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☆ Activist Investor Seeks to Force Out Norfolk Southern’s Management
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After one of Norfolk Southern’s freight trains derailed last year, spilling hazardous chemicals in an Ohio town, the company’s leaders were assailed by lawmakers, regulators and angry residents, an onslaught the executives managed to survive. But Norfolk Southern’s management faces a fresh challenge this week from an investment firm that is asking shareholders to vote to replace the company’s chief executive, Alan Shaw, and appoint new directors to its board. The campaign by Ancora, a Cleveland investment firm, invokes the accident in East Palestine, the Ohio town, but its main aim is to overhaul Norfolk Southern’s business strategy to bolster its profits. The company’s leaders are vulnerable because Norfolk Southern’s stock price and profit margins lag those of its peers. Ancora’s plan in large part rests on cutting costs and making the company’s 19,100-mile rail network run more efficiently.

Persons: Alan Shaw, Ancora’s Organizations: Norfolk Locations: Norfolk, Ohio, Cleveland, East Palestine

☆ Maersk Says Expanded Houthi Attacks Are Forcing More Delays
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Peter Eavis | More About Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Global shipping lines have become increasingly strained as the Houthi militia in Yemen broadens its attacks on cargo vessels, one of the largest companies in the industry warned on Monday. “The risk zone has expanded,” Maersk, the second-largest ocean carrier, said in a note to customers, adding that the stress was causing further delays and higher costs. Since late last year, the Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, which cargo vessels from Asia have to travel through to reach the Suez Canal. But in recent weeks, the Houthis have been trying to strike ships making that longer journey in the Indian Ocean. Because going around Africa takes longer, shipping companies have had to add more vessels to ensure that they can transport goods on time and without cutting volumes.

Persons: ” Organizations: ” Maersk Locations: Yemen, Red, Asia, Suez, Europe, Africa

☆ Trains, Trucks and Tractors: The Race to Reroute Goods From Baltimore
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New John Deere tractors made their way last week through the sprawling port of Brunswick, Ga., their distinctive green paint glinting in the sunshine. Stevedores drove the tractors up a ramp into the belly of the Leo Spirit, a ship that would take them to Asia. The bridge’s collapse closed most of the Port of Baltimore, which last year handled 1.3 million tons of farm and construction machinery and 850,000 cars and light trucks. The Deere tractors would normally be shipped from Baltimore, getting there on trains from a factory in Waterloo, Iowa, according to Georgia port officials. Instead, the tractors had to be trucked to Brunswick, a journey that adds time and costs.

Persons: John Deere, Stevedores, Leo Spirit, Francis Scott Key, ”, Griff Lynch Organizations: Deere, Georgia Ports Authority Locations: Brunswick, Ga, Asia, Coast, Baltimore, Port of Baltimore, Waterloo , Iowa, Georgia

☆ How Thin Air and Summer Snow Can Heal the Soul
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2022, I scaled Mount Marcy, the highest peak in New York State, with my son. Some Google searching revealed that Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48, was not out of reach for amateurs like us. Hiking had brought exhilarating new challenges and triumphs — and Mount Whitney promised those on a much greater scale. We’d been told to expect a lot of snow higher up, but we didn’t expect any this low. It would take me forever — and we didn’t have forever.

Persons: Marcy, Mount Whitney, Lucy didn’t, We’d Locations: New York State, Lone Pine

On the day the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed, President Biden said the federal government would pay the “entire cost” of rebuilding it, which some suggest could run to more than $1 billion. Washington will foot the bill so the bridge and nearby port can reopen “as soon as humanly possible,” he said. Rebuilding the bridge, repairing the cargo ship that hit it and compensating companies for the disruption at one of the nation’s busiest ports may take years to resolve. “We’re not going to wait,” said Mr. Biden, who plans to visit Baltimore on Friday to survey the damage. They cited an 1851 law that allows a shipowner to cap financial damages mostly to the value of a ship after a crash, if the owner is determined not to have been at fault.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, Biden, ”, “ We’re, Mr Organizations: Baltimore, Grace Ocean Private Ltd, Synergy Marine Locations: Baltimore, Washington, “, Singapore, U.S

