News Briefs - April 1
The Latest Headlines:
- NHTSA Finalizes Light-Truck Fuel Efficiency Standard
- EGL Acquires Miami International Forwarders
- Cummins to Delay 10-K Filing on Accounts Payable Change
- Bonasso Named Acting Head of RSPA
- Crude Prices Fall on Cancelled Nigerian Strike
- Job Cut Announcements Fall in March
- EGL Acquires Miami International Forwarders
NHTSA Finalizes Light-Truck Fuel Efficiency Standard
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday that it has finalized its rules, forcing light trucks to meet tougher fuel efficiency standards.NHTSA said that under the new rule, which was first proposed in the Dec. 13, 2002 issue of the Federal Register, would boost corporate average fuel economy or CAFE standards to 21 miles per gallon in model year 2005 from the current 20.7 mpg level. In model year 2006, the CAFE limit would be extended to 21.6 mpg and finally in 2007, light trucks would be required to meet a standard of 22.2 mpg.
The new standard would apply to pickup trucks, vans and sport-utility vehicles – all of which are used by the trucking industry in some capacity. Transport Topics
EGL Acquires Miami International Forwarders
EGL Inc., a supply chain management and transportation services company, said Tuesday that it has acquired Miami International Forwarders Cos.Miami International, a private freight forwarder, specializes in logistics in Florida, particularly of apparel shipments. Last year, Miami International reported generating $23.6 million in revenue.
Under the terms of the deal, Houston-based EGL acquired "substantially all of the operating assets" of Miami International for an undisclosed cash sum. Transport Topics
( for the full press release.)
Cummins to Delay 10-K Filing on Accounts Payable Change
Heavy-duty diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. said that it was delaying filing its 10-K annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission because of an error in calculating its accounts payable.The Columbus, Ind.-based company said it may have understated its accounts payable by about $23 million before taxes.
Cummins said it was discussing a non-cash change to its financial statement with the SEC, and that it would file a 10-K “as soon as practicable.”
The restatement is the second adjustment Cummins has had to make in past seven months. In October, the company had to adjust its earnings per share figures for the third quarter of 2002. (Click here for related coverage.)
The company said that its fourth-quarter profit of $47 million doesn’t reflect the accounts payable error. The error was the result of a new computer system at some its factories, the company said. Transport Topics
( for the full press release.)
Bonasso Named Acting Head of RSPA
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta named Samuel G. Bonasso the new acting administrator of the Research and Special Programs Administration.RSPA oversees the “safe and secure movement of hazardous materials to industry and consumers by all modes of transportation,” the DOT said in a release. RSPA also handles research relating to transportation technology and responses to transportation emergencies.
The former secretary of transportation for West Virginia, Bonasso was named RSPA deputy administrator on Nov. 11, 2002 and became acting administrator on March 24 when Administrator Ellen G. Engleman left to become the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. Transport Topics
Crude Prices Fall on Cancelled Nigerian Strike
Crude oil prices closed down 4% on the New York Mercantile Exchange after labor unions in Nigeria agreed to call of a strike that was threatening oil supplies, Bloomberg said.Changes in crude oil prices often can force changes in the price of motor fuels like diesel and gasoline.
More than a third of Nigeria's oil output was already halted because of ethnic violence, but a general strike would have choked off oil shipments entirely, Bloomberg said. Many analysts believed that if both Nigeria and Iraq were unable to provide oil to the market, then there would likely be supply shortages.
The decline of $1.50 a barrel from Monday's closing price on the Nymex for Crude oil for May delivery left the price at $29.80. Transport Topics
Job Cut Announcements Fall in March
The number of job cuts announced by U.S. employers fell in March, a private survey said Tuesday.The survey by job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. showed that companies said they would fire 85,396 workers during March. That figure is the lowest in six months, the survey said.
The total for march was down about 17% from March 2002 when more than 102,000 firings were announced.
For the first quarter, which ended Monday, companies announced 355,795, the lowest quarterly total since the first quarter of 2000, the company said. Transport Topics