News Briefs - Aug. 1
The Latest Headlines:
- ATA Voices Support for Intermodal Safety Act
- June Personal Spending, Incomes Both Rise
- Roadrunner Sell Controlling Interest of Company
- CF to Auction 25 Terminals
- Intermodal Rail Traffic Rises in Latest Week
- Pacer Says Underwriters Exercise Stock Option
- June Personal Spending, Incomes Both Rise
ATA Voices Support for Intermodal Safety Act
The American Trucking Associations on Thursday said it supports the Intermodal Equipment Safety and Responsibility Act of 2003, which was introduced in the House.The bill, sponsored by Henry Brown (R-S.C.) and Richard Baker (R-La.), would improve the safety of chassis and trailers interchanged with truckers at ports and rail terminals by ensuring the equipment provided to truckers is in compliance with current federal safety requirements.
It would "close a decades old safety loophole by requiring providers of more than 800,000 intermodal chassis and trailers to be accountable for inspecting, repairing and maintaining the equipment they control," said ATA Chief Executive Bill Graves. Transport Topics
June Personal Spending, Incomes Both Rise
U.S. personal spending increased 0.3% in June, the Commerce Department reported Friday, as an 0.3% rise in incomes spurred optimism about the economic outlook,An increase in personal spending would also increase the demand for trucking services to restock shelves in the months ahead.
June marked the fourth straight month that spending had increased. Incomes rose 0.3% for the second straight month.
Spending on services, which account for half of the report, declined 0.1% when adjusted for prices, while purchases of durable goods increased 0.7% in value. Transport Topics
Roadrunner Sell Controlling Interest of Company
Less-than-truckload carrier Roadrunner Freight Systems Inc. and majority owner Nautic Partners LLC said that a controlling interest had been sold to American Capital Strategies Ltd.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The management team of Roadrunner will retain 25% ownership in the company, the company said in a release.
The company said sales for 2003 would be about $140 million.
Roadrunner is ranked No. 100 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
CF to Auction 25 Terminals
Bankrupt less-than-truckload carrier Consolidated Freightways Corp. said it would auction 25 properties Aug. 14 as part of its liquidation of assets to pay off about $1 billion in liabilities it had when it filed for bankruptcy last year.In a statement, CF said it expected the auction to generate about $24.5 million.
Appraisal values ranged from $5.3 million for a 91-door terminal on 14.3 acres in Newark, N.J., to $60,000 for a four-door terminal in Cedar City, Utah.
On July 17, CF auctioned 12 properties generating $9.1 million. The company has auctioned nearly half of its 220 properties in recent months, generating $227.9 million.
Twelve more properties are tentatively scheduled for auction Sept. 10, which could generate about $17.9 million. Alicia Borlik
This story appeared in the July 28 print edition of Transport Topics.
Intermodal Rail Traffic Rises in Latest Week
Intermodal traffic on the nation's railroads once again outperformed last year's pace in the most latest week, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.Railroading, like commercial trucking, is considered an important economic indicator. Intermodal traffic, which tends to be merchandise rather than bulk commodities, is more directly competitive with trucking and more reflective of the state of the economy.
The AAR said 197,145 trailers and containers were loaded in the week ended July 26, which was up 3.3% from the corresponding week a year ago.
For the first 30 weeks of the year, trailer and container loadings totaled 5.6 million, which is 6.1% above last year's pace. Transport Topics
Pacer Says Underwriters Exercise Stock Option
Transportation and logistics firm Pacer International Inc. said Friday that underwriters have decided to partially exercise their over-allotment option to purchase 294,110 additional shares from selling shareholders.The shares would complete the secondary offering at almost 7.3 million shares, which were offered to the public at $20 per share.
Pacer said it would not not receive any of the proceeds of the offering. The sale is expected to close on Aug. 4.
Pacer is ranked No. 14 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
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