TxDMV News Clips -- Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Index:
1)
Nature
Report: Friends of the Year Award – KGBT-TV (Harlingen)
2)
AUSTIN1
vanity plate goes on sale, sort of, for first time – KXAN-TV (Austin)
3)
GM
truck discounts whip up an overdone fuss – USA Today
4)
Toyota
To Recall 1.9 Million Prius Hybrids – The Wall Street Journal
5)
Auto
dealers push legislation to keep Tesla Motors out of Ohio – Cleveland Plain
Dealer
6)
U.S.
Targets Buyers of China-Bound Luxury Cars – The New York Times
7)
FMCSA
revokes authority of Mexican carrier in pilot program for HOS, log violations
– Commercial Carrier Journal
8)
Love’s
Travel Stops Completes First Fast-Fill CNG Station in Texas Triangle Expansion
– Truckinginfo
9)
Spot
Market Freight Rates and Load Availability Jumps – Truckinginfo
10) 24/7
Wall St.: Cities where violent crime is soaring – USA Today
1)
TxDMV Direct Mentions
2/12/2014
Nature
Report: Friends of the Year Award – KGBT-TV (Harlingen)
By Richard Moore
The Friends of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge has received the
Southwest Region Friends of the Year award from the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service.
The local friends group was formed in 1997 to assist Laguna Atascosa National
Wildlife Refuge.
The
non-profit friends group runs the gift shop at the refuge and supports myriad
conservation efforts with a special focus on the recovery of the endangered ocelot.
Dr. Tom deMaar, veterinarian at the Gladys Porter Zoo, is the president of the
Friends of Laguna Atascosa and has devoted countless hours to the organization
including volunteering his medical expertise in working with the rare ocelot.
Dr. Tom deMaar, "The ocelot is a large part of our focus. The
ocelot has become the signature child for Laguna Atascosa since it is the last
place on public land that the ocelot exists in the United States."
With less than fifty ocelots thought to remain in the wild in southernmost
Texas and only some 15 living on the refuge, the secretive cats have become
the focus of much of the Friends Groups conservation efforts.
One of the primary
accomplishments of the Friends Group has been securing an ocelot specialty license
plate through the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
Dr. deMaar, "Any resident of Texas can get an ocelot on their license
plate. It costs $30.00 extra, but of those $30.00 that you pay on an
annual basis to have an ocelot license plate, either a new one or a
re-registration, $22.00 goes directly to the Friends Group to help U.S. Fish
and Wildlife and Texas Parks and Wildlife to do ocelot conservation in the
state of Texas."
If you are interested in joining the Friends of Laguna Atascosa then contact
them thru their website.
Dr. Tom deMaar, savetexasocelots.org is our principal website."
With your Nature Report I'm Richard Moore
----------
2)
License Plates
2/5/2014
AUSTIN1
vanity plate goes on sale, sort of, for first time – KXAN-TV (Austin)
Vanity plates, with their intricate messages and occasionally obtuse code
words, are typically limited in content only by the owner’s imagination and
the laws regarding public obscenity.
And also, as it turns out, by cities whose names have not been available to
purchase on plates – until now.
The private vanity plate company My Plates, which produces personalized
license plates for Texas and other states, is auctioning AUSTIN 1 as a plate
message for the first time. The winner of the auction gets to choose from more
than 35 plate designs and gets to keep the message for a 10-year, fully
transferable term, with the first right of renewal after that.
Which means that the plate could be handed down to generation after
generation, never to go on sale again.
To get an idea of how coveted these plates are, check out the price Houston
1 went for at auction: $25,000.
Register
for the auction by clicking here.
Since November 2009, Texans have purchased more than 178,000 My Plates,
putting more than $21.6M in the general revenue fund, which helps pay for
services for all Texans.
----------
3)
Auto Industry
2/11/2014
GM
truck discounts whip up an overdone fuss – USA Today
By James R. Healey
General Motors put big discounts on a few V-6 trucks and stirred the
industry and Wall Street investors into a froth.
GM
put a $7,092 total discount on crew-cab and extended-cab models with so-called
All-Star equipment to boost sales of the new-design V-6, which currently is
only 10% of total Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra sales.
But
incorrect reports Monday said GM had bumped up the discount that much across
all its trucks. Investors bailed, leaving the stock price down 3.4% on a day
the S&P, which includes GM, was up 1.2%.
And
analysts wondered if new CEO Mary Barra already had broken her Feb. 6 promise
to them in a conference call that "we will still maintain our pricing
discipline."
Overall,
GM "is raising incentives less than seasonally expected," according
to Ryan Brinkman, industry analyst at JP Morgan. "The market got it wrong
again," he declared in a note to clients early Tuesday, suggesting the
previous day's decline created buying opportunities Tuesday.
GM's
discounting "isn't troubling right now but is something to watch in the
coming months," cautions Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com.
But
the dust-up has spotlighted some issues that could signal bigger discounts for
buyers, which translate to lower profits for automakers.
•
The GM "Presidents Day" discounts were announced Feb. 4 and run
through Feb. 28.
"Historically
we've seen Presidents Day sales run for two or three weeks, not the entire
month," says Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book's
kbb.com.
•
Inventories of unsold new vehicles — not just at GM — are at their highest
level since August 2009, says ALG, a unit of TrueCar.com.
Though
that's largely because bad weather in January kept shoppers home, it's also a
cautionary sign that another spate of bad weather, or car-buyer ennui, could
flood dealer lots.
"There
are signs that February could be slow, too," Gutierrez says.
ALG
translates that into "a short-term spike in incentives," said Eric
Lyman, a vice president at ALG.
But
there's a chance it "could be the beginning of an escalating arms race
for market share," he said, rather than a simple spike.
•
An Edmunds.com study shows that falling used-car prices could drop another 2%
this year, as more are traded in on new-car deals, or turned in when leases
expire.
Lower
trade-in values mean higher monthly payments to buy or lease new cars. That,
in turn, steers shoppers toward used cars.
Automakers
then need growing discounts to keep selling new cars.
Aside
from pricing, the latest numbers snafu, third in less than a week, makes GM
seemed jinxed.
When
the car company reported it made $913 million the fourth quarter, or 67 cents
a share excluding one-time items, shareholders fled. Analysts had primed them
to expect 88 cents. A combination of explanations and mea culpas the
next day restored some order, and value to the stock.
Then
this week, GM, in an extraordinary move, had to disclose well in advance how
the automaker plans to compensate Barra. Shareholders must vote on a
significant portion of the package in June, so GM didn't want to outline that
part until closer to the stockholders meeting.
But
to deflect criticism that it was underpaying Barra because of her gender, GM
outlined her full compensation package, showing she's getting about 58% more
than her male predecessor, Dan Anderson, who retired in January, assuming
shareholders approve of the formula for her long-term compensation.
----------
4)
Auto Industry
2/12/2014
Toyota
To Recall 1.9 Million Prius Hybrids – The Wall Street Journal
By Yoshio Takahashi
Toyota
Motor Corp. 7203.TO +0.43% will recall 1.9 million
of its flagship Prius hybrid vehicles to fix faulty software in the hybrid
system, hinting at the challenges ahead for the world's biggest car maker and
others as they expand their fleets of hybrid vehicles using ever more
electronic parts.
Toyota said Wednesday it will recall all
vehicles of the latest, or third generation Prius, which has been in
production since 2009. It said the defective software could result in certain
transistors overheating, possibly causing the hybrid system to shut down and
bringing the vehicle to an unexpected stop.
The number of the company's flagship hybrids
to be recalled is the largest ever for the model, far outstripping the 397,000
recalled world-wide in February 2010. The Prius first went into production in
1997.
The setback comes after Toyota said last
week it expects a record profit for the current business year.
It also shows the challenges Toyota and
other global car makers face as they use more electronic parts and share parts
between models, and as they try to reduce costs—a strategy that itself could
increase the number of recalls.
"Car makers need to bring together
their wisdom to avoid recalls as they use more electronic parts…and try to
share these parts," said Hiroshi Ataka, an analyst at IHS Automotive.
Toyota has received a total of 451 reports
of the software problem dating back to May 2011. No injuries have been
reported due to the problem.
A Toyota spokeswoman said it took time to
identify the cause of the damage to the transistors.
Toyota was the world's first car maker to
mass produce hybrid vehicles, and arguably the most advanced in terms of
gasoline-electric power system know-how.
But the complexity of the electronic parts
makes it difficult to quickly detect the causes of problems in some cases, Mr.
Ataka said. It is especially difficult to recreate the conditions under which
problems occur, he added.
The recall shouldn't significantly affect
Toyota's long-term sales, as the company has committed to quickly repairing
problems once their causes have been identified. This is something it has
prioritized since coming under fire for responding slowly to customer
complaints during high-profile global recalls in 2009 and 2010.
Still, customers are keeping a close eye on
the company's quality controls. Toyota's reputation for quality is vital to
its strength, helping lift it to the world's No. 1 spot in global sales.
Of the 1.9 million Prius hybrids to be
recalled, 997,000 will be recalled in Japan, 713,000 in North America, 130,000
in Europe and the rest in Asia, the Middle East and other regions.
Separately, Toyota said it would recall a
combined 295,000 2012 RAV4 sport-utility vehicles, 2012-2013 Tacoma pickup
trucks, and 2012-2013 Lexus RX 350 SUVs sold in the U.S., Canada and other
markets to fix systems controlling vehicle stability, traction and anti-lock
brakes.
----------
5)
Auto Industry
2/10/2014
Auto
dealers push legislation to keep Tesla Motors out of Ohio – Cleveland Plain
Dealer
By Stephen Edelstein
it out for a spin.
He
picked the colors for his Tesla Motors Model S electric car while browsing a
showroom in New Jersey, while visiting family, then ordered the car online
direct from Tesla. The first time he felt his foot on the pedal was when he
picked up the car in Columbus to drive home to Avon.
"The
fact you can do everything on your computer -- it's so much easier,"
Kumar said. "You really can't negotiate anything, so it takes the
headache out of that."
Tesla's direct sales model means the price is the same for every buyer and
customers don't need to shop around for the best deal. Kumar said the
experience can't even compare to buying a car from a dealership lot and he'll
never buy another car that way.
That's what Ohio auto dealers are afraid of.
At their request, Ohio lawmakers are trying to put the brakes on Tesla
Motors' business in the state. Auto dealers argue the Ohio Bureau of Motor
Vehicles violated a rule requiring a dealership to have a contract with a car
manufacturer when it allowed Tesla to sell cars in Ohio. Senate Bill
260 would explicitly prohibit the BMV from issuing dealer licenses to
manufacturers.
California-based Tesla has two Ohio showrooms where potential buyers can
view and test the luxury cars, but then buy them online or over the phone. A
third showroom in Northeast Ohio has been on hold while the company fights
challenges to its sales model.
The cars have received rave reviews from auto industry watchers and cost
upwards of $70,000.
Ohio Automobile Dealers Association President Tim Doran told lawmakers last
week the bill makes things fair and competitive with the 830 dealers in the
state and prevents other manufacturers from selling as Tesla does.
"We think everybody ought to be held to he same standard," Doran
said. "We thought that was the policy that was agreed to for more than a
couple decades and the BMV, frankly, out of the blue, went 180 degrees out of
their policy -- that's why we're here."
Doran said Ohio dealers have made great investments in brick-and-mortar
showrooms and employ more than 50,000 people. Doran said dealers are strong
advocates for consumers and the current system ensures competitive pricing and
vehicle servicing for consumers.
James Chen, vice president of regulatory affairs for Tesla Motors, said
auto dealers' fears are unfounded. Chen said Tesla sold about 300 cars in Ohio
in 2013 -- barely a dent in total auto sales -- and the company is making
about 20,000 vehicles a year compared to 15 to 17 million gas-powered
vehicles.
Chen said dealers have no incentive to sell electric cars because the pros
of the technology are the cons of traditional gas-powered vehicles, which make
up the bulk of their sales. Chen said Ohio franchise laws protect competition
among dealers but exclude manufacturers like Tesla that don't offer
franchises.
"They want to protect their monopoly," Chen said in an interview.
"If there's one crack in the door -- the argument they've put forth is
other manufacturers could do the same thing."
The organization contributed more than $100,000 to Ohio state lawmakers in
2013, according to state campaign finance records.
Bill sponsor Sen. Tom Patton, R-Strongsville, was unavailable for an
interview about his legislation. His aide, who testified on the bill in his
behalf, told Northeast Ohio Media Group on Friday he was "not
authorized" to speak about the bill.
The bill is the latest attempt by Ohio dealers to shut out Tesla. Similar
legislation almost made it into other bills last year. Lawmakers in the Ohio
House concluded the issue needed further study.
Central Ohio dealers and the association sued Tesla and the Ohio Bureau of
Motor Vehicles in late 2013 over the license issued to Tesla to sell vehicles.
A Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge dismissed the case in January
because the dealers did not have legal standing to sue.
Similar legislation has prevented Tesla from selling cars in Arizona and
Texas. Tesla has two showrooms in Texas, but employees there are
prohibited from talking about how to purchase the vehicles or offering
test-drives. Cars are delivered by a third-party vehicle without the Tesla
name.
Tesla-owner Kumar hopes lawmakers will let the company continue to sell
cars in Ohio. He is already planning to purchase the new Tesla SUV.
"It's the coolest toy a guy or gal could own," Kumar said.
"[Auto dealers] should be a little bit worried, but we have a little ways
to go."
----------
6)
Auto Industry
2/11/2014
U.S.
Targets Buyers of China-Bound Luxury Cars – The New York Times
By Matthew Goldstein
Michael A. Downs, a businessman in Fort Lauderdale,
Fla., says he is simply looking to profit from the growing demand in China for
cars from the likes of Mercedes, BMW and Range Rover.
His three-year-old business recruits people in a
dozen or so states to buy new cars from dealerships in the United States. He
then sells those vehicles to other companies, which ship them to China. Once
in China, the cars, which typically retail for $55,000 to $75,000 in the
United States, can be resold for as much as three times those prices. “We’re
taking advantage of a legitimate arbitrage situation,” he said.
But to the federal government, businesses like Mr. Downs’s
are potentially violating customs laws and deceiving auto manufacturers like
Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which try to keep tight control over sales to domestic
dealers and to foreign countries.
Last year, federal prosecutors and agents with the Secret Service and the Department of
Homeland Security began a broad crackdown on this “gray market” export
business, which is estimated by some to be responsible for sending as many as
35,000 new luxury cars a year to China from the United States.
Federal prosecutors in half a dozen states — New
Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Texas and South Carolina — have filed
criminal or civil actions seeking to put a halt to the resale of luxury cars
to China. Prosecutors have frozen bank accounts containing the proceeds from
auto sales and seized hundreds of cars, some waiting to be shipped from cargo
ports in Newark, Staten Island and Long Beach, Calif.
The authorities have even ordered cars already on
ships headed to China to be returned to port. The seizures are continuing,
with federal agents in the last week taking possession of a number of luxury
cars in Maryland destined for sale in China, according to people briefed on
the investigations. “What we have found is a scam and people looking to make a
fast buck,” said United States Attorney John P. Kacavas of New Hampshire,
whose office brought the first federal prosecution.
The aggressive crackdown, however, has raised
questions about the role of law enforcement in what some contend is a
commercial dispute that should be resolved through private litigation.
The domestic divisions of Mercedes-Benz and BMW say
the clampdown by federal authorities is a legitimate attempt to regulate trade
and to ensure that American consumers who want to own a car for personal use
are not deprived of a chance to buy one.
“The BMW Group has been working closely with federal
authorities for almost two years to stop illegal exports of our vehicles from
the U.S.,” said Kenn Sparks, a spokesman for BMW of North America. “Illegal
exports deny legitimate customers here in the U.S. the popular vehicles, which
are in high demand.”
Most car manufacturers require dealerships to verify
that customers are not buying cars to quickly export them to overseas markets.
Dealers can be penalized if a new car sold in the United States is traced to a
subsequent buyer overseas.
In many cases brought by federal authorities, the
buyers do not say that they intend to ship the newly purchased cars overseas.
Federal authorities are moving forward with illegal
export cases at a time when luxury auto manufacturers are pressing to take
advantage of the demand for high-end cars in China. On Wednesday, Daimler, the
parent company of Mercedes, said it had sold 24,199 cars in China in January,
an increase of 44 percent from a year ago.
So far, most of the actions brought have been civil
in nature, as the New Hampshire action is the only one in which anyone pleaded
guilty to a crime.
But that may change as the New York attorney general,
Eric T. Schneiderman,
has opened a criminal investigation into activity involving luxury car
dealerships in New York and New Jersey, people briefed on the matter said.
Lawyers, including former prosecutors, are divided on
whether the federal government’s efforts are best spent going after activity
in which the primary victim is a foreign automaker.
“If you can prove some kind of deception, that
usually is enough to let you bring the case as a legal matter,” said Aitan D.
Goelman, a defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor. “But the more
interesting question is, should you, considering scarce prosecutorial
resources.”
In most instances, the companies that prosecutors are
targeting employ so-called straw buyers, who are paid a few hundred dollars to
show up at a dealership with a certified bank check to buy a car and then
quickly turn over the vehicle.
Mr. Schneiderman’s office is conducting an undercover
investigation focusing on the activities of sales managers working at a number
of luxury auto dealerships in New York and New Jersey, said the people briefed
on the matter.
The investigation, which could lead to the filing of
criminal charges, is examining whether some sales managers took kickbacks to
sell luxury cars to people who they knew intended to resell them overseas.
The authorities say that using straw buyers to buy
cars is deceptive. The buyers typically indicate that they are buying the cars
for themselves. In most cases, prosecutors also say that the companies
shipping the cars overseas have created misleading export documents to
disguise the fact that the cars were recently purchased. Auto insurance policies taken
out for the buyers are quickly canceled once the cars are shipped.
In the New Hampshire case, two California men who not
only used straw buyers to buy cars destined for China but also fraudulently
obtained drivers’ licenses in New Hampshire as part of their scheme pleaded
guilty and were sentenced to three years of probation.
But in Florida, Mr. Downs is fighting back. He has
filed a lawsuit in federal court in West Palm Beach, Fla., seeking a
declaratory judgment that his business is lawful.
Mr. Downs filed the lawsuit before New York
prosecutors froze his company’s bank account, but after Secret Service agents
seized a Mercedes-Benz GL350 and a Land Rover Range Rover that two people
working for him had bought in North Carolina.
“I am creating jobs and income for people,” said Mr.
Downs, who said he was not aware of the investigation by authorities in New
York when he filed his lawsuit. “We would like this to come to a decision,
because there is no specific law that says what we do is illegal. We want the
acceptance or a judge to reject our business model.”
A decision is still pending in Mr. Downs’s case in
Florida.
Court filings show that Mr. Downs is on Mercedes’s
prohibited auto exporter purchasing list. He says his company complies with
all state and federal laws.
A training video for prospective car buyers on the
website for Mr. Downs’s company reminds recruits to be careful what they say
to sales people at dealerships.
An introduction to one of the videos states: “The
main thing to remember is that you do not want to raise any flags alerting
them to the fact that you may be part of an exporting company.”
Scott Winowitz, one of the people in North Carolina
who bought a car for Mr. Downs, said he was surprised when several agents from
the Secret Service showed up at his home on Sept. 14 to seize the Mercedes he
had just bought for $66,537, because he did not think he was doing anything
wrong.
“They were telling me you can get arrested and go to
jail. I was practically having a panic attack,” he said. “I didn’t know that
any of that stuff was illegal. People do exporting and importing every single
day.”
Mr. Downs’s company became further ensnared in the
federal crackdown in November, when prosecutors in New York sought to freeze
$2.38 million in a bank account listed in his company’s name. His lawyer said
the company account actually held much less money.
The New York action also seized bank accounts and 47
vehicles suspected of being linked to Efans Trading of Memphis, which had
bought cars from Mr. Downs’s company.
Ely Goldin, a lawyer with Fox Rothschild who
represents Efans, said the government was doing the bidding of the automobile
manufacturers. Disputes, he said, should be resolved through private
litigation and not the threat of asset seizures or criminal prosecution.
“It is an open question who are the so-called victims
and whether the purchase and sale of cars should be considered a fraudulent
scheme,” Mr. Goldin said.
----------
7)
Truck/Motor Carrier Industry
2/12/2014
FMCSA
revokes authority of Mexican carrier in pilot program for HOS, log violations
– Commercial Carrier Journal
By Jill Dunn
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has revoked the authority
of a participant in the pilot trucking program with Mexico, just as the North
American Free Trade Agreement enters its 20th year.
The
FMCSA revoked the provisional operating authority of Sergio Tristan
Maldonaldo, DBA Tristan Transfer on Jan. 23. Tristan has option of requesting
administrative review that could return the carrier to the program it entered
last July.
The
two-truck, five-driver carrier received a conditional rating during a Dec. 20
compliance review. The carrier was given until Jan. 19 to correct issues to
avoid revocation, but failed to present proof of correction to the FMCSA by
that time.
The
agency noted a dozen safety management control violations, such as
non-compliance with hours-of-service rules and not requiring a driver to make
a record of duty status.
Other
problems included driver alcohol and drug data. Tristan had used a driver or
drivers before receiving a negative pre-employment controlled substance test
result. It also had failed to investigate a driver’s alcohol and controlled
substances history for the previous three years.
The
FMCSA also had noted problems during inspections preceding the compliance
review.
During
November and December inspections, agency officials reported non-English
speaking drivers on four occasions and in one instance, the driver was unable
to sufficiently understand English signs and signals. Numerous vehicle
maintenance violations also were recorded during these inspections.
During
a Sept. 28 inspection, the FMCSA found on-board recording device information
requirements had not been met, an exhaust leak under the cab and an inoperable
mandatory lamp.
There
are currently 13 program participants in the three-year program, which is set
to end in October. Although the FMCSA reported Dec. 16 it would admit Road
Machinery to the program, the carrier is not yet listed as a participant.
As
of Feb. 2, the agency continued the investigation it began in August of a
possible HOS violation of Transportes Olympic. The FMCSA is pending decision
on admitting two additional applicants, has dismissed 14 others and three more
have withdrawn their applications.
Last
month marked the 20th year that NAFTA has been in effect. The agreement
between North American nations includes allowing each other’s trucks to make
deliveries anywhere inside their respective countries.
The
FMCSA began a trial cross-border program in 2007. Before Congress defunded the
program in 2009, ten U.S. carriers were participating in Mexico’s reciprocal
pilot project. In 2011, when President Obama announced plans to launch the
current program, four of those U.S. carriers still operated in Mexico.
The
FMCSA has not furnished more current data on how many U.S. carriers are
participating in Mexico’s program. Most U.S. carriers providing services in
Mexico do so through a partnership with a Mexican trucking company, according
to a congressional report last month.
----------
8)
Truck/Motor Carrier Industry
2/11/2014
Love’s
Travel Stops Completes First Fast-Fill CNG Station in Texas Triangle Expansion
– Truckinginfo
Love’s Fast-Fill compressed natural gas is now
available for heavy-duty trucks and passenger vehicles at its travel stop in
Willis, Texas, located on Interstate 45, Exit 95, thus opening its first Texas
Triangle location. It’s the first of ten stations to open in this phase of the
company’s plan to offer Love’s Fast-Fill CNG at more of its travel stops
across the nation.
CNG is available for $1.99 in Willis, as well as a variety of other items and
services Love’s is known for, including snacks, fresh fruit, showers, Love’s
Truck Tire Care and more.
Love’s Fast-Fill CNG gives professional drivers a
similar experience to filling up with Love’s diesel or DEF. Love’s CNG
stations are designed to deliver a fill rate of greater than 10 gallons per
minute in all lanes, meaning a driver can fill a 100 gallon equivalent tank in
10 minutes or less.
Love’s previously announced it would expand its Love’s Fast-Fill CNG network
at 10 of its travel stops across Texas and Oklahoma, as well as its travel
stop in Burbank, Ohio. Love’s will offer in-lane, fast-fill CNG at the
following locations by the end of 2014.
Ft. Worth - I-35 W, Exit 40
Dallas - I-35/I-20, Exit 466
Rockwall - I-30, Exit 283
Houston – 610 Loop, Exit 24A
Katy – I-10, Exit 737
San Antonio – I-35, Exit 144
Seguin – I-10, Exit 604
Amarillo - I-40, Exit 74
Oklahoma City – I-40, Exit 140
Oklahoma City – I-40, Exit 166
Burbank, Ohio – I-71, Exit 204
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9)
Truck/Motor Carrier Industry
2/12/2014
Spot
Market Freight Rates and Load Availability Jumps – Truckinginfo
Freight rates and the number of
load available on the spot market posted impressive gains over the past week,
according to just released numbers from the freight-matching service provider
DAT.
Total
spot market loads available increased 12% Feb. 2 through Feb. 8 compared to
the previous seven days while spot market capacity fell 6.2%, pushing up rates
in two of the three major freight categories.
Van
rates advanced 2.1% for an average of $1.97 per mile, while reefers increased
4.9% to $2.16 per mile. Both are their best showings in the last four weeks.
Flatbeds were unchanged from the week before at $2.09 per mile.
The
increases came as the load-to-truck ratio for vans jumped 26% with reefers
seeing a 24% gain. The flatbed load-to-truck ratio increased far less, adding
just 3.7%.
Freight
backlogs due to weather delays are thought to be the reason for increased load
availability and rates.
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10)
Auto Burglary/Theft
2/12/2014
24/7
Wall St.: Cities where violent crime is soaring – USA Today
By Alexander E.M. Hess
[Excerpt]
These
are U.S. cities where violent crime is soaring.
1.
Odessa, Texas
>
5-year increase in violent crime rate: 75.5%
> Violent crime per 100,000 (2007): 468.1
> Violent crime per 100,000 (2012): 821.3
> Murders per 100,000: 3.5
There
were 672.2 aggravated assaults per 100,000 residents in Odessa in 2012, an
increase of more than 80% since 2007. Most property crimes, such as burglary
and theft, became less likely over that time period, declining by 13.8% and
19.0%, respectively. On
the other hand, motor theft, in particular, increased by 17% to more than 500
incidents in 2012. Many reported auto thefts, however, may have been
illegitimate, according to an officer the Odessa Police Department. Some
incidents, for example, may have been insurance fraud attempts, or drunk
drivers abandoning their vehicle and claiming it was stolen. Some vehicles
were being stripped for scrap metal, while others being taken merely for
joyrides.
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