P.M. Executive Summary - Oct. 14
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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M.S. Carriers, Inc. Reports Increase in Revenue, Income and EPS in Third Quarter 1999
M.S. Carriers saw third-quarter operating revenue of $160.4 million, up 17% from the year-earlier quarter, with operating income up 18% to $15.5 million and net income up 21% to $8.6 million. Third-quarter diluted earnings per share were up 20% to 67 cents.The first nine months of 1999 saw revenue up 18% to $456.8 million from the comparable 1998 period, with operating income up 21% to $41.5 million and net income up 23% to $22.7 million. The same period saw earnings per share up 22% to $1.77. Chairman and CEO Mike Starnes says "our Mexican partner, Transportes EASO, is consistently contributing to our earnings." Business Wire (10/14/99)
Trucks Continue to Operate, but Further Unrest is Threatened
Job actions by independent truckers could be in the offing again at ports on the West Coast. Drivers kept working even though Seattle and Tacoma port officials did not address the truckers' 10 demands by the Oct. 1 deadline set by the truckers. But Seattle Union Now spokeswoman Gretchen Donart has warned that the ports could experience the same type of job actions that happened in August.Similar problems are brewing at Los Angeles-Long Beach, the biggest U.S. port complex, where job actions subsequent to the peak shipping season are being discussed by the port truckers.
A Teamsters steering committee has held meetings, with another to come, about possibly unionizing independents all along the West coast, says Chuck Mack, the union's western regional vice president. If such unionization seems possible, the Teamsters intend to meet by January with the truckers. But U.S. law prohibits unionizing the truckers unless they are not longer classified as independent contractors.
Conditions at the Port of Vancouver since its truckers' work stoppage this summer are better now. Since last week, trucking firms cannot serve the port unless they pay their truckers by the hour and the truckers agree to the wage. Terminal operators in the Pacific Northwest have extended gate hours, and railroads have upped capacity and the amount of gates at their Seattle and Tacoma intermodal sites.
Many of the Los Angeles-Long Beach truckers have left trucking altogether, and company heads say the U.S. drayage truckers need better pay and working conditions, not a union. Journal of Commerce (10/14/99) P. 16; Mongelluzzo, Bill
Werner Enterprises Reports Increased Third Quarter Operating Revenues and Earnings
The truckload carrier Werner Enterprises says its operating revenue for the third quarter 1999 was $270.1 million, up 23% from the year-earlier quarter, with earnings per diluted share up 9% to 36 cents.Chairman and CEO Clarence L. Werner says this was the "third consecutive quarter of over 20% revenue growth" as well as "the fourteenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year earnings growth."
Werner also saw 925 truck additions for the first nine months, while the year that ended Sept. 1999 saw $1.004 billion in revenue; as 1999 began, the company had a goal of 900 truck additions and more than $1 billion revenue for 1999. Business Wire (10/14/99)
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Landstar System Reports Another Quarter of Record Earnings and Another Share Repurchase Program
Landstar System set records in net income and revenue for the third quarter 1999, with $12.1 million net income on $351.5 million revenue. That is up from $9.2 million net and $324 million revenue in the year-earlier quarter.Revenue for the carrier group was $269.3 million, for the multimodal services group $75.7 million, and premium revenue for the insurance segment was $6.4 million. The figures for the comparable 1998 period were $247.9 million, $69.9 million, and $6.3 million, respectively. The third-quarter operating margin improved to 6.2% from 5.1%. The 39 weeks that ended Sept. 25 saw net income of $30.3 million, up from continuing-operations income of $23.2 million in the same period of 1998, on revenue of $1 billion, up from $949.7 million. PR Newswire (10/14/99)
USFreightways Reports 52% Increase In Net Income
The third quarter that ended Oct. 2 was the thirteenth quarter in a row that USFreightways saw higher earnings than the comparable quarter the previous year. Net income was a record $29.7 million, up 52% from the year-earlier quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $1.07, up 45% from the thirduarter 1998, while the first nine months saw diluted earnings per share up 38% to $2.68. The third quarter revenue was $572 million, up 21.9%, while the nine-months revenue was up 20.3% to $1.6 billion.
LTL revenue was up 14.6%, and regional trucking, the regional subsidiaries, and the rest of the business units saw increases in operating income. The shutdowns of Preston Trucking and NationsWay were beneficial to regional subsidiaries, says Chairman and CEO Cam Carruth. Business Wire (10/14/99)
Rush Enterprises Inc. Reports Third Quarter Results
Peterbilt and John Deere dealership operator Rush Enterprises says it saw gross revenues of $214.8 million for 1999's third quarter, up 39.9% from the year-earlier quarter, with net income of $4.2 million, up 45.9%.Revenues for the heavy-truck segment rose from $136.2 million to $183.2 million, with 1,428 new truck deliveries and 509 used truck deliveries. Sales for parts, service, and body shop were $29 million, up 8.4%. For the first nine months, total revenues increased to $582.1 million from $445.6 million in the year-earlier period, with net income of $11.4 million, up from $7 million. Business Wire (10/12/99)
Oshkosh Truck to Axquire Heay-Metal Fabricator, Kewaunee Engineering; Important Move Toward Vertical Intergration
Specialty truckmaker Oshkosh Truck Corp. has agreed to purchase Kewaunee Engineering Corp.'s manufacturing assets. Oshkosh expects to have better vertical integration following the acquisition of Kewaunee, which makes heavy-steel components.Oshkosh Truck President and CEO Robert G. Bohn says the deal "gives Oshkosh control over a significant portion of heavy metal machining and weldement requirements" and adds "flexibility for our internal fabrication capacity and presents a good opportunity to expand fabricated parts sales."
Following the sale, Kewaunee Engineering will be run as a wholly-owned subsidiary under the name Kewaunee Fabrications LLC. Kewaunee already makes aerial-device components for fire equipment made by Oshkosh subsidiary Pierce Manufacturing. Excite News Online (10/12/99)
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