Business

About Business News...

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.

Business

FedEx Facing $319 Million in Back Taxes After IRS Audit

FedEx Corp. may have to pay $319 million in back taxes and penalties for misclassifying its ground-delivery workers as contractors in 2002, Bloomberg reported.

December 26, 2007
Business, Equipment

Volvo Recalling 125,000 Class 8 Trucks in North America

Volvo Trucks North America is recalling 125,000 heavy-duty trucks because of faulty circuit breakers that could cause a fire, Bloomberg reported.

December 26, 2007
Business

Daimler Finance Chief Sees Slow ’08 for U.S. Truck Sales

Daimler Financial Services Americas may make fewer loans to finance purchases of commercial trucks in 2008, and its chief executive officer sees a slow year ahead for U.S. truck sales, Bloomberg reported.

December 26, 2007
Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety

Oshkosh Truck Wins $179.3 Million Army Contract

Specialty truck maker Oshkosh Truck Corp. won a $179.3 million U.S. Army contract for heavy equipment mobility truck systems, Bloomberg reported.

December 26, 2007
Government, Business, Fuel

Oil Rises to Near $95 a Barrel

Oil prices rose to near $95 a barrel early Wednesday on forecasts that crude inventories will continue to decline, the Associated Press reported.

December 26, 2007
Business, Government, Safety

Trucking in 2007 Faced Economic, Regulatory Challenges

Trucking faced challenges on all fronts in 2007 as credit woes curtailed economic activity, a federal appeals court overturned key provisions of rules governing driver hours and truck equipment suppliers endured another precipitous — but not unexpected — sales slump

December 24, 2007
Business, Government, Equipment

November Truck Sales Fall 54.3%

Class 8 truck sales in the United States continued to scrape along the bottom in November, with original equipment manufacturers selling 10,309 vehicles — down 54.3% from the 22,539 they sold a year ago.

December 24, 2007
Government, Business, Safety

Lautenberg Pans Revised HOS; Advocacy Groups Go to Court

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s panel on surface transportation called the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s revised hours-of-service rule “a sham,” while advocacy groups asked a federal court to once again overturn portions of the rule.

December 24, 2007
Business, Government, Safety, Technology, Equipment

YRC Gains Labor Flexibility

On the heels of YRC Worldwide’s settlement with the Teamsters union on a new five-year labor contract with in-creased work-rule flexibility, ABF Freight System said it will offer an ambitious proposal to spend about $825 million to “withdraw from all of the 27 multi-employer pension plans to which we contribute.”

December 24, 2007
Business, Safety, Government

TTNews.com to Close for Christmas

Transport Topics Online will be closed Wednesday through Friday for the Christmas holiday. Please check back on Monday, Dec. 29, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

December 23, 2007