TRUCKING REVENUE TOPS $300 BILLION
Total revenue from all facets of transportation including trucking, couriers, messengers, and warehousing and storage reached $312 billion in 2006, up from $293 billion in 2005. Commercial trucks traveled 92 billion miles in 2006, with revenues of $220 billion. Motor carrier revenue was $204 billion with 67% from long-distance trucking and the remainder on local trucking. 

INTERNATIONAL CARGO WITH US AIRLINES GROWS
International air cargo traffic with US airlines grew 4.3% in October, the strongest expansion of the year. This was the result of rapid growth in the Atlantic and Pacific markets. Domestic cargo traffic also grew, increasing 1.1% but remained down 0.3 percent for the first 10 months. Overall air cargo traffic was up 2.8% in October. Charlotte has experienced a seasonal surge in air cargo. A UPS cargo plane carries an average of 90,000 pounds of packages to the UPS sorting center at Charlotte/Douglas.

PILOTS MIGHT GET TO FLY LONGER
The Senate has voted to extend the retirement age for commercial pilots to 65. The bill would change the Federal Aviation Administration regulation forcing pilots to retire at 60. The legislation would put the US retirement age in line with international standards adopted in 2006. International practices from US airports to foreign destinations require that flights must have at least one pilot under age 60.

LUFTHANSA BUYS 19% STAKE IN JETBLUE
Germany’s biggest airline, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, is paying $300 billion for a 19% interest in JetBlue Airways Corp. JetBlue has lost about two-thirds of its value since an operational meltdown last February. The moves comes with a much stronger euro vs. the dollar, which makes some US companies seem bargains to European buyers. Of course, the cash was very welcome by JetBlue. JetBlue has $433 million in current debt. A Lufthansa nominee will be appointed to the JetBlue board of directors. 

EFFECTS ON ECONOMY REFLECT COST OF GASOLINE
A record jump in gasoline prices in November pushed up wholesale inflation at the fastest pace in more than 30 years, while retail sales showed unexpected strength. The Labor Department said that wholesale prices rose by 3.2% the biggest increase in 34 years. The jump reflected a 34.8 percent surge in gasoline prices. Outside energy and food, core inflation posted a 0.4% increase, doubling the expectation. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales increased by 1.2% or much better than expected. 

HIGH DRIVER TURNOVER SHOULD HELP DRIVE CONSOLIDATION
The third quarter figures from 2007 revealed that truckload driver turnover went from 113% to 116%. Driver turnover remains very high in spite of lower freight volume the last 5 quarters. Driver pay is likely to go up in 2008, which may drive consolidation. The number of workers between the ages of 21-44 is expected to grow just 0.2% annually or one fifteenth of the long-term US GDP growth rate. Equipment repossessions are also on the rise due to carriers going out of business because of high fuel prices and operating and maintenance costs. 

ELECTRIC TRUCKS TO BE BUILT IN US 
Darren Kell, CEO of Smith parent company The Tanfield Group PLC in Great Britain, has announced that Smith Electric Vehicles will establish a factory in the US to produce up to 10,000 battery-powered trucks in a year, starting in 2010. The vehicles range in size from 7,000 pounds to 25,000 pounds and can reach a top speed of 50 miles an hour and operate with a range of about 150 miles on a single battery charge. Kell said that research showed a potential market in the US of about 200,000 units a year for commercial electric vehicles. Smith also operates a facility in Fresno CA that has the capacity to produce 1,000 vehicles a year. Oil companies won’t like this.

SOME LANCE FOODS TO BE ORGANIC
Longtime League member Lance Foods has announced that it has purchased a minority interest in Late July Snacks LLC, a privately held organic snack food company. Lance is moving to create a presence among organic foods. The company already owns Cape Cod, which offers potato chips that have less fat than regular chips. Late July Snacks specializes in creating organic versions of classic snacks such as chocolate sandwich cookies, saltine crackers and cheese crackers. Glenn Patcha, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Lance said, “We want to enhance our portfolio to offer more healthy and better-for-you products”. The company will also offer a reduced-fat version of the popular Toasty sandwich cracker next year. Lance, started in 1913, has seen sales double in the past 20 years, to $748 million in 2006. Lance employees about 4,800 persons at its factory in Charlotte. 