☆ Baltimore Investigation Turns to Ship’s Deadly Mechanical Failure
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Mike Baker | Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just minutes before the cargo ship Dali was set to glide under Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, the ship’s alarms began to blare. The lights went out. Even the rudder, which the crew uses to maneuver the vessel, was frozen. As a frantic effort to restore the ship was underway, the pilot soon recognized that the aimless vessel was drifting toward disaster, and called for help. The cascading collapse of the vessel’s most crucial operating systems left the Dali adrift until it ultimately collided with the Key bridge, knocking the span into the river and killing six people.

Persons: Dali, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Organizations: Engineers

☆ ‘A Lot of Chaos’: Bridge Collapse Creates Upheaval at Largest U.S. Port for Car Trade
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Peter Eavis | Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Baltimore bridge disaster on Tuesday upended operations at one of the nation’s busiest ports, with disruptions likely to be felt for weeks by companies shipping goods in and out of the country — and possibly by consumers as well. The upheaval will be especially notable for auto makers and coal producers for whom Baltimore has become one of the most vital shipping destinations in the United States. “It’s going to cause a lot of chaos,” said Paul Brashier, vice president for drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics. Last year, 570,000 vehicles were imported through Baltimore, according to Sina Golara, an assistant professor of supply chain management at Georgia State University. “That’s a huge amount,” he said, equivalent to nearly a quarter of the current inventory of new cars in the United States.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, It’s, ”, Paul Brashier, Sina Golara, “ Organizations: Baltimore, Baltimore . Ships, ITS Logistics, Georgia State University Locations: Baltimore, United States, Port of Baltimore, Panama, Suez, Red

☆ New Freighters Could Ease Red Sea Cargo Disruptions
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After the Houthi militia started attacking container ships in the Red Sea last year, the cost of shipping goods from Asia soared by over 300 percent, prompting fears that supply chain disruptions might once again roil the global economy. The Houthis, who are backed by Iran and control northern Yemen, continue to threaten ships, forcing many to take a much longer route around Africa’s southern tip. One reason for the optimism is that a huge number of container ships, ordered two to three years ago, are entering service. Those extra vessels are expected to help shipping companies maintain regular service as their ships travel longer distances. The companies ordered the ships when the extraordinary surge in world trade that occurred during the pandemic created enormous demand for their services.

Persons: ”, Brian Whitlock Organizations: Gartner Locations: Red, Asia, Iran, Yemen

☆ Elon Musk’s $50 Billion Tesla Pay Was Struck Down. What Happens Next?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jack Ewing | Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla and Mr. Musk could appeal the court decision. Mr. Musk has also indicated that he might seek to incorporate the company in another state that he believes could be more hospitable to businesses, like Texas. What happens to Mr. Musk’s stock options? As part of a compensation package Tesla finalized in 2018, Mr. Musk received options to buy 304 million shares that are now worth more than $50 billion. While he has met the goals needed to receive those options, Mr. Musk does not appear to have converted them into shares of Tesla.

Persons: Elon, Kathaleen St, J . McCormick, Tesla, Musk Organizations: Tesla, Mr Locations: Delaware, Texas

☆ Elon Musk’s Tesla Pay Package Is Voided by Judge
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Jack Ewing | Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, suffered a stunning rebuke Tuesday when a Delaware judge voided the pay package that helped make him a billionaire many times over and the world’s wealthiest human being. In a decision that cast a harsh light on the behavior of Mr. Musk and Tesla’s board of directors, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery said the chief executive had effectively overseen his own compensation plan with the help of compliant board members. “The process leading to the approval of Musk’s compensation plan was deeply flawed,” the judge said. She ordered that the contract that gave Mr. Musk “the largest potential compensation plan in the history of public markets” be voided, and told parties in the case to work out how Mr. Musk would return excess pay. Some compensation experts said the decision would send a warning to other companies that awarded their top executives very large pay packages.

Persons: Elon Musk, Tesla, Chancellor Kathaleen St, J . McCormick, Musk Organizations: Chancery Locations: Delaware

☆ Since Ohio Train Derailment, Accidents Have Gone Up, Not Down
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed a year ago in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents and upending life in the town for months, the rail industry pledged to work to become safer, and members of Congress vowed to pass legislation to prevent similar disasters. And accidents went up. Derailments rose at the top five freight railroads in 2023, according to regulatory reports for the first 10 months of the year, the most recent period for which data exists for all five companies. And there was a steep increase in the mechanical problem — an overheated wheel bearing — that regulators think caused the derailment of the 1.75-mile-long train in East Palestine. Norfolk Southern, the operator of the train and the owner of the track that runs through the town, was the only railroad among the five to report a decline in accidents in the period.

Organizations: Norfolk Southern Locations: East Palestine , Ohio, East Palestine, Norfolk

☆ With Offices Sitting Empty, Landlords Are ‘Handing Back the Keys’
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

That means a landlord stops paying the mortgage on the office building, or declines to refinance it, and the bank or investors who made the loan repossess the building. Some of the biggest names in commercial real estate, like Brookfield and Blackstone, have defaulted on mortgages and have started or completed the process of handing back the keys on office towers. The tactic reveals both the depth of the problems in the office market and the ability of big property companies to push much of the financial pain onto banks and other lenders.

Organizations: Blackstone Locations: Brookfield

☆ New Bidder Aims to Save Bankrupt Trucking Firm, if Treasury Goes Along
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Peter Eavis | More About Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Yellow abruptly shuttered its operations in the summer and filed for bankruptcy protection, few thought that a buyer would emerge and try to revive the long-troubled trucking giant. The plan rests, however, on getting the Treasury Department to allow Yellow to postpone repayment of a $700 million rescue loan that it made to the company in 2020. But the Treasury may not accept the plan because there are legal obstacles to extending the loan. Some trucking analysts say reviving Yellow will be hard because many of its customers will have moved on to other trucking companies that are much better run than the old Yellow. But Sarah Riggs Amico, the trucking executive leading the deal, said only her plan could bring back thousands of jobs, adding that she had the experience to build a leaner company in partnership with the Teamsters and assemble an executive team that can win back customers.

Persons: Sarah Riggs Amico Organizations: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Treasury Department, Teamsters Locations: Delaware

☆ WeWork’s Bankruptcy Tests Claims of a Co-Working Revolution
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Peter Eavis | More About Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the company never created a sustainable business or changed how most people worked. Flexible office space accounts for less than 2 percent of all office space in the 20 largest U.S. markets, according to Cushman & Wakefield, close to its share before the pandemic. WeWork filed for bankruptcy protection this week in an effort to quickly slim down its portfolio of office spaces. Many employers are paring back their office space because workers aren’t going in five days a week after growing accustomed to working remotely or on a hybrid schedule. WeWork’s bankruptcy will only make the situation worse by leaving landlords with more space to fill.

Persons: WeWork, aren’t Organizations: Cushman & Locations: Cushman & Wakefield

For years, landlords around the world clamored to get WeWork into their office buildings, a love affair that made the co-working company the largest corporate tenant in New York and London. Now, WeWork is perhaps days away from a bankruptcy filing — and its demise could not come at a worse time for office landlords. With fewer employees going into the office since the pandemic, companies have slashed the amount of space they lease, causing one of the worst crunches in decades in commercial real estate. Many landlords have accepted lower rents from WeWork in recent years to keep it afloat, but its bankruptcy would be an enormous blow. Some landlords might quickly accept lower rents from WeWork as part of a bankruptcy reorganization and keep doing business with any new entity that emerges, but others might have to fight in court to get anything.

Locations: New York, London, WeWork

In Panama, a lack of water has hampered canal operations in recent years, and some shipping experts say vessels may soon have to avoid the canal altogether if the problem gets worse. Before the water problems, as many as 38 ships a day moved through the canal, which was built by the United States and remained under its control until 2000. The canal authority in July cut the average to 32 vessels, and later announced that the number would drop to 31 on Nov. 1. Further reductions could come if water levels remain low. The canal authority is also limiting how far a ship’s hull can go below the water, known as its draft, which significantly reduces the weight it can carry.

Persons: Panama’s Locations: Panama, El, United States

☆ WeWork Declares Intent to Renegotiate Almost All Leases
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Peter Eavis | More About Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After WeWork warned last month that it might not be in business for much longer, its chief executive said on Wednesday that the co-working company was going to try to renegotiate nearly all of its leases and would probably pull out of underperforming locations. The actions, detailed in a letter from David Tolley, who took over as chief executive after the sudden resignation of Sandeep Mathrani in May, are intended to reduce how much WeWork spends leasing office space. WeWork, which has lost $15 billion since the end of 2017, has been negotiating lower rents for over three years — and has had some success doing so at a time when landlords are desperate to fill office towers that have been emptied by the work-from-home shift that started during the height of the pandemic. “We will seek to negotiate terms with our landlords that allow WeWork to maintain our unmatched quality of service and global network, in a financially sustainable manner,” Mr. Tolley said in the letter. “As part of these negotiations, we expect to exit unfit and underperforming locations and to reinvest in our strongest assets as we continuously improve our product.”

Persons: WeWork, David Tolley, Sandeep Mathrani, Mr, Tolley

Hawaiian Electric has known for years that extreme weather was becoming a bigger danger, but the company did little to strengthen its equipment and failed to adopt emergency plans used elsewhere, like being prepared to cut off power to prevent fires. Before the wildfire on Maui erupted on Aug. 8, killing more than 100 people, many parts of Hawaiian Electric’s operations were showing signs of stress — and state lawmakers, consumer groups and county officials were saying that the company needed to make big changes. In 2019, Hawaiian Electric itself started citing the risk of fires. The company said that year that it was studying how utilities in California were dealing with similar threats. Two years later, in a report about Hurricane Lane in 2018, the Maui County government warned of the potential that “aboveground power lines that fail, short or are low-hanging can cause fire ignition (sparks) that could start a wildfire, particularly in windy or stormy conditions.”

Organizations: Electric, Hurricane Locations: Maui, California

Many wildfires in the United States occur when poles owned by utilities or other structures carrying power lines are blown down, or when branches or other objects land on power lines and cause them to produce high-energy flashes of electricity that can start fires. Image Nearly a week after the wildfire tore through Lahaina, state and local officials have not determined a cause for the blaze. Like most other utilities, Hawaiian Electric operates under the scrutiny of public commissioners who have to approve its spending plans. Power lines have caused catastrophic wildfires in California in recent years, prompting lawsuits that have led to multibillion-dollar payouts by the state’s utilities. Hawaiian Electric in a regulatory filing last year detailed measures aimed at reducing the risk of its equipment causing fires.

Persons: Hurricane Dora, “, ”, James Frantz, Frantz, There’s, Max Whittaker, Shahriar Pourreza, Shelee Kimura, ” Ms, Kimura, Pourreza, Michael Wara, Philip Cheung, Bob Marshall, Jim Kelly, Ken Pimlott, Anne Lopez, Mr, Wara, Kellen Browning, John Keefe, Susan C, Beachy, Alain Delaquérière Organizations: Wildfire, National Weather Service, Frantz Law, Hawaiian Electric, The New York Times, Guggenheim Securities, Maui Electric, Pacific Gas, Pacific Gas and Electric, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Pacific Disaster Center, Stanford University, The New York Times Lightning, Western, NASA, Whisker Labs, Labs, California Department of Forestry, Stanford, U.S . Energy Information Administration Locations: Lahaina, West Maui, Maui, California, United States, Northern California, Paradise, Hawaii, Western United States, Maui County, Germantown, Md, San Francisco

In the hunt to determine what caused the fire that consumed Lahaina, the focus has increasingly turned to Hawaii’s biggest power utility — and whether the company did enough to prevent a wildfire in the high winds that swept over Maui last week. Lawyers for Lahaina residents suing the utility, Hawaiian Electric, contend that its power equipment was not strong enough to withstand strong winds, and that the company should have shut down power before the winds came. Wildfire experts who have studied the catastrophic fires in California over the past two decades also see shortcomings in Hawaiian Electric’s actions. Nearly a week after the wildfire tore through the island town of Lahaina, state and local officials have not determined a cause for the blaze that killed at least 99 people. That is why utilities in California and other states have at times shut down power in recent years before strong winds arrive.

Organizations: Wildfire Locations: Lahaina, Maui, California, United States

“As I said back in the summer of 2020, in my judgment, the loan was inadequately secured to the taxpayers,” he said. Yellow has paid about $67 million in interest on its $700 million loan and just $230 of the principal owed. Yellow owes more than $700 million because, under the terms of the loan, some of the interest is not paid annually but gets added to the principal. Yellow used the first portion of its federal loan, about $300 million, to pay for operational expenses, including labor costs and to lease equipment. Bankruptcy experts said it would be very hard for the Treasury to find collateral that could be sold to repay this part of the loan.

Persons: Hill, ” Organizations: Republican, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Treasury Locations: Arkansas, Nashville

☆ WeWork Cites ‘Substantial Doubt’ That It Can Stay in Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Peter Eavis | More About Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

WeWork, which lost billions of dollars building and operating a global empire of co-working spaces, warned investors on Tuesday that it might not be in business for much longer. “Substantial doubt exists about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the company said in a financial filing. The announcement did not come as a surprise. WeWork’s stock has been trading for pennies for months as investors concluded that the company’s financial obligations and losses had become overwhelming. WeWork’s stock lost nearly a fourth of its value in trading after the announcement on Tuesday, which was issued after market hours along with the company’s quarterly earnings.

Persons: Sandeep Mathrani

☆ A Trucking Giant Is Bankrupt, and Finger-Pointing Begins
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Peter Eavis | More About Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

ArcBest, he said, took in $529 per shipment in the first quarter, versus $339 at Yellow. Mr. Jindel said Yellow was a laggard “largely because of mismanagement.”Yellow did not respond on Monday to a request to speak about its management record. One company hoping to pick up business from Yellow is Saia, a less-than-truckload company near Atlanta. The company’s stock has more than doubled this year, and is up 25 percent just since the end of June. The trucking industry plays a critical role in the U.S. economy, transporting nearly three-fourths of all freight tonnage in the United States, according to the American Trucking Associations, a trade group.

Persons: Satish Jindel, Jindel, “, ” Frederick Holzgrefe Organizations: Yellow’s, SJ Consulting, American Trucking Associations Locations: Atlanta, U.S, United States

New York is doing better than San Francisco — Manhattan has a vacancy rate of 13.5 percent — but it can no longer count on the technology industry for growth. More than one-third of the roughly 22 million square feet of office space available for sublet in Manhattan comes from technology, advertising and media companies, according to Newmark. The company has opted not to renew leases covering 250,000 square feet in Hudson Yards and for 200,000 square feet on Park Avenue South. Twitter, Microsoft and other technology companies are also trying to sublease unwanted space. The large amount of space available for sublet is also driving down the rents that landlords are able to get on new leases.

Persons: Newmark, ”, Ruth Colp, Haber, Colp Organizations: sublet, New, New York State, Spotify, Trade Center, Twitter, Microsoft, Wharton Property Advisors Locations: York, Francisco —, Manhattan, New York, Hudson Yards

Freight trains frequently stop and block the roads of York, Ala., sometimes cutting off two neighborhoods for hours. Emergency services and health care workers can’t get in, and those trapped inside can’t get out. “It’s not fair.”Residents have voiced these complaints for years to Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks, and to regulators and members of Congress. Freight trains frequently block roads nationwide, a phenomenon that local officials say has grown steadily worse in the last decade as railroads run longer trains and leave them parked on tracks at crossings. The blockages can turn school drop-offs into nightmares, starve local businesses of customers and prevent emergency services from reaching those in distress.

Persons: can’t, ”, Amanda Brassfield, Grant City, “ Organizations: Norfolk, Freight Locations: York, Ala, Grant, Norfolk Southern

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