News Briefs - Aug. 29
The Latest Headlines:
- Price of Crude Oil Declines in Latest Week
- Quality Distribution Plans IPO
- USDA Begins Easing Ban on Canadian Beef Imports
- ArvinMeritor Extends Offer for Dana
- Donohue Calls for Strengthening of Nafta
- Personal Spending, Incomes Rise Again in July
- Port of Miami Temporarily Closed After Leak
- Truck Tonnage Index Increases in July
- Intermodal Loads Rise 0.5%, AAR Says
- Quality Distribution Plans IPO
Price of Crude Oil Declines in Latest Week
The price of crude oil in New York ended the latest trading week down almost 1%, Bloomberg reported Friday.Crude for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange finished Friday up 7 cents to $31.57 after a car bomb killed a leading Shiite Muslim cleric in Iraq, stirring concern that unrest will delay the return of the nation's oil exports.
Crude is distilled down to motor fuels like diesel and gasoline, both of which are used to power the trucking industry.
Quality Distribution Plans IPO
ArvinMeritor Inc., the world's biggest maker of axles for commercial trucks, has extended its $2.2 billion hostile offer for Dana Corp. until Oct. 2, Bloomberg reported Friday.Last month Dana's board of directors rejected the offer. Arvin is offering $15 a share for the rival vehicle parts maker. (Click here for previous coverage.)
ArvinMeritor said it would work with regulators to resolve any competition concerns, which may require the sale of part of the company's commercial vehicle axle unit or other businesses, Bloomberg said. Transport Topics
USDA Begins Easing Ban on Canadian Beef Imports
The U.S. Agriculture Department on Thursday issued the first permits for imports of Canadian beef since trade was suspended in May because of a confirmed case of mad cow disease, news services reported.However, it would likely be several more days before trucks carrying beef from Canada would cross the border because a few details still needed to be ironed out.
Before the trade ban, Canada was selling about $1.1 billion worth of beef and $1.1 billion worth of live cattle to the United States annually, Reuters said.
Relaxing the ban will allow Canada to ship about 40% of its normal value of beef, USDA officials have estimated. Transport Topics
ArvinMeritor Extends Offer for Dana
Quality Distribution Inc., which transports chemicals by tanker trucks, said it would raise as much as $132.3 million in an initial public offering.The company did not say how many shares it plans to sell or at what price. It plans to use the proceeds to help repay borrowings of about $368.9 million, Bloomberg reported.
In the six months to June, Quality Distribution had net income of $6.3 million on sales of $280.4 million, compared with a net loss of $39 million on sales of $257.8 million the previous year.
Quality is ranked No. 34 on the 2003 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Ca-nadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
Donohue Calls for Strengthening of Nafta
The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday that the United States and Mexico should strengthen the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, including finding ways to let both Mexican and American trucks deliver goods throughout both nations, the Associated Press reported.Speaking at a business forum in Mexico City, Thomas Donohue said the 9/11 terrorist attacks and resulting focus on security left NAFTA in a state of "suspended animation." Donohue is a former president of American Trucking Associations.
Donohue said the Nafta agreement was a huge success, but increasing global competition and changing conditions required new efforts by the United States, Mexico and Canada to ensure its strength, AP said. Transport Topics
Personal Spending, Incomes Rise Again in July
U.S. personal spending rose 0.8% in July to $7.7 trillion, while incomes grew 0.2%, the Commerce Department reported Friday.An increase in personal spending would also increase the demand for trucking services to restock shelves in the months ahead.
This was the fifth straight month spending has grown, as the $350 billion tax cut boosted disposable personal income, Commerce said.
June's personal spending was revised up to 0.6% from 0.3%. Transport Topics
Port of Miami Temporarily Closed After Leak
The Port of Miami was closed for about two hours Friday morning because of an ammonia leak from a container, the Associated Press reported.The leak snarled rush-hour traffic near downtown as roads into and around the port were closed. Miami is a major cargo port, with more than 8 million tons passing through annually, AP said.
Ammonia is a corrosive and can cause burns when touched or vapors are inhaled, and prolonged exposure can be fatal.
The port was reopened after the leak was stopped and the vapor dissipated, AP said. Transport Topics
Truck Tonnage Index Increases in July
American Trucking Associations said Thursday that its seasonally adjusted truck tonnage index for July increased 5.4% to 155.6. ATA also said that compared with July 2002, its unadjusted index increased 2.3%.Last month's jump was in addition to a revised 1.9% increase in June and was the second consecutive monthly rise in the index.
For the first seven months of 2003, the truck tonnage index was 3.7% higher than the first seven months of 2002.
Bob Costello, ATA's chief economist, said in a statement July truck freight volumes are often negatively impacted by the manufacturing plants that shut down for a week or two to retool assembly lines. Transport Topics
Intermodal Loads Rise 0.5%, AAR Says
Intermodal traffic on the nation's railroads continued to outperform last year, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.Railroading, like trucking, is 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 198,254 trailers and containers were loaded in the week ended Aug. 23, which was up 0.5% from the corresponding week a year ago.
So for this year, trailer and container loadings totaled almost 6.36 million, which is 5.5% above last year's pace. Transport Topics
Ìý