LOWES GOING INTERNATIONAL 
Lowe’s has opened its first three Canadian stores in Brantford, Hamilton and Brampton, Ontario. Lowe’s has also announced its intention to open six to 10 stores this fiscal year, which ends Feb.1 and with as many as 100 stores in Canada eventually. Each new store will create up to 175 local jobs and represents an average investment of nearly $19 million (Canadian). Lowe’s also plans to open two stores in Monterrey Mexico in 2009. Lowe’s has 1,425 stores in 49 states, employing at least 210,000 people. It had sales of $46.9 billion in 2006. 

HOLIDAY GIFTS HIJACKED
A gunman hijacked a FedEx delivery truck loaded with Christmas gifts December 22 in Manhattan NY. The driver was found later in Brooklyn and was unhurt. The truck was an 18-wheeler and one of the biggest in the FedEx fleet and was found later abandoned in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Jim McCluskey, a spokesman for FedEx, stated that no packages were missing. Amazing! No arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified. 

$9,000 DONATION FROM HORIZON LINES
Horizon Lines has announced a $9,000 donation to the BBBS. The donation will benefit 30 mentors and 30 mentees from the agency. Those present for the donation included Kevin Gill and Kristin Ignatz of Horizon Lines and Tommy Barrett and Carol Lee, Big Brothers/Big Sisters. 

FREIGHTLINER UNIT MOVES TO SOUTH CAROLINA
Freightliner LLC has leased a building in Ft. Mill from Koll Development Co. Freightliner plans to move a sales and marketing division into the building in July, said Larry Wilson, Koll’s president of the Southeast Division. Freightliner plans to lease space until it can develop its own campus nearby. Freightliner will move about 340 jobs from its headquarters in Portland OR. 

NC SPENDS $1.2 BILLION YEARLY TO LURE NEW BUSINESS
The state of NC has spent $3.7 billion in the past three years in incentives to lure new business. About 90% of that figure comes in tax breaks. The state will spend at least $1.2 billion in 2007. The state also spent $1.2 billion in incentives for 2006. NC Sen. David Hoyle (Gaston County) said, “That is a lot of money. Are we getting $1.2 billion of benefit from it? I probably doubt it.” 

TRUCKERS AT PORTS BREATHE POOR-QUALITY AIR
Condensed from an article in the Virginia Port Authority Intermodal News: Kristopher Hanson reports that truck drivers breathe up to 2,000 times more polluted than federally accepted clean air levels, leading to increased cancer, asthma and lung disease risks, a health study shows. The report, taken from monitored air quality inside diesel truck cabs serving the Port of Oakland, was released just days before state regulators consider adopting tough new standards on diesel trucks operating in and near California’s largest seaports. “We’re hoping new regulations will be adopted to help”, stated Adrian Martinez of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental organization. The devices recorded black carbon levels inside working port trucks as they traveled over highways, surface streets, marine terminals and truck yards from early July to mid-September. Models ranged from a high polluting 1981 diesel rig to a 2001 truck fueled by liquefied natural gas. Other trucks from the mid-1980s, 90s, and 2000s were measured. Black carbon levels averaged more than 10 times higher than in air measured outside, indicating that the trucks exhaust were affecting interior air quality. Older trucks were understandably more polluting. A plan is in place to phase out all pre-2007 diesel rigs from the state’s seaports and rail-yards within a decade. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are considering more aggressive rules that ban all pre-2007 trucks by 2012, reducing particulate levels in local communities by 80 percent in five years. Another source reports that the proposed laws in California would force operators of cargo ships and other large vessels to use land-based electric power while docked.

VIRGINIA PORT ID CARDS TO APPEAR IN 2008
Thousands of maritime workers in Hampton Roads will soon be required to apply for a new federal identification card to gain entry to the region’s ports. The Department of Homeland Security will be issuing the cards and has announced that all port workers at terminals in Newport News, Portsmouth and Norfolk would begin between January and March. As part of security legislation passed by Congress after the 2001 terrorist attacks, port workers must pass an FBI background check and submit a fingerprint to receive the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC. This is an expensive and frustrating program according to Ed Merkle, security director for the Virginia Port Authority. The cards include a photo, an embedded chip, a bar code and magnetic stripe. Cost is $132.50 each and are valid for five years. Some employers will cover the cost such as the Virginia Port Authority’s 148 member staff. Payment by other employees is still uncertain.

