News Briefs - April 18
The Latest Headlines:
- DOT to Hold Hearing on DHL Citizenship
- Oil Price Rise on OPEC Call for Less Output
- Intermodal Rail Totals Rise
- U.S. Looking to Build Two New Ohio River Bridges
- Oil Price Rise on OPEC Call for Less Output
DOT to Hold Hearing on DHL Citizenship
The Department of Transportation said Thursday that it would hold a public hearing to determine the citizenship of DHL Airways. An administrative judge will hold the hearing and issue a ruling to DOT by Sept. 2. A spokesman for DOT told Transport Topics that no schedule has been set for the hearing itself.
According to DOT, once the judge takes over the case, he will set the timetable for the hearing.
U.S. rules about airline ownership may prevent the purchase of Airborne Inc. by DHL Airways’ parent company, Deutsche Post AG. Federal law prevents foreign ownership of U.S.-flagged airlines.DHL and Deutsche Post offered to buy Airborne’s ground operations for $1.05 billion. (Click here for related coverage.) Transport Topics
Oil Price Rise on OPEC Call for Less Output
The price of crude oil closed higher Thursday after several members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries called for the cartel to slash production when it meets later in April, Bloomberg said.Crude oil closed at $30.55, up $1.37 for the trading day and a total of 8.6% for the week on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said.
Nymex is closed Friday in observance of Good Friday.
In March, OPEC said that its oil output rose to an 18-month high and that its benchmark basket oil price fell 17% during the month. Transport Topics
Intermodal Rail Totals Rise
The number of intermodal car loadings on America’s railroads rose last week, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.Container loadings outstripped, year-ago totals by 16.3%, AAR said. In the week ended April 5, loadings of containers numbered 142,745, up from 122,765.
Trailer loadings edged higher by 6.3% to 48,763 from 45,891, the group said.
Intermodal is the segment of the railroad industry that most directly competes with long-haul trucking. Transport Topics
U.S. Looking to Build Two New Ohio River Bridges
The Federal Highway Administration said it planned to build two new Ohio River bridges linking Indiana and Kentucky at a cost of $1.9 billion, the Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., reported this week.The federal government will cover 80% of the project's costs, with the remaining 20% paid by the states. Last summer, the governors of Indiana and Kentucky recom-mended that the two new bridges be built.
ndiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon and Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton recommended that highway administration build two bridges - one in downtown Louisville and one upriver - and reconfigure Spaghetti Junction, where Interstates 64, 65 and 71 meet. Transport Topics