P.M. Executive Briefing - Jan. 18
ul>
Union Pacific 4Q Earnings Drop
Union Pacific (), which owns less-than-truckload carrier Overnite Transportation, reported fourth-quarter earnings of $229 million or 90 cents per share. The results matched the numbers predicted by Wall Street analysts, Reuters said. (Click here for today's earnings report from Overnite.)The earnings were lower than last year's fourth quarter, when the railroad posted earnings of $242 million or 95 cents per share.
The company said the slowing U.S. economy and high fuel costs reduced shipment growth. Transport Topics
Caterpillar Reports Increased 4Q Earnings
Caterpillar (), which makes diesel truck engines and construction equipment, reported fourth-quarter earnings of 76 cents per share, compared with 67 cents during the same period last year.The earnings beat Wall Street estimates of 64 cents per share, Reuters said.
However, Caterpillar said it predicts weaker earnings and flat sales in 2001 as a result of a slowing U.S. economy. Transport Topics
Calif. Power Crisis Hits Commerce, Traffic
The rolling electricity blackouts in California's power crisis were hitting an estimated 1 million customers Thursday in the northern half of the state, cutting into business activity and disrupting traffic signals as well as darkening homes, news reports said.That makes it a trucking issue in various ways, from basic traffic slowdowns to disruption of normal shipping and receiving patterns as businesses close.
Calif. Gov. Gray Davis declared an emergency and ordered the state government to buy power from electricity producers and provide it to cash-strapped utilities, while the legislature worked on a bailout plan for the power distributors.
The blackouts first began Wednesday, but Thursday's outages began two hours earlier and affected twice as many people. The Associated Press said traffic lights went out by 10 a.m. in parts of San Francisco, causing traffic to gridlock. The news service carried a photo of a business in the popular Fisherman's Wharf area of that city, displaying a sign that the business was closed for the power outage and would reopen when power came back.
Sacramento, the state capital, was also hit by the rolling blackouts, which could last an hour to 90 minutes. Reports said the northern half of the state was suffering first because of congestion in transmission lines bringing power up from southern California, and because the region lost some electricity supplied from dams in Oregon because of low water levels. Transport Topics
GM to Idle Three Plants Next Week
Car and truck maker General Motors () said Thursday that it would idle three North America plants next week and lay off 2,450 workers, Bloomberg reported. The plants that will be closed are located in Oklahoma City, Orion Township, Mich., and Oshawa, Ontario. The closings are part of GM's plan to cut first-quarter production by 21% or 1.2 million vehicles.
Plant shut-downs reduce the amount of parts shipments to assembly plants and, in turn, cut the number of vehicles to be hauled to dealers.
Transport Topics
Norwegian Co. Building Quebec Plant to Serve GM
Norwegian auto-parts maker Raufoss ASA said Thursday that it plans to build a components plant near Montreal, Quebec, according to La Presse newspaper.The $33 million plant will make alloy and aluminum parts that will go into General Motors () vehicles being constructed at an assembly plant north of Montreal, the article said.
The announcement means Canadian truckers could have more freight to carry between the facilities in the near future.
Raufoss recently signed an agreement with GM to supply aluminum shock absorbers beginning in 2002. Transport Topics
Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing
- Knight Transport Reports Higher 4Q, Yearly Earnings
- Nasdaq Delists PNV
- Study Affirms Causes, Solutions for Ergonomic Injuries
- U.S. Housing Starts End Bad Year on Positive Note
- Rush Trucking Fined $150,000 for Hours Violations
- Crude Oil Prices Steady As Iraq Announces Increase
- DOT Gets $30M Settlement for Bad Highway Pipe
- Jevic Expands Web Site
form method="post" action="http://lists.truckline.com/scripts/submany.pl">
| ||||
