics
Auto Makers, Truckstop Operators Square Off Over Clean Diesel Rules
Auto makers urged that the Environmental Protection Agency's "clean diesel" rules be finalized, while the truck stop and travel plaza industry said those same regulations would drive up diesel prices and should be opposed, organizations representing those industries reported Thursday.The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers told a Senate subcommittee that it encouraged EPA to ignore outside efforts to water down or delay the proposed regulations and to "finalize a strong clean diesel rule by the end fo the year."
On the other hand, NATSO, an organization representing truck stops and travel plazas, said it testified that the EPA plan would cause diesel fuel prices to rise, thus increasing consumer's prices. A member of the group also said the plan could "disrupt the truckstop industry's ability to consistently and reliably acquire highway diesel fuel." Transport Topics
U.S. Rail Intermodal Up Sharply, AAR Says
Intermodal volume at major U.S. railroads jumped again in the latest week compared with the same period in 1999, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Thursday.Intermodal traffic totaled 193,738 trailers and containers last week, a 4.7% increase from the same week last year, AAR said. Trailers dropped 10.1% to 59,120 handled, while containers continued to rise, up 12.9% over 1999 to 134,618 units. That total was the highest of any week on record, AAR said.
Intermodal traffic includes trailers and containers that can be hauled by trucks or trains and involve both transport modes during their trips. Railroads reporting to AAR account for 98% of the country's rail intermodal volume. Transport Topics
Averitt Express Opens New Texas Service Center
Regional transportation and logistics provider Averitt Express has announced the opening of a new service center in Tyler, Texas, south of Interstate 20 in the northeastern portion of the state.The new 10,000-square-foot facility - its ninth in Texas - will allow Averitt to serve the greater Tyler area as well as points within a 100-mile radius, such as Jacksonville, Lufkin and Nacogdoches, the company said.
Averitt will offer less-than-truckload and full-truckload ground service, emergency air freight and overseas freight transportation.
Averitt has more than 80 service centers, serving 50,000 points throughout the southern United States, Canada, Mexico and the Carribean. Transport Topics
German Chancellor Under Pressure From Fuel Prices
Polls show the German government is losing support over the high cost of fuel, putting Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder under increasing pressure, Bloomberg reported Thursday.Schroeder's opponents, the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, said they will take advantage of the situation and collect signatures demanding the government eliminate an "ecological tax" on fuel introduced in 1999, the article said.
Truckers are also making plans to blockade Berlin's main east-west artery Sept. 26 and to stage a four-hour, go-slow convoy across Germany, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
LA Transit Strike Reaches Day 5
Los Angeles' Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus drivers continued their strike Thursday, as their union and MTA continued negotiations, the Los Angeles Times reports.MTA's 450,000 normal passengers scrambled again for alternative transportation, while many businesses continued to see only a fraction of their usual business thanks to the strike, the Times noted.
Two state mediators led the continuing talks while both MTA and the drivers' union reported some progress, the article said. A CNBC report Thursday said many of the striking workers were staging a rally during the day. Transport Topics
NHTSA's Firestone Death Toll Now 101 Humans; 2 Pets Counted Earlier
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed Thursday that a clerical error mistakenly added the deaths of two pets to the list of those linked to Firestone tires, Reuters reports.The agency corrected its U.S. death toll, which now stands at 101 humans, the article said. However, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested the move, saying the animals should have been kept in the official death total.
The error came from a report on a accident in Louisiana; its first page said there were two injuries and two fatalities in the accident, while the second page then specified that two humans were injured and two unspecified pets killed. Transport Topics
Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing
- Oil Price Falls After Gore Says Tap Reserve
- DaimlerChrysler Truck Profit Up, But Only Slightly
- European Union Transport Ministers Can't Agree on Fuel Taxes
- Ontario's Fuel Crisis Deepens
- Circle Shareholders Approve EGL Merger
- Intrenet Completes Latest Information Technology Update
- UPS Now Offers Web-based Return System
- Drug-Testing Consortium Operator Fined for Fraud
- Drivers, Warehouse Workers May Strike West Coast Safeways
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