Business
Transport Topics business coverage focuses on the financial, economic, and commercial aspects of the modern freight business. Looking at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic forces shaping bottom lines, the news in this category includes labor news, jobs reports, tonnage and sales indicators, operations analysis, money and banking, mergers, acquisitions, e-commerce, bankruptcy, insurance issues, and more.
Internationals Are Recalled to Fix Possible Cable Flaw
Navistar has issued a recall for 21,831 International brand trucks to check for a possible defect that could cause an alternator cable to chafe and potentially lead to an electrical short.
May 14, 2012Western Star Aims to Boost Market Share With New 4700; Another Model to Come
LAS VEGAS — Executives at Western Star Trucks, Daimler AG’s North American niche brand, want to boost U.S. heavy-duty market share toward the 3% level from its current neighborhood of 1.2%, hoping that its new 4700 and another model to come will increase sales toward that level.
May 14, 2012ATA Asks Congress to Prohibit States from Taxing Nonresident Carriers
Congress should pass legislation to prohibit states from imposing business taxes on for-hire interstate carriers unless the carriers have real property in the state or received operating authority from it, American Trucking Associations told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.
May 14, 2012Negotiators Convene on Transportation Bill, but Partisanship Seen Overshadowing Talks
House and Senate negotiators assigned to produce a compromise joint highway bill met last week in their only public meeting before slipping behind closed doors to work out issues ranging from funding to construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
May 14, 2012Intermodal Shipments Up 5.8% to 3.48 Million; Highest 1st-Quarter Total on Record, IANA Says
Accelerating domestic demand pushed up first-quarter rail/truck shipments by 5.8% to 3.48 million, setting a record for the first three months of any year, the Intermodal Association of North America reported.
May 14, 2012Diesel Slips for Fourth Straight Week
Retail diesel prices declined for a fourth week, with the national average dipping 1.6 cents to $4.057 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported, while crude oil futures fell to the lowest levels in three months.
May 14, 2012ATRI Studies Large Truck Rollover Locations
The American Transportation Research Institute last week released findings from the first phase of its three-part research effort aimed at mitigating large truck rollovers.
May 11, 2012Oil Finishes Week at 2012 Low
Oil fell almost $1 a barrel Friday, finishing the week at $96.13, its lowest closing price this year, Bloomberg reported.
May 11, 2012Consumer Confidence Climbs to Four-Year High
Consumer confidence rose to a four-year high this month, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.
May 11, 2012XPO Logistics Reports 1Q Loss, Buys Brokerage Firm
XPO Logistics reported a first-quarter loss and announced its first acquisition, saying it will buy brokerage firm Continental Freight Services for $3.4 million.