ON A TYPICAL DAY FOR THE US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION
Excerpts from a typical day for US Customs and Border Protection:
*1,181,605 passengers and pedestrians, including 630,976 aliens are processed
*69,370 trucks, rail and sea containers are processed
*333,226 incoming privately owned vehicles are processed
*$81,834,298 fees, duties and tariffs are collected
*62 arrests are made at ports of entry
*2,187 pounds of narcotics in 65 seizures at ports of entry
*869 non-citizens are refused entry
*206 fraudulent documents are intercepted
*8,075 vehicles, 263 aircraft, 200 watercraft and 202 equestrian patrols are deployed
*more than 5,000 border miles with Canada, 1,900 border miles with Mexico and 95,000 miles of shoreline are protected. Note: for a complete list of a “typical day” for US Customs & Border Protection please contact the league office with your fax number 

TACA TRADE AGREEMENT-EASTBOUND TARIFF GENERAL RATE INCREASE
TACA wishes to advise its customers of an eastbound general tariff increase effective February 1, 2008:
Dry van and temperature controlled containers: traffic from via Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coast Ports
$400 per 20-foot container
$500 per 40-ft/45-ft container
WM $25.00
Participants Atlantic Container Line AB, Maersk Line, MSC, Nippon Yusen and OOCL
Justification: severe demands on vessel space and container availability, coupled with the additional costs of re-positioning containers for growing US exports.

INCREASED BUNKER FUEL COSTS
Ceva has announced an increased emergency bunker fuel cost for ocean carriers from Asia to North and South America. The increase will appear in the new CEVA tariff effective January 6, 2008:
$240 per 20 ft and $340/40HC

HIGH COST OF REPAIRING INFRASTRUCTURE
From an article in Transport Topics: Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski urged Congress and Oregon business leaders to support a replacement for the aging I-5 Interstate Bridge across the Columbia river, saying it has become a serious bottleneck to West Coast traffic and shipping that will hurt the national economy. The bridge was built in 1917 with an expansion in 1958. A task force has estimated traffic congestion could double to 13 hours a day by 2030 without any changes in improvements. Kulongoski also said that Washington State would have to help finance a new bridge. Estimated cost of the new bridge: $4.2 billion, which is only $4,200 million. Expensive!

PERU DEAL OK’D
The US-Peru free trade agreement passed the Senate 77 to 18 on Dec. 3 following November House approval by a vote of 285 to 132.

CHINA AGREES TO END SUBSIDIES
China has agreed to end subsidies that the US alleged were illegal under WTO rules, the USTR announced Nov. 29. Kevin Kearns, president of the US Business and Industry Council, stated “The Chinese had already decided to end tax breaks for foreign companies for purely domestic reasons. Washington has simply wasted time and US taxpayers’ money.”

DIESEL FUEL SHORTAGE IN CHINA
Diesel fuel shortages in China have led to the rationing of fuel and is being blamed on refining capacity due to price controls. Oil refiners are losing money because of price controls that block them from passing on soaring crude costs to consumers, and they have refrained from investing in expanding refining capacity. The communist government sets diesel and gasoline prices and has held them steady as crude prices climb. Communism at its best.

AMB LEASES 590,000 SQ FT TO DHL EXEL
AMB Property has announced that it has leased 590,000 sq ft in North America, Europe, and Asia to DHL Exel Supply Chain, A Deutsche Post World Net company. The lease includes 491,000 in a development project located near the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. In Europe, DHL fully leased an 85,000 sq ft facility at the Port of Rotterdam to support its freight transportation.

YRC TO BUY SHANGHAI JIAYU LOGISTICS
YRC has announced that YRC Logistics has entered into an agreement to acquire Jiayu Logistics Co. LTD. Jiayu Logistics is one of the largest providers of LTL ground transportation in China and has more than 30,000 customers, 1,800 employees and a network of more than 3,000 vehicles according to a press release. “The acquisition of Jiayu allows us to provide reliable ground transportation and is the next step in building a comprehensive portfolio of logistics services for our customers in China”, said Bill Zollars Chairman, President and CEO of YRC Worldwide. Total purchase price is approximately $61.5 to $75 million.

BERT BENNETT RETIRES
Long-time League member and supporter Bert Bennett has retired effective December 31. Bert is leaving Sunset Pacific with quite a following. He has had a long career in executive transportation sales. Bert is still on the Board of Governors and has vowed to stay active in the League. We wish Bert and Betty all the best!

FROM ALL OF US TO ALL OUR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS IN THE LEAGUE
BEST WISHES FOR A GREAT 08!