TOP 100 TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS SITES
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| Under the Hood with Ford’s Electric Cars Greentech Media submits: By Michael KanellosSAN FRANCISCO -- Driving the all-electric Ford (F) Focus coming in 2011 is like... like...Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Pep Boys: Turnaround Plan Gains Speed Mark Krieger submits:The Pep Boys (PBY) reported solid third quarter results when they delivered earnings of 4 cents (5 cents excluding one time charges) on sales of $473 million. Although the auto parts purveyor met earnings estimates, they handily surpassed their top line expectations by more than $4 million, by reporting their first comparable store sales gain in more than three years. Gross profit margin gains: The auto parts retailer was able to increase its gross profit margin by 30 basis points from 24.7% to 25%. Its service segment was the biggest contributor of its gross profit improvement, as it nearly doubled from 5.4% to 9.6%. The company’s merchandise segment didn’t fare as well, losing 30 basis points from 29.1% to 28.8%.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
A Look Ahead to the Future of the Trucking Market Morningstar submits: By Anthony Dayrit. The trucking industry hit a number of major potholes in 2009. The struggles of the United States economy caused freight volumes to plummet at the end of 2008, resulting in significant overcapacity and intense pressure on trucking rates. In our last trucking Stock Strategist, we discussed the major obstacles that carriers were facing: Weak demand and excess capacity, which lead to intense competition. These factors remain in today's environment, but volumes appear to be recovering, which may help tighten the market and eventually boost pricing. It's difficult to pinpoint when the market will reach equilibrium, but we will describe a few short-term trends to give our take on where the industry is headed. We will also share insights from company visits, highlighting a few approaches carriers are taking to prepare for the future. Volumes Improving, but Weak Pricing Makes for a Bumpy Short-Term Lane Truckers started 2009 on a steep downhill slope, because the American Trucking Association's seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index plunged 7.8% sequentially (12.5% year-over-year) during December 2008--the largest month-over-month decline since April 1994. Year-over-year declines remained in the 10%-13% range through the first half of 2009, but lessened during the back half of the year. Based on the ATA data and carriers' results, we estimate that volumes bottomed sometime around the end of the summer of 2009. The index ended the year on a strong note, as December tonnage increased 1.3% sequentially and recorded a 1.2% increase from 2008 levels--the first growth since September of 2008. For the full year of 2009, the tonnage index finished down 8.7% from 2008 levels. (Click charts to enlarge)Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Toyota Turns to Annual Profit Zacks.com submits: Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) posted a profit of ¥209.5 billion ($2.3 billion) or ¥66.79 (72 cents) per share for its fiscal 2010 ended March 31, 2010, in stark contrast to a loss of ¥437 billion ($4.7 billion) or ¥139.13 ($1.50) per share a year ago. Sales expansion in Asia, reductions in variable and fixed costs and increased profits in the company’s Financial Services segment were the principal factors behind the improvement in results, despite the backlash of Toyota’s series of automotive safety recalls in the last few months.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Shipping Boom: Rates Have Doubled Since 2009 Mark J. Perry submits: Journal of Commerce:The Drewry Container Benchmark began tracking the average spot market freight rate from Hong Kong to Los Angeles in late December 2005 and hit its rock bottom at $871 per FEU (forty-foot equivalent units) from July 6 through Aug. 3, 2009. In contrast, a record high of $2,838 per FEU was recorded on Aug. 2 this year (see chart above). The Aug. 16 rate dropped $87 from the week before to $2,737 per FEU in only the second weekly rate decline since March 15. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |