Author: Lisa Baertlein
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Historic drought, hot seas slow Panama Canal shipping
By Lisa Baertlein and Marianna Parraga LOS ANGELES/HOUSTON (Reuters) – Before the Ever Max ship carrying lava lamps, sofas, Halloween costumes and artificial Christmas trees could make its inaugural Panama Canal voyage this month, a historic drought forced it to drop weight by offloading hundreds of containers. Weather-related disruptions denied the vessel, owned by Taiwanese…
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US supply chain woes shift and persist in 2023
By Lisa Baertlein CHICAGO (Reuters) -The U.S. supply chain is healing from early pandemic shocks that sent shipping costs skyrocketing and squeezed supplies of everything from toilet paper to pasta, but more than three years later, material shortages and hiring woes linger. Rates for trucking, ocean shipping and other transportation tumbled after U.S. consumers shifted…
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Teamsters to UPS: No national talks until regional contracts are finished
By Lisa Baertlein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union on Wednesday said it would not begin national contract negotiations with United Parcel Service as planned next week unless local supplemental contracts are completed. The largest private sector labor negotiations covering some 340,000 Teamsters-represented workers at UPS were scheduled to begin on…
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Siemens will invest $220 million in North Carolina rail car factory
By Nandita Bose and Lisa Baertlein WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Engineering company Siemens AG announced on Tuesday it is investing over $220 million to build a rail car manufacturing facility in North Carolina. The announcement comes as the Biden administration and fellow Democrats direct billions in federal funding to upgrade aging infrastructure and increase U.S. manufacturing, hoping…
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UPS beats quarterly profit target, poised for ‘cloudy’ 2023
By Lisa Baertlein and Shivansh Tiwary (Reuters) -United Parcel Service Inc on Tuesday beat expectations for quarterly adjusted profit, as it prioritized lucrative shipments and kept a tight lid on costs as global recession threatens and inflation deflates e-commerce demand. Shares of the world’s largest parcel delivery firm rose 3.8% to $183.78 in early trading…
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Biden tax credits aim to jolt electric delivery truck demand
By Lisa Baertlein (Reuters) – The United States will introduce incentives on Jan. 1 for delivery firms and other companies to switch to electric trucks as part of a broad push to get polluting, workhorse vehicles off roads and out of neighborhoods. The first-of-its-kind incentives, established under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will…
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Largest U.S. rail labor union votes against contract, raising strike risk
By David Shepardson and Lisa Baertlein WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Workers at the largest U.S. rail union voted against a tentative contract deal reached in September, raising the possibility of a year-end strike that could cause significant damage to the U.S. economy and strand vital shipments of food and fuel. Train and engine service members of…
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UPS beats profit estimates on higher parcel delivery prices
By Lisa Baertlein and Shivansh Tiwary (Reuters) -United Parcel Service Inc on Tuesday reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly adjusted profit and reaffirmed its full-year forecast after higher delivery prices and cost controls offset softening e-commerce demand. Delivery firms such as UPS and FedEx Corp are pursuing higher-margin small to large business customers to support volumes and…
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Government makes contingency plans for rail shutdown
WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES • President Joe Biden’s administration Tuesday made contingency plans aiming to ensure deliveries of critical goods in the event of a shutdown of the U.S. rail system while pressing railroads and unions to reach a deal to avoid a work stoppage affecting freight and passenger service. The potential shutdown, which could come as…
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Government makes contingency plans for rail shutdown
WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES • President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday made contingency plans aiming to ensure deliveries of critical goods in the event of a shutdown of the U.S. rail system while pressing railroads and unions to reach a deal to avoid a work stoppage affecting freight and passenger service. The potential shutdown, which could